TENNESSEE WALKING HORSE

Like its Saddle Horse kin, the Tennessee Walking Horse developed from Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, Morgans and pacers. The breed's foundation sire was a Standardbred named Black Allen. Other early progenitors include a Thoroughbred-Pacer mix named Copperbottom, and Free and Easy, a pacer especially regarded by President Andrew Jackson.

The Walker is distingquished by its two unique gaits. The running walk is a four-beat movement during which the horse's hind legs over-reach the forelegs, often by more than 12 inches. There is much shoulder motion, but little lateral swaying. Walkers nod their heads in a pronounced fashion at each step of this gliding gait, which once took plantation-owners and foremen for miles at a clip. The 'rocking-chair' canter was also developed to make hours in the saddle as painless as possible.

The Tennessee Walking Horse should have a neat, well-shaped head and graceful neck. Its shoulders should be muscular and well-sloping and the body deep in the girth and well-ribbed in front of a short back. Legs should be flat and cordy. Height ranges from 15-16hh (152-163cm) and weight from 1,000 - 1,200 pounds. Today, Tennessee Walkers are mostly limited to the show ring.

Developed by the prosperous Southern planters at the end of the 19th century to carry them between the plantation rows while inspecting the young crops. The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' Association of America was founded in 1935.