Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse 25
Steve Hill, Trainer( Continued from Page 24) Walking Horses daily, turn them out in a small paddock for a portion of each day, or else work them on a long leadline of approximately 20 feet in a circle about you. Either of these methods will take lots of the play out your horses and they will relax and settle down to work quicker. This also keeps the horses limber. A horse that stands in the stable constantly and with no exercise is prone to be tight and choppy in his gaits.
By working our two-year-olds only a small amount each day, they are fairly established in their flat-foot walk and running walk, with only a beginning in the canter at the end of their first year under saddle. But as the new year rolls around and our colts are three-year-olds, we increase their working time. They are more fully developed, larger in size and heavier in weight. As we begin to finish our colts we continue to bring them out of the barn in a flat-foot walk. We spend plenty of time on this gait, for although it is the slowest of the three gaits performed by the Tennessee Walking Horse it is by no means the least important.
As three-year-olds we work our colts alternating between the running walk and then tire flat-foot walk, because by now one gait will help perfect the other. Now it is easier for the horse to change from one gait to the other at the will of the rider. We are also doing more with the canter, and working it in more often with the flat-foot and running walk.
As far as shoeing the Tennessee Walking Horse is concerned, the weight canned by each horse together with the angle of its foot depends almost altogether with the horse; one horse may break too slow or too fast in front and not roll, or it may break too fast behind or too slow. We think that each individual horse is a different proposition, and should be studied by the rider and the ground man. Most Tennessee Walking Horses walk better if their feet are long. If they stumble or if their legs get sore, it is indicative that their feet are not at the correct angle.
Expert Blacksmiths Needed
It is advisable to have an experienced blacksmith attend to your horse’ s feet. You cannot make a horse
Chicago Lawyer ' s Letter Inspires Voice To Start ' Stud Registry '
A very interesting letter from Robert Owens of Chicago— a lawyer whom we surmise is " on the shady side of 60’’— gives us a grand idea. Starting with this issue we will have a Stud Registry in the Voice— where all the folks with breeding stallions can advertise their studs at very little expense. This registry appears on Page 29 and the following letter from Friend Robert tells exactly how we got this grand idea and have done something about it. Robert says:
" Quite some time ago I received your letter advising that you were going to put out a magazine for the Walking Horse enthusiasts.
“ I have often wondered why this wasn ' t done before. I have on numerous occasions attempted to get information and sometimes I got it and sometimes I didn’ t
“ I have a mare and was looking for a stud over in northeast Iowa and I wrote for information regarding a registered horse in tire northeast part of Iowa and I got a list of horses from Ohio, and was told that there
in a blacksmith shop, but you may help correct a slight flaw. If we have horses that are inclined to pace in the fairly early part of their training, we shoe them with heavier shoes and ride them in loose ground, up and down the hillside, in tall-weeds, or most anywhere that the going is hard. Caution: Do not shoe your two-yearold colts too heavily, because by so doing their tendons may be pulled or their legs otherwise permanently ruined. As previously stated in this article, the pace is a one-sided gait and when your horse is inclined to be thrown off balance he will stop pacing and begin to walk. When our horses are inclined to trot, we shoe them light in front and this time find some good, hard, level ground, then take the horse back to a flat-foot walk and gradually ride him out of it into a running walk. This may take time to bit him down and get him into a good running walk, but when he hits it you can be very sure you will have a good running walk that is square on all corners.
( End of article.) were no registered horses in northeast Iowa. Upon investigation I did find one.
" Some time ago I picked up, by accident, a Western Horseman and found several very interesting articles among which was one regarding Tennessee Walkers. There was also an article on how to handle a colt, train the colt and so forth, and it was then that I began to wonder why the Walking Horse people couldn ' t sponsor something of the sort.
“ Over in the northeast part of Iowa there are quite a few Walkers and more are being acquired by the fellows on farms.
“ I have a rough farm and used to tear tailpipes off the car about every time I went to take a good look around the acres. Since I had the Walking Horse I have gotten to a lot of places that I couldn’ t get before without walking. Having had a coronary not long ago, therefore, walking is not so good.
" I am going to make this suggesiton and believe that you could interest a lot of men of my age in the Walking Horse if you would train them to“ neck rein " and“ ground tie.’’ When going about the farm you want to stop and look at something and there is nothing but a wire fence to which to tie your horse. Therefore it is dangerous and if you could write some articles on how to teach the horse to ground tie and using the neck rein, it would be a big advantage.
" We live over in northeast Iowa about 10 miles from McGregor where last fall they held a trail ride at the end of the season and had over 600 horses. Most of the horses are quarter horses; however many people— of the Senior Citizens’ age— are becoming interested in Walking Horses.
“ I am enclosing herewith my check in Lhe amount of § 8.00 for a subscription for myself and a friend of mine and will anxiously await tire first edition and wish you all the success in the world.”
( Editor’ s Note— Robert Owens is a grand guy to have on the Tennessee Walking Horse team. His office is at No. 1, North LaSalle St., Chicago 2, 111. His letter has given us great confidence and great inspiration. BAG.)