for my last question, l was looking up photos of horses for a little picture quiz! which we got quite a few(some spot on.... and some not so quite) , but what got me was when l was looking up tennessee walking horse. l clicked on a horse picture *google images* and it took me to a website and on this website was some info on the tennessee walking horses gait... or for some people who dont know ''unusual walking''

And this is what l found out.(l doubt this info is very recent so statistics may not be right to this moment)

The tennessee walking horse (which l am know going to call TWH) dont walk naturally how they do, with the half trot half walk front legs going everywhere. But are made to do this, im sure everyone knows this. How they are made to do this though is pretty bad, they are not given treats or scratchs like we all like to believe, or even nicely shown, or how ever your mind thinks.... They are treated cruely, the statitstics are that 80% of the TWH from around 2003 and backwards were miss treated. Most times that not, their owners would rub continuously, or even cut at their horses pastern. And with this, when ridden they would be continuously whipped in that area to make them lift there legs up. I am sure most did not know this and would say ''BUT, THERE WOULD BE INFO ON THE INTERNET'' or what not *i do not know what you're thinking :P* there is, im just not sure if you have typed in *tennessee walking horse pastern injuries* Now that this is said, in shows some TWH were the chains, which l supposedly there to help them and is not harmful and is not heavy, well what this does is rub against the sore... and when the hors eis not wearing this and is at shows the cut or rub is hidden by pretty ribbons or something else.

I am sure this doesnt happen all to often, and this art that the TWH shows us can be done without cruelty and patience. But unfortuantley, not all people are patient. I am sure the statistics are wrong now and would be 30%-, but still that is pretty high... and how they get under our noses with this. There are other ways that they do this too, with shoes where the tacks deliberatley go into the white line or quick of the hoof, causing pain when the hoof is placed down. Or soring, where a chemical agent is placed on the front legs, which also cause pain when placed down.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me as l was only aware of this about..... 1 week ago.
PS: The horses half trot half walk is pretty much natural

PSS: l am 13 years old and glad l found out about it sooner rather than later :]

Happy ing
l also wanna add, this is with performence walkers!!!

Welcome to the real world of showing horses. Some will do whatever it takes to win. Even to this day. They are just getting sneakier about it. And it is in ALL disciplines. All disciplines have the abusers of some sort who will do whatever it takes to win.

Unfortunate.but true.

that is not the worst thing l have ever heard. i've been working with horses for a long long time, & l have seen some horrific things done to them.

personally l hate showing. the only classes l show in r dressage, performance hunters (differenent from show & working, perf hunters r generally horses who actually hunt as work, they r usually a bit scarred & rough & thinner & more muscular than show hunters. they jump higher & faster & the class is judged on their ability to do thier job & has nothing to do with their conformation, colour or looks) & sidesaddle classes, all of which rely on ur horses ability to do his job, rather than how he looks doing it.

i think the only way to stop this is to take a stand about it, & stop showing.

there is a breed of dog called a rhodisian (~sp?) ridgeback which have a narrow gully dow thier spine. this is 'correct' for the breed, but it is actually a form of spina bifidia. breed societies refuse to change, & pups born without the ridge (healthy pups) r killed at birth.

hows that for cruelty. deliberatly breeding aimals with spina bifida

l have heard of them putting nails face up in the pads so when the horse steps down it pokes them causing sever pain so they will step higher. This is sick and should be fixed. l show halter horse and to have a great halter horse you shoe them so they stand up straight. l refuse to do this and my farrier agrees. l have placed first and stood reserve champion.

Good walking horses come from TWH lineage. The colts will show the gait as they play & it is a natural movement to them. They r not forced to do the gait. Any horse can move any gait if u spend enough quality time with it, probably not very well, but they can be trained to move as u want them to within possibilities. Trick horses & dressage movements prove that point. Neither of those r abused to get them to move in ways not normal to them.
You cannot breed a trait into any family of animals thru abuse. Your abuse will only effect the horse u abuse, not it is offspring or future generations.
TWH were crossbred horses that displayed the ability to travel in that smooth gait. Check out http://allbreedpedigree.com/ to find the different combinations that the original breeders used to accomplish the Tennessee Walk. Like racking & foxtrotting the genetic traits have to be present before the horse will show the natural ability without being urged to gait as u please.
Time spent training will give u the results u want in the way the horse moves. Your communications with cues to the horse tell it what part of it is body u want moved & in what direction. Only quality training time & usually lots of it will give u complete control of it is entire body.
Please post the url or information that told u u could torture a horse to make it reliably gait as a horse bred to it will.
It is true enough that competition animals r often made quite uncomfortable while being shown l agree with ur sentiments there completely. l agree the weights they used to get high steps & improper shoeing for the appearance of TWH gait is wrong. l just hope that u know the horses r not abused to make them use that gait. It is either bred into them or not.
Your first P.S. that contradicts a lot of the rest of ur question is subject to argument also. A horse with no TWH lineage is very unlikely to ever be seen doing that gait.
I've trained several walking horses & rode many. I've never heard of abusing a horse to make it gait. l have heard of people with show horses treating their horses rather bad to win a show. It is not restricted to horse shows, all top notch animal shows do some pretty weird things to their entries to win.

l did know about this. For my senior term paper in high school l wrote a paper on the abuse that show horses go under for perfection. You would be surprised by the horror stories l encountered. That is not to say all show horses are abused. l show and have seen many things good and bad. It just depends on if the person wants to win badly enough to hurt the horse. On a good note many horse shows do not allow this to happen on show grounds.

As in most show styles, TWH have practioners who do indeed practice abuse. So do dressage, H/J, saddleseat specialists, & stock horse breeds ( l am trying not to name specific breeds). You r painting teh TWH industry with a broad brush, & l believe u r talking about the ''big lick'' horses, this is even less common in the flat shod. The following link specifically addresses the use of the flat shod TWH, & will give u so more information on the abuses. http://fosh.info/

Are u calling the running walk an ''unusual walk?'' Well, it is unusual in that most horses that r not TWH do not do it, but it is a natural breed characteristic of the TWH.