[wildstang]

Hi,
my friend bought a tennisee walker that has abvousely been shown before. we are not quite sure what, but we think it was the big lick. She bought her from a rescue so we have no background history.

She was wondering what the cues are that these horses are trained to have. When she is riding her, her head is always down (bent at the poll) and sometimes she turns really good and other times she doesn't, and she isn't quite sure what she is telling her. She doesn't want to untrain her to do something. When you ask her to go faster, sometimes she does a really smooth gait and other times she does a little bumpier one. She is wondering if she was trained to do different ones or she is just doing it herself. When she first got her she rode her with a bit that had shanks, the horse was alway tossing her head, I went and got my bridle with a plain snaffel and she never tossed it again, and rode waaaaaaay better.

Also when we was riding her she suddenly stopped, at first we thought it was a bad habbit then we figures out that if we squeezed our knees together she would stop dead in her tracks. We think she was trained to stop like that or something.

If anyone has any info on this kind of stuff, we would really appecate it.

thanks.

[QHOutlaws85]

Was she wearing a Tom Thumb as the shanked bit? Because those really do any horse good, they always toss their heads and don't keep their heads down. So kudos to you for correcting the head tossing with a snaffle.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying... Are you trying to say that if you put pressure on her with your knees she stops, or she just stops whenever the heck she feels like?

[angie j]

Originally Posted by QHOutlaws85

Was she wearing a Tom Thumb...they always toss their heads and don't keep their heads down.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! THese sweeping comments drive me nuts! Ok, you don't like TT bits, that's obvious, BUT, my horse is ridden at present in a TT and NEVER shakes his head. My Tennessee Walker ALSO is ridden in a TT and also does NOT shake her head (well, walker head shake, but even that is mild in this horse)... and suprise, suprise... both ride with low head sets... even for a Walker.

As for the Walker, sorry Wildstang.... I just got my first Walker this year, so I'm a learner as well. I can tell you it took my many months to 'learn' to distinguish one gait from the next. The four beat gait (if forget what it's called) is the soft ride... the feet will 'appear' to be moving jointly, but, if you watch closely (sometimes if you boot one foot it's easier to see) the front foot is moving a split second before the back. When you get the 'choppy' gaiting the feet are indeed moving together and you get the same discomfort you would get with a trot when the suspension on one side chages to the other....its not comfy at all!! Tell your friend to be consistant and if you feel a choppiness in the gait, stop, and start again until there is consistancy.

[wildstang]

sorry about my explaining, I'm terrible at it, and I'm not a gaited horse person either, I have no idea what the gaits are called but the owner does.

Anyway, dang it, I thought it wasn't a tom thumb bit, but I went and looked at horse.com and sure enough it was. All I was trying to say is that the horse really hated the bit, and acted like it had always been ridden with a snaffle. She uses the same bit on her other horse and it does fine.


What we are trying to figure out are the cues she has been taught. And maybe someone on here might have trained a TW before and maybe she knows some of the same cues. We aren't sure if she is just taking us on a wild goose chase by making it look like she knows some things or she really has been trained to do some.

Someone has trained her to stop by squeezing your knees together because she does it every time (except when she really doesn't want to, and that is when she is out of the arena) Oh, and she acts like she has never been ridden out of an arena.

what makes us think she has been shown in the big lick show before is because her front legs are damaged (very crooked). I can totally see how those massive shoes can injure their legs, especially a 2 or 3 year old. She is 4 right now and has been at the rescue for a while, before our friend bought her.

so if anybody can tell my the cues used for a TW (if there are any specific ones) I will go and try them on her.

thanks

[angie j]

Again, sorry, I can say my biggest mistake when 'learning' was the tendency to sit forward when moving from a walk to the next gait.... the cue for a Walker would be to sit 'back' in the seat...I was confusing her when I sat forward.

IF the horse hates the bit lose it and start with a snaffle. "if" it was shown it was porbably used to a 'crazy long shank bit'.. so, just forget that (I think they show walkers in those..).

And if the horse hasn't been out of a show ring you have 'alot' to teach it.; BUT, if it's only '4' AND it's been in rescue for a while, I can't imagine it's been ridden much at all.. Realy, you can't start riding a horse before it's 2, and that is even realy early. Keep us posted, please.

Angie J

[wildstang]

Ok, so leaning back and having her move forward is one of the cues? I can do that easy enough.

If she hasn't been shown before than what is the deal with her legs? They are so very crooked when she walks. When she is just standing there they look totally normal, but when she walks it looks like she is paddling. I want to go take some pictures of her and maybe video her walking.

[mftx4]

If this mare is truely a 'biglick' show horse, she was probably in her first packages at a year old. They start them then and are on 3 to 4" 'stilts by the time they are 18 months old and being ridden. Not all, but many are. Many are bred to pace, not a 4 beat gait. A true 4 beat gait will have individual foot rise and fall. If you put different color wrap around each leg, they will work independently, in rythum. Many are trained to 'park' automaticly when they stop or with a small encouragment. Many don't know what it is to be anywhere but a box stall and the show ring. Many are started far to soon and that may be what's showing in her legs. A good farrier maybe your answer there. They need to be taken off the stacks a little at a time just as they were put on them. If she went from stacks to flat footed, this too could be what your seeing. If you watch video of those riders, many are crouched over, looking like turtles. You never see their hands move. Many of the horses are taught to be 'push button'. You touch their shoulder just in front of the saddle for a slow turn in that direction. Seldom are they ever asked to make sharp turns, quickly. They would fall down with those shoes. That's also the reason for the squeeze to stop. The hands don't move.
To attempt to get a 4 beat gait, start slow with the walk, referred to as a 'dogwalk'. The slowest gait. When she is comfortable and walking well add a bit of speed to encourage what is called a 'flatwalk'. Next would be a 'runwalk', which TWH are famous for. If both feet on the same side are moving together, it would be a 'pace'. Which you do not want. Better to get her to trot than pace. A runwalk shood be smooth, with no rocking at all. Sometimes working over ground poles will encourage these horses into a 4 beat gait, but if they are 'hardwired' to pace, it's very difficult to change them. All this won't be done in a week. It's taken her 4 years to get to this point. It can take months of walk, walk, walk, to teach her to gait properly. They are so worth the work. Sipping wine from a glass on a smooth as silk TWH is something to envy. Good luck to your friend and project, they'll both be winners.

[wildstang]

Ok, I know she hasn't been shown for a while, and she hasn't been on stacks for a while either. I don't know how she was taken off.

Ok, she does the pase once in a while, but I can get her to do a running walk. it is very smooth, I love it.
I'm going to show her your post! mftx4 Thanks

[mftx4]

Your very welcome. Crazyhorse, a member here, would also be very helpful. She too has bought a former biglick horse and has been working with her for sometime. I'm sure she could give your friend some insight to working with this young mare.

[glideride]

Seems like you found some info, but I did want to add that it is normal for a walking horse to shake their head, it's all a part of the movment. And since she had been shown before I would say that it was saddle seat and you do need to sit back farther and stay straight, but without the stacks on now you wouldn't need to sit as far back. Most of the cues she would be used to having been a Big Lick horse would be rider position/hands and upper leg/knee. If you could get a video it would be easier to see what's going on?