Now this is a WALKING HORSE

My TWH mare has both Midnight Sun and Merry Go Boy in her bloodlines (great grandfathers on both sides) but I don't go around bragging about it. If someone asks I would tell them I guess, but really, who cares? I don't. She comes from big lick stock, but it's not the horses who want this crap (big lick), it's the owners of the horses, so mentioning *famous horses* is most definitely NOT a plug for big lick as far as I am concerned. What perplexes me are the people who say 'I'm not against big lick but I'm against soring'. Uh, is there one without the other? I don't think so. I'm so glad we don't have to deal with the big lick crap up here. Here TWH are valued for their NATURAL gait. I had never even heard of the big lick up til a few years ago and, of course when I saw it, I thought it looked absolutely hideous and ridiculous. So long story short (or maybe it's too late for that haha!) if you ask me what bloodlines Di has, I'll tell you, I'll be proud, but it sure as hell ain't no plug for big lick! It breaks my heart that those very famous and very handsome horses were subjected to that.

I don't understand the head shake either, I would think it would be hard to keep and nice even contact with the bridle with all that head movement. Don't the MFT's do a head bob too. My breed, the Peruvian, carries a quiet head. Interesting how different variations on a 4 beat gait can have such different head carriages.

The head bob up and down is supposed to be like us, using our arms in a power walk...sort of a bad analogy but gets tossed around a lot. I don't look for a huge head nod in a tw, but do look for it to a degree. You don't want to see a side to side head movement as that'll be a sure fired way to tell the horse is pacing.

The paso breeds have zero head movement. It's a bit easier to ride in that your hands stay pretty still, it gives the horse a straight line from your hands to the bit to walk through, and that's what the paso folks are looking for, all straight lines and zero bend.

For me, I'm not overly impressed with this ride. I like the horse well enough, lot's of tallent there, imho, but I'm not liking the rider. He doesn't have quiet hands, he's widening the reins and adjusting a lot. To me, it looks like he's chasing this poor horse around the arena. The fw and rw can really move you back and forth in the saddle, they con't call it a camel walk for nothing, but to my eye, it looks forced on his part. He's not following the natural movement of the horse, he's using his whole body to push that horse forward and to me, that's much more distracting than the head bob. Not only is he jamming his pelvis back and forth, you can see it right up his back and into his neck in some places which I'm sure doesn't feel good on the horses' back.

I'd think this was a young horse in training and again, like the horse a lot. I'd just like to see him quit bumping his legs and being start being a bit softer in his aides. Any one else see this??

My TWH filly bobs her head like that naturally, and she's bare foot and never been trained in anything, ridden in a snaffle. She does it at a flat walk and run walk. Now she'a a REAL Walkin' Hoss!! :P

Horses that run to the lateral will very often have a slight "head bob." A horse that is moving centered may well have one if its underlying tendency is to the lateral. The "head bob" is much less common in diagonal horses. One reason many trotter riders shy away from gaited horses is that they misinterpret the "head bob" as an indication of lameness. You can even find this stated in some of the older books about equitation.

I'm not enough of an expert on equine bio-mechanics and movement to give a sound, definitive reason for the movement.

In Walkers a big head nod is not much more than a reflection of style. In this it's like the high-set Arabian tail. I doubt it does anything to enhance movement, but neither does is detract from it (at least in the eyes of the people who breed for it). Personally, I never cared for it. Most of my lateral Marchadors have a "head bob" but none are particularly noticeable. A rider whose horse is bobbing will have to accommodate the movement with their hand or risk "beating up" the mouth.

Old timers will say "if he ain't noddin' then he ain't walkin'." This is a direct and immediate statement of that stylistic preference. Since it was the preference it won a lot of blue ribbons. Blue ribbon winning horses get bred so that the breeder can earn more blue ribbons. And so it goes.

G.

That horse has the "swing" that the big lick breeders like (in addition to the pace). The one TWH I rode who could actually perform a running walk moved like this. I had no trouble keeping contact with the reins, however my body moved as much as the rider's in the video.

Personally, I'd rather ride these two horses. Their walk is much smoother.

There are many things that I love about the Tennessee walkers the most important being the temperament. What sweet, easy going, forgiving horses they are. That said, the head bob would drive me to drink. I couldn't stand that. I guess it is something that one gets used to but for me, it drives me nuts at this point. The horse in that first video looks like one I would enjoy much more then others. Felt sorry for it when the guy got on though. Ha ha Again the horse showed that forgiving nature. I also thought that first horse had a lovely head and I am admittedly a head hunter. I love a pretty head and face on a horse.

Now those last two look nice and smooth, which I thought was what the goal of a Walker was originally supposed to be, before all the Big Lick show mess took over the spotlight. But Dark Knight on page 1 doesn't look AT ALL comfortable to ride. The rider was being tossed back and forth so much that his neck looked like a chicken pecking. It was so distracting watching the rider all over the place that I couldn't see how in the world that horse would be a pleasure to ride, no matter how pretty he was to look at. (But then again, the rider had rotten form too, heel up, hunched back, that obviously wasn't helping his seat any.) I was under the impression that it should be more about the feels of the gait, not the appearance of it. But I am not a gaited rider, so I could be off base here.

I like the 'im on the phone' deal.. Real nonchalant like. In the first video, lol.

That 'Echo' is a nice lookin natural twh! Kinda reminds me mine.. I'll have to get a video this summer. She is, shaker's shocker/delight bumin around-- old school walkin horse style. I love that!! I don't like the pacey TWH's they are producing now days.

What a hoot! Some farrier told me my horse was not a true Tennessee walker, but an ambler! That's what you get when people have this preconceived idea that TWH should do a big lick. Even my husband , who went with me to a small show asked me why nothing was going on in the ring but horses just walking around.