1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 May Voice RS | Page 26

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ranks of the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders As­
sociation which ended with the death of several ag­
ing directors of the Association. But the damage had
been done. The American Horse Shows Association,
whose directors and committees were loaded with
jumper, hunter and gaited horse people, increased
the restrictions on Walking Horses until they met
themselves coming back. The rules now forbid the
use of vaseline and medicines of any kind around the
front feet. If a horse is scratched on the front legs
while riding in a trailer to a horse show or is bruised
in the stable, the owner cannot protect his animal by
treating the wound or cut. The rule states that 'No
medicant may be applied regardless of whether it
changes the color of the horse’s leg or not.’
"It is the aim of this paper to present a few facts
that will serve to lay the ghost of the sore bleeding
Tennessee Walking Horse. Any average, healthy, do-
it-yourself American can train a horse. With the same
approach that a person takes to build a boat in his
basement or a tree house for his kids, the literature
and methodology of the horse trainer lies within the
ken of the average American. There are more ama­
teur horse experts than in any other field of recre­
ation. The colts play and run free in the pasture or
farm until they near their second birthday and are
then taken to the stall where they are introduced to
a halter, saddle and simple snaffle bit. If you take a
bucket of feed to a colt twice a day for a week, he
will recognize you and permit you to do just about
anything you want within reason. He weighs almost
a half-ton, has a brain the size of a walnut and fright­
ens like a rabbit at any loud sound, quick move or
threatening gesture. So you play it nice and easy.
When he has sniffed your saddle a few times, licked
your hand and the pommel, he will permit you to
tighten the girth and make him ready to ride. You
can toss a sack of grain on his back to teach him to
carry weight, 'dumb jock’ style, or you can mount or
dismount a couple of dozen times until he gets used
to your weight. Now you are ready. But for what?
"You are now prepared to ride him thirty minutes
a day, seven days a week for the next two years.
Rain or shine, sleet or snow, the procedure must not
vary and your patience must not flag. If your horse
is bred right, he will walk. He may be the one in a
hundred that has looks, speed, consistency, and the
sheen and brilliance of a great horse. If he is one of
the other ninety-nine, he will be a fun horse, a minor
leaguer, who can’t make the big time. When he paces
you add weight to his shoes, which are carefully re­
set every six weeks by an experienced blacksmith.
You can add aluminum or wooden balls or rubber-
coated chains on his front feet to make him extend
his front feet like a ballet dancer. Or you can forget
this sophistry and content yourself with a horse that
will fox-trot down the trail without your