New to riding and got a question

Hello guys. Not only am I new to riding but I'm new to the forum.

Ok.. I know that people are going to say this is probably dangerous but I'm a new rider riding a 4 year old Tennessee walker who has been classified as 'green broke'. We ride really well together, we know each other and we're both getting comfortable with each other. I'm 4'10 and I'm riding in an endurance saddle, I think.

Now here is my question. I'm just learning to get comfortable with her trot, she's still learning her gait. I want to get comfortable in a canter and eventually a gallop. She's a bit bouncy, but I enjoy it, and wanted to know if anyone had any tips on helping me get comfortable with her and with her going faster, she is getting impatient with me I think keeping her in a trot and walk. I hate to hold her back and want to feel comfortable on her.

I wouln't suggest going faster at all. Especially on a young horse! Just learn to move with her. You have to adjust to eachother. I still don't like the age and all but I guess that's ok. Just wait for more opinions.

I'm not sure why you want a gaited horse to trot. You should at this point in her life be working on her collection and gaits. Its a bad habit to get a gaited horse to trot excessivly. I'm not that familiar with the TWH but she should have enough speed in her running walk to keep your need for speed happy.
Just a note, please be careful. You are both pretty green and I would hate for either of you to get hurt. Is there any way you could get some lessons together? Or is there someone close by who could help you? If not there are a couple of good clinitians out there you might look into. Brenda Imus is in particular for the TWH and gaited horses and Don West is good too although he is more toward the Paso horse. Don West has a couple of good books one called something I can't remember "A sure Cure for the Trots" my husband swears by. You could google either one of these names for more info.

Blumagic is right. I def wouldnt go fast on a horse that's four and when you just started. Hold off on the gallop. Once youve absolutly mastered the trot id move on. And you don't HAVE to master the gallop. I ride english hunters jumpers and equtation but I don't have to do the gallop because it is not a required gate. However a hand gallop is.....

And if the horse is still new, id think about trying a different horse unless this one is DEAD quiet. You know what they say, green on green equals black on blue.


Please be careful...my trainer at my show barn says that greens are like todlers, very unpredictable.

I have two TWH's and my best suggestion to you is to buy the Clinton Anderson video on Gaited Horses. You can get it on ebay rather cheap.

Also, make sure you have the correct saddle. Gaited horses need saddles that are specifically designed for a gaited horse because of their range of motion. That's VERY important or it will not only hinder your horse from doing her natural gait, but it can also hurt them.

If your horse goes into a bouncy gait, you want to slow it down some. You don't want a gaited horse to trot.

First thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with gaited horses and go from there.

Get the book Easy Gaited Horses by Lee Ziegler.
And
http://cgi.ebay.com/Clinton-Anderson...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for all the advice and concern. My Baby Girl is a little unpredictable but I've been riding her so long now that riding another horse doesn't feel right, and she gets jealous. Anything she does I know it's not ment to hurt me or try to. The saddle I have is the one the previous owner had with her.
I don't know alot about TWH but I kind of let her do what she wants as long as she doesn't go to fast and out of my comfort zone. I want what is best for her and me as well. I definitely don't want black on blue.. I've fallen once on her ( wasn't her fault) and it hurt really bad.
Like I said I'm a new rider and just want some help on being comfortable as well as being comfortable enough to allow her to find her gait. Thanks for the advice and I'll look into the links and such.

I agree.

I don't even know what you mean by her collection of gaits.. again.. I'm new. So please speak with simple terms and explain because I probably don't know what your talking about.

And why do I want a gaited horse? Why not have a gaited horse? They have a better ride, smoother... is there really a problem with having a gaited horse?

No, it's just that it's hard to give advice via forums. With horses, its much more effective to be there in person.

If you have a trainer or an experienced friend, consulting them would be much more helpful to you. Although, experience is often the best teacher when it comes to horses. I say give it a shot, see what happens.

And since you're new, remember, when horse people give advice, it's 75% personal opinion.

No problem what so ever with having a gaited horse I have 4 of them. Love them to death. Its collection AND gait by the way. Kim_angel would give the best advice on the TWH I'm not sure what their gaits are called (its different with different breeds). Your horse is still pretty young so he can't be expected to perform all gaits yet. This is a really good article http://www.gaitsofgold.net/content/view/109/16/ . The advice she gives on working the horse in soft ground is great. I try to work Vida in a freshly plowed field when available or up hills.