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  Discussion on When to canter?
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Posted on Friday, Mar 17, 2000 - 11:02 pm:

I recently purchased a TWH who will turn 4 in June. I purchased him as a 3 1/2 year old last fall. He is very gentle, intelligent and cooperative. I have only ridden him a half a dozen times over the winter, but spent at least one day a week this winter just handling him, grooming, hoof picking, walking, voice command training, joining up, etc. Unfortunately, because of where he is being boarded for the winter, once a week is even an accomplishment (one hour away from home). I will be bringing him home in the next month. There is not a lot of advice on TWH's where I live and I am wondering how long we should just flat walk before cantering. I have experienced his running walk, and his rack, which is almost spiritual it's so amazing. I have been told I shouldn't canter him too soon. I don't know what that means. When is too soon? Should I keep him at a walk all season? I'm also not sure how to train him to give me a gait from my command. I don't want him to just go through all the gaits to get to the canter. How do I do this? This is my first gaited horse am there's a lot to learn. Any advice would be extremely helpful.

Posted on Saturday, Mar 18, 2000 - 12:13 pm:

Hello Sherri,

My husband and I have three TWHs that we have had for three years. Two of ours were very young when we bought them(a 2 year old and a 3 year old). We were told the same thing about not cantering too soon. The reasoning we were given was that it is physically easier (less strenuous) for them to canter than to perform the running walk. Therefore, if they learn to canter before the walk is very natural for them, they will break into the canter from the running walk without you cuing them to do so because they are tired and it is easier.

We were told the trainers in Tennessee teach the canter at age four. By this time the running walk is very developed and will not be compromised by teaching the canter.

We personally did not heed this acvice and went ahead and had our trainer teach the lope and canter at age three. We enjoy that gait and wanted to use it. We have seen no negative effect to their running walk.

They lope off just like my quarter horse does with a leg cue and a kiss from a stand still or walk. I am not a trainer and do not know how my trainer taught this cue. Maybe someone else here could help with that.

It would be a good idea to join the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Assn. (TWHBEA, the national club)as you will receive a very good magazine with lots of great TWH info. They also have a good web site you can check out.

We absolutely love our TWHs and I'm sure you will love owning your's too.

Good Luck!
Trudy

Posted on Saturday, Mar 18, 2000 - 1:17 pm:

Thanks Trudy. I was hoping to hear exactly what you told me. I'm sure it's safe to begin the canter. He's not pacey or anything, his gaits are wonderfully developed, or so I think anyway. I am continually amazed by this breed, especially by the intelligence and temperament. He is so easy to love. Even when I didn't realize he had wolf teeth which were growing out of place and horizontally right where the bit was causing painful pressure, he still tried his hardest to give me what I wanted without any attitude, only a little head tossing. We quickly had them removed and had his teeth floated, for which I truly believe he was eternally grateful. He followed me around in the pasture after his first dental appointment like a puppy dog. Not to knock my husband's beautiful quarter horse, but I always tease him saying his quarter horse is like a Honda (servicable and reliable), and my TWH is like a Lexus (pure luxury). Oh well, he can always upgrade some day. LOL!

Thanks again. It's always great to talk to other TWH owners. I'm in a minority where I live, that's for sure, but I don't think for long. The breed is really catching on.

Posted on Sunday, Mar 19, 2000 - 1:38 pm:

Hi,
I personally like to teach the canter to our TWH's as 2 or 3 yr old's. The "right" time is best judged as when they are solid in the flat walk. The running walk is nothing more than the flat walk with speed, which will come as the horse developes the condition and balance to perform the gait with speed. The canter transition in the TWH should come from the flat walk for show purposes. For general riding purposes it should come from the "collected plain or dog walk" or the flat walk. My experience has been that if the horse is prevented from cantering for too long, they become so "hard-wired " to do nothing but gait that it is hard to get a good canter from them. I like to start the canter training in the round pen on a lunge line. The horse can be pushed into the canter and taught the voice command for canter. This makes the transition much easier when under saddle. I don't have an article on the canter currently, but will try to compose one this week.
Don't forget those dressage techniques described in the TWH Menu, they really do work and produce very responsive, light horse who are fun to ride!

Posted on Monday, Mar 20, 2000 - 3:06 pm:

Yesterday I gave my trainer this forum to read and she still maintains that if I canter too much before the end of summer I could have problems. My horse has only been ridden for one season thus far, and she says he needs time to get used to his gaits with the extra weight on his back. He performs all hists daily in the pasture, but she says that's quite different from doing them with a rider on his back, and because of his age I should wait. But, she thought it would be a good idea to start lungeing him into a canter in the round pen. Thanks for the advice all.

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2001 - 2:44 pm:

Sherri,
I have 2 TWHs and am going thru the same debates as you. Do other riding styles/disciplines have so many conflicting theories?!
My thoughts on cantering....my one boy is very naturally gaited. Very loose and can fly at a runningwalk even on a loose rein, which I enjoy immensely. I allow cantering in limited amounts. When I first got him and he "learned" to canter, he did try to do that instead of gaiting. We've got that under control now.
Boy #2 is very pacey. I believe he must have been bred to be pacey for Big Lick purposes. He is a powerhouse. He has a wonderful flatwalk which he can do all day. If I push for a r/w, he paces--and HARD. I recently discovered thru my own trial and error that if I walk him long and low first, then allow him a good, controlled (but not overly collected) canter, he seems to loosen up those muscles and joints and gaits better. He is 9.
I've been on alot of forums, e-mail groups,etc. And try to take in whatever info seems to apply. One trainer said it best....she treats every horse as an individual, even within the same breed. W/Each conformation comes strenghts and weaknesses, tendencies to trot, pace, etc.
Have you tuned into gaitedhorse.net? Great site! Some of the best trainers in the states. Good luck.
Barb

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2001 - 3:31 pm:

Yes! As a matter of fact my walker's picture is on that website. His name is Midnight Party Doll. I learned a lot from that site, and this one. There is a great article there on Cure that Pace. I'm sure you've read it. A lot of the tips really do help.

I think the trainer that said that you have to treat every horse as an individual is correct. When I go back and re-read my earlier posts (over a year ago)I can also tell you that a lot has changed with my walker. He is a 5 year old now, has matured an incredible amount in the last year. I believe he grew almost 2" to his present 15.2 and really filled out in his 4th year, a real growth spurt.

As a 3 and 4 year old we were having some difficulty grooming his gaits, but now that he has matured another year, he has settled into what I think are going to be his finished gaits, though I'm sure they'll keep improving with more experience. His runwalk is not perfect all the time, he has an awesome one when he's fired up and excited, especially on trail rides. When he's bored or tired he gets a little on the lazy side and his gaits are not perfect and even TRIES to pace, which is a big no-no, and he knows it. Fortunately he's a great backer, and will back until the cows come home if I ask him to, but it does seem to round his back and get his hind end back under him when we move forward.

His canter however is great, but wasn't until this summer. I did start him cantering as a 3 year old though, I just couldn't help it, right or wrong, we cantered. I don't think it hurt his gaits one bit, maybe even helped them. I think what it took was just simply time and experience. We were both trying to figure each other out. My rule of thumb was, if you pace, I'm going to stop you, back you and we'll try again first at a flat walk and then I'll push you a little faster. If you trot, I'm going to stop you and back you and then start again. It worked. Simple? Crude? Maybe, but it worked.

What I basically have now, although my methods are probably not very sophisticated, is a horse that has a remarkable flat walk, a pretty good running walk all the time, an awesome running walk sometimes, a really nice canter, and he can run flat out like the wind.

The most amazing thing that I think time and patience and just simple techniques have afforded this horse is also the ability to trot, on cue, and what a great trot he has. I can push him from a flat walk right into either a runwalk, trot or canter. The only gait I have never, ever let him continue for longer than it takes to pull him out of, was a pace. I think it's gone for good. I can now cue a trot or a run walk if I want. Whether it's good or bad to have a gaited horse that trots is immaterial to me. His trot is as comfortable to ride as his run walk and I can cue either from him.

I guess my point is, even though I didn't have access to a lot of walker training (none, actually), or even to any type of trainer, my own reading, experimenting, the benefits of great sites like this one and gaitedhorses.net, time and patience worked for my purposes. He is a great trail horse and gets noticed all the time for his gaits.

Maybe luck and breeding has something to do with it too, but I've seen professionally trained walkers that don't perform anywhere near as good as Tango.

You're right with each type of conformation comes different weaknesses and strengths and tendencies, but bottom line is I absolutely adore my horse and if he's not perfect all the time and doesn't carry his head just right by someone's standards, or collect himself properly according to "Joe trainer", I just don't care.

Posted on Thursday, Nov 15, 2001 - 12:50 pm:

Sherri--
LOL--my natural boy's barn name is Tango and I feel the same way about his way of going when I watch showhorse that are so tight and collected to do a flat or runningwalk. With Tango, I can just give him his head as a cue and he gets into a great runningwalk (if he's in the mood!) I agree w/your do-it-youself method. I KNOW that I don't have the experience w/gaited horse and am therefore open to most all approaches. I take whatever seems to work from whatever trainer I've talked to/read from. But I have to say, Liz Graves has me hooked on her opinions! When I read your post, I got confused--had to go back and check to see if I mentioned his name! It's Tango aka Buckwheat!
Barb

Posted on Thursday, Nov 15, 2001 - 2:20 pm:

Hi Barb,

LOL! My turn to laugh out loud! Oh my gosh! Two Tango's!!!! That's too funny!

And you're right about Liz Graves. She's excellent. I have a lot of respect for Lee Ziegler too, one of the trainers on the gaitedhorses.net site.
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