Tennesse Walking Horse

Origin: United States.

Height: 15-16hh.

Color: All solid colors.

Character: Docile, kind, willing and gay.

Physique: Plain head with prick ears, nobly carried on a strong, archedneck. Strong, sloping shoulder with broad chest. Broad, powerful body withstrong loins and hindquarters. Clean, hard legs. Abundant mane and tail,usually worn long and full, and artificially high tail carriage.

Like the Morgan, the Tennessee Walking Horse traces to one prepotent120 stallion, a Standardbred trotter named Black Allan, who was foaled in1886. Black Allan contained both Morgan and Hambletonian blood. Otherbreeds who contributed to the Tennessee Walker were the Thoroughbred,Saddlebred, and Narragansett Pacer. The Walker was developed throughselective breeding by southern plantation owners who aimed for a combina-tion of stamina with great comfort and smoothness of gait.

The results have been extremely successful. The Tennessee Walker hasacquired a unique running walk gait which makes it about the most com-fortable ride in the world. It is a gait that apparently cannot be taught to anyother breed, but in the Tennessee Walker it is now almost inbred, so thatfoals are sometimes seen to perform it without any ether instruction butthat of imitating their dams. The action of the forefeet is high and straight;that of the hind feet very long-striding. The horse moves with a four-beatgait, the forefoot touching the ground fractionally before the diagonallyopposite hind foot, which oversteps the track of the forefoot by some6-15in. The effect is that of a steady, gentle, gliding movement, and thehorse swings into his own rhythm with a nodding head and clicking teeth.