Whoa~! Rein 'em in here and show your horse! 2026

[MyBuddy]

Glad you got to experience the soft gait! Then he is likely doing a rack or a running walk, as those are typical of that breed. But they will choose whatever gait is more comfortable for them. My old TWH preferred the foxtrot. If your friend's TWH tends towards trotty, then he might be choosing foxtrot as well. If he's pacey (and most TWHs tend towards that), then he might be hard-pacing under saddle when he gets out of gait. That will feel bouncy, but w/ a side to side roll-y kind of motion. A lot of TWHs have a hard time w/ cantering, and when they do, they often do a 4 beat canter (instead of the typical 3 beat). Very comfortable to ride!

I find this very interesting. Since I've never ridden a walker I didn't know there was so many different gaits to them. I know my friend did talk about pacing. And I can't remember if she said that that was discouraged. And when you talk about the rolly side by side motion I think I have felt that. It will be interesting to try and differentiate between all of these. Especially in her indoor arena where we can monitor it better. When he gets real bouncy I thought it was that he was getting into an actual trot, like I'm used to.

 

[Sunje]

If he's pacey, then you want to work on relaxation and head down. When a gaited horse get anxious/tense, he will tend to hollow his back, raise his head, and that sets him up for pace. If you've ever seen TWHs do that horrible big lick gait w/ the stacked shoes in the front, those horses will be very pacey when the shoe stacks are off. That sh!t has ruined this breed. So many show-line TWHs are pacey b/c that's what they were bred for in the 1930s-50s-70s to go into the show ring. The extra weight on the front feet will cause a pacey horse to gait squarely. So now, when reasonable people just want a flat-shod trail walker, many of them are very pacey b/c that's how they have been bred. You really have to look carefully to find TWHs that will do a natural square soft gait either barefoot or flat-shod.

 

[LifeofRubie]

@MyBuddy I've not been there but it does look quite lovely!

If you find yourself with a third horse, let me know

(Edit to add: that is in jest! I know no one lets any goober off the street on to their beloved animals)