Balanced Stride

There are three gaits in the Tennessee Walking Horse, The walk (often referred to as the “Dog Walk” or “Flat Walk”), the “Running Walk” (in place of the trot gait) and the canter (also referred to as the lope). What this supplement is designed to do is to explain to you the correct method that the Tennessee Walking Horse goes through in the specialized gait of the “Running Walk”.

 First let’s look at the elements of the “Running Walk”, they are:

1. It is a four beat gait.

2. Evenness or balance of the timing of the four beat gait.

3. The head shake.

4. Overstride.

5. Length of Stride

6. Looseness of the horse in general.

To break each of the elements down individually, it is as follows;

It is a four beat gait.  The running walk as a four beat gait is independent with each use of each foot. The foot support sequence is two feet flat on the ground and then three feet on the ground. It is a lateral sequence (side-to-side) in that the hind foot will set down first, followed by the front foot on the same side.  Our sequence at this time will start on the left hind and move through the entire four beat gait. The first beat is the right rear, then the right front hits the ground, followed by the left rear as the third beat and finally the left front foot strikes the ground.

This four beat sequence does not make the running walk a lateral gait as it has been at times described. It is the motion of the legs and feet, which determines if a gait is lateral, even or diagonal, or if the running walk is even.  The timing of the feet coming up and setting down is 1-2-3-4 allowing for some slight deviations yet still not being lateral or diagonal in the upward motion.

Evenness or balance of the timing of the four beat gait. The running walk is exactly between the pace and trot. In addition the length of time between each foot hitting the ground sound be the same.

The head shake. The headshake of the running walk involves the use of the whole neck to where it attaches to the chest and shoulder. The headshake is rhythmic and distinct, the motion of this shake runs through the entire body of the horse. When the head is at it's lowest point the back of the horse is at it's highest point of being level, when the head comes up in the shake the back is at it's lowest point of level without becoming hollow. This motion then moves the rider slightly forward and back along with the rolling motion of the shoulders (of the horse) while astride without any movement in the croup area. 

The head shake of the flat walk is deep and steady, when the horse is moved up into running walk the head shake looses slightly in it's depth in the downward motion, thus giving the illusion of a faster head shake, when actually it is just slightly more shallow by lack of needing to go down a lower point for counter balance of the gait. 

The head is used to counter balance with the use of the headshake:

• As the right hind leg drives back and the right fore hoof is placed on  the ground, the head is lifting.

•  As the left fore leg is raised the head moves down to it's lowest point.

•  As that left hoof is placed on the ground the head is lifting again, the counter balance is for the fore leg in the air.

• The fore leg on the ground does not need to be counter balanced. 

The counter balance for the hind is a bit different. 

The head shake compliments and aids the reach and the drive of the hindquarters:

• As the horse reaches under, it pulls its head down. 
• As the horse begins to drive off that leg the horse uses it's head and neck to pull putting strength into the forward motion. 

The use of the head and neck is produced by the coordinated effort of the whole body. The head is the weight at the end of the pendulum. Bringing the head down as much as possible to a deep headshake will achieve maximum length of stride, hence my personal desire for a traditional larger head on Tennessee Walking Horses.

This is the ideal; a productive headshake contributes to the quality and square component of the gait.

Overstride.  This is the measurement of distance of the footprint of the hind foot that steps past (in front of) the footprint of the front foot on the same side. It can vary from a few inches to a measurement in feet, while eighteen inches seems to be the average. This all depends on the conformation of the individual horse and the development of the gait. 

The most efficient use of the hind legs to achieve overstride is: the slightest amount of hock and foot lift, using just enough to create a long, low, sweeping motion lifting the foot just enough to clear the ground.

Length of Stride.  This is the distance from toe of the footprint of the right hind measured to the toe of the right hind of the next right hind footprint. The importance of this element being the longer the stride, the more ground is covered with less motion. Making less effort for the horse and maximizing the efficiency of gait.

Looseness. Looseness in the horse in gait is partly a product of conformation and relaxation. It is easier to see in the flat walk but does carry over through the running walk. Looseness can be observed as a motion of the head and neck that does flow into the shoulders. It may also be seen in some horses with the flopping of the ears, lips or a clicking of the teeth in time with the headshake. Looseness contributes to a fluid rhythm of the gait. A horse should display a content expression of eyes and ears while moving actively forward with out resistance.

Looseness diminishes as a horse pushes into speed.

The Running walk is an accelerated flat walk. 

• The overstride and speed of stride are increased. 
• A horse covers more ground in less time, by taking longer steps not necessarily faster ones. 
• Many times a horse will appear to lean into the gait. 
• The hind legs are reaching under and the front legs are pulling in the ground.

Finding The Running Walk In A Horse

Listening for the running walk is an aid in helping one find the gait but is not the total answer. The reason for this is that one listens for the four beats of the feet but there are other gaits that also make a four beat sound. Even though the timing between the hoof falls can vary in length of timing it can be very hard for someone new to gaited horses to hear this difference in the spacing of time between each hoof fall.

An example;

The running walk is a 1-2-3-4 beat evenly spaced. 

The stepping pace is 1-2--3-4 with a longer space between 2 and 3.

In finding the gait one must also feel for it. The running walk is a smooth gait but so are many other gaits. There are different signals that will tell a rider if they are going to the desired smooth gait.  These other gaits can be a very smooth to a person that has not experienced the gait of running walk.

A straight pace is very easy to feel as it shifts a rider from side to side in the saddle and can be very uncomfortable and it is easy to hear the 1-2 beat of the two halves of a horse moving forward and back together.

The stepping pace is a smoother gait but there will still be some side-to-side shift to the rider due to the lateral lift of the legs. A rider should be able to see some side to side motion in the head of the horse, it can be a little seen at the poll and can also be seen in some side-to-side motion of the horses muzzle from the back of a horse.

The fox trot gives a rider a forward and back motion, no side to side. This done correctly is also a smooth gait but one should be able to feel the lift of the hind legs and breaking of the hock action when the hinds are coming up and forward. There is a definite bump feel in the hind at a fox trot.

The rack and saddle gait are also smooth gaits but tend to move the rider a bit side to side due again to the lateral pick up of each side even though they are four beats. The saddle gait (stepped rack) is one that a rider can feel the shorter stride of the gait and then feel a slight bump in the base of the spine due to the breaking of the hocks rather than the low sweeping hind legs of the running walk. In the rack gait feels faster. The rack has a lighter off the fore hand, up in front feeling, with more reach to the gait, covering ground faster than the saddle gait.

The running walk is a gait where the rider can feel a slight, soft forward and back movement in the saddle. One should be able to feel the long low reach of the hind legs coming under the horse and the front pulling in the ground giving the sensation of floating across the ground.

When developing this gait in a horse or teaching a horse to carry a rider in this gait one should know the difference in how the back of the horse is carried and learn to feel when the back changes under the rider.

It will help a rider to first be able to identify these carriages of the back from the ground and then feel them from the back of the horse. It is of a great help to do this bareback without a saddle.

It is often easier to first identify which foot is striking the ground as well as the timing of the gaits from the ground, seeing and listening first. Once up on the horse you can then add the sense of feeling to aids in identification of the gait. This takes time and patience on the part of the rider. It is also important to understand that a running walk on one horse can feel somewhat different on another horse; this is due to the individual structure of each horse. Riding as many different gaited horse as possible will go along way into understand and achieving a desired gait in a horse. I also recommend not just riding one breed but trying all the different ones available.

Working Toward The Running Walk

There are no quick fixes in developing gait. It takes time, patience and knowledge to get there. It is much easier to teach a horse that has not been started incorrectly. A horse that has had an incorrect start can take much more time getting to the running walk. When a horse has been taught to do the running walk while learning to carrying it's self, the weight of a saddle and the rider; it should then be easier to maintain the gait and keep it in good working order.  A horse will find it much more comfortable to hold it's correct gait than one it is not structured to do or asking a horse to do more in the gait than is possible with out stress for that individual.

I want to stress the word TAUGHT as when one goes to forcing through the aids of harsh bits, unnatural hoof angles, weighted shoes and many other "training gimmicks" several things can happen.

1. May take a horse away from the gait of the running walk completely.
2. Many times when these are removed the horse falls apart by learning to rely on these aids to hold a gait.
3. Used for the wrong reasons or incorrectly can cause soft or hard tissue damage to the horse.
4. It is not uncommon to see psychological issues come into the behavior of a horse.

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