What is a Gaited Horse?
The Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH)
“A light horse breed founded in middle Tennessee, the Tennessee Walking Horse was originally bred as a utility
horse, this breed is an ideal mount for riders of all ages and levels of experience. The breed easily adapts to English
or Western gear, and its calm, docile temperament combined with naturally smooth and easy gaits insure the
popularity of the Tennessee Walking Horse as the “world’s greatest show, trail, and pleasure horse””.
The Tennessee Walker originated from the Narragansett Pacer and the Canadian Pacer. In the early 1800s, these two
breeds were blended by Tennessee breeders who were looking for a horse that could handle the mountainous
terrain of the area. Confederate Pacer and Union Trotter blood was added during the Civil War, creating the sturdy
Southern Plantation Horse (aka the Tennessee Pacer). Breeders later added Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Morgan,
and American Saddlebred blood to refine and add stamina to their gaited horse.

Gaits
"The Tennessee Walking Horse performs three distinct gaits: the flat foot walk, running walk, and canter. These
three are the gaits for which the Tennessee Walking Horse is famous, with the running walk being an inherited,
natural gait unique to this breed. Many Tennessee Walking Horses are able to perform the rack, stepping pace, fox-
trot, single-foot and other variations of the famous running walk these gaits are smooth, easy, trail riding gaits.

The Flat Walk is a brisk, long-reaching walk that can cover from four to eight miles an hour. This is a four cornered
gait with each of the horse's feet hitting the ground separately at regular intervals. The horse will glide over the track
left by the front foot with his hind foot: right rear over right front, left rear over left front. The action of the back foot
slipping over the front track is known as over stride. Overstride is unique to the walking horse breed.  A Tennessee
Walking Horse will nod its head in rhythm with the cadence of its feet. This nodding head motion, along with
overstride, are two features that are unique to the Tennessee Walking Horse.

The Running Walk is the gait for which the walking horse is most noted. This extra-smooth, gliding gait is basically
the same as the flat walk with a noticeable difference in the rate of speed between the two gaits.  The breed can
travel 10 to 20 miles per hour at this gait. As the speed is increased, the horse over-steps the front track with the
back by a distance of six to eighteen inches. The more "stride" the horse has, the better "walker" it is considered to
be. It is this motion that gives the rider a feeling of gliding through the air as if propelled by some powerful but
smooth-running machine. The running walk is a smooth, easy gait for both horse and rider.

The third gait is The Canter, which is a collected gallop. The canter is performed in much the same way as other
breeds, but the walking horse seems to have a more relaxed way of performing this gait. The canter is a forward
movement performed in a diagonal manner to the right or to the left. In the canter, the horse gives one the
abundance of ease with lots of spring and rhythm, with proper rise and fall to afford a thrill from sitting in the saddle.
Thus, the canter lifts the front end giving an easy rise and fall motion much like a rocking chair. This is often referred
to as the "rocking-chair" gait."

Breed Characteristics
The Tennessee Walker has a reputation for having a very good disposition. It is a calm and easygoing breed,
typically easy to train. While the horses are famous for flashy movement, they are quite hardy, popular for trail and
pleasure riding as well as show.


Spotted Saddle Horse (SSH)

The Spotted Saddle Horse provides a comfortable ride with the chrome of color as an added bonus. This colorful
horse possesses a smooth, easy gait that provides hours of pleasure in the saddle. Not only will you enjoy a most
pleasurable ride on the trail aboard a Spotted Saddle Horse, but also the beautifully unique color patterns offered by
this fast-growing breed will set you apart from the crowd. The trails are never too steep or too rough for this agile
breed. Sure footed as a mountain goat, the Spotted Saddle Horse is ready for any terrain.

Gaits
A relatively new breed,  these horses are colorful, versatile, good natured and best of all, have a extremely
comfortable gait for  riding. The required "Saddle Gait" of the Spotted Saddle Horse includes the stepping pace, fox-
trot, single-foot,  flat walk, running walk, pace, rack or combination of all gaits. The SSH can also perform a canter.  
The Spotted Saddle Horse can trace its roots back to the history of horses that escaped from ships as they crashed
on our shorelines. These horses were often spotted, naturally gaited and possessed the strength and stamina
necessary for war use. By the end of the Civil War, many imported "gaited" types of horses were present in the
United States. Selective mating of these gaited horses with the spotted horses resulted in the production of the
smooth-gaited, colorful horse that came to be known as the Spotted Saddle Horse.

Temperament
The easy, docile temperament of the gentle breed combined with a people pleasing personality make this equine
sports model a highly sought after trail mount. With comfort second to none, climb aboard a Spotted Saddle Horse
and be ready for the recreational ride of your life. An added bonus is that the horse you ride during the week on trails
can be your Saturday night show horse. This is a very common occurrence in the Spotted Saddle Horse industry.

References:

TWHBEA. Sited 4/18/07 from http://www.twhbea.com/
TWHBEA. Gaits. Sited 4/18/07 from http://www.twhbea.com/gaits.htm
Wikipedia. Tennessee Walker.  Sited 4/18/2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Walking_Horse
Here at Dream Walker Ranch we sell Tennessee Walking Horse, Spotted Saddle
Horses, Racking Horses and Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses.
You really have to ride one of our horses to appreciate them.  
Our horses are super smooth.  Instead of bouncing through a trot or post you can
glide and maintain control.  Gaited horses are known as the Cadillacs on the trail  
Who needs a sore back after a great trail ride?  
To ride one is to own one.  They are magnificent animals.
Here is a little about each breed and their "gaits".