1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 October Voice RS | Page 62

EDITORS NOTE—Over the past few years we have received
numerous requests from our readers from coast to coast, to pre­
sent a continuous article on the care and training of the Ten­
nessee Walking Horse. There are many different and and accepted
techniques for training horses, but there are a few basic principles
involved that may be useful to the layman. Our approach will be
to follow the progress of an actual colt in training. We will
present as much detail in pictures as possible wit! clear descrip­
tions of the type of equipment used and the reasons for this
equipment. We will also try to give you a detailed description of
the training program for this colt. Our colt and our trainer will
remain nameless. I will tell you that our subject is a black filly,
about fourteen hands tall and about fifteen months old. She is
bred right and is built to walk. It will be interesting to see if
we can make a show horse out of her. Remember that only one
in ten (if you arc lucky) makes a show horse, so we are bucking
the odds by writing this article to begin with.
TO BEGIN WITH
Our colt was halter broke when we bought her. She
had been shown in halter classes with great success and
was used to being handled. Her first lesson after she had
been stabled for a few months was to submit to being
clipped. This is one of the standard procedures of main­
taining a horse in good grooming condition and should be
done with both show and pleasure horses.
CLIPPING THE COLT
A small pair of electric clippers were used (see picture)
to trim the mane, ears and muzzle. A nose twitch was used
to take her mind off the clippers. After using a nose
twitch, be sure to massage the nose to restore circulation.
Note that the hair of the mane was clipped down about
eight to ten inches and that a good swatch of her forelock
was left in front.
SHOEING THE FIRST TIME
This colt had been shod before we purchased her but
she had her shoes removed when it was decided not to
show her again as a yearling. After she was placed in
training she was shod for the first time with “riding” in
mind. It was noted by her trainer that no shoes were put
on the rear. He pointed out that she had a natural ten­
dency to pace and that shoes on the rear were not abso­
lutely necessary for the time being. The shoes on the front
(see picture) are regular keg shoes and a small pad (about
to /t" thick) were put between the shoe and the hoof.
This is a protective and padding device common with
show horses destined for a lot of hard riding. This should
suffice for a period of four to six weeks, depending on
her progress.
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Whether you plan for your colt to be used for show or
pleasure, the basic principles of gaiting the horse to do the flat
foot walk and the running walk will be about the same. One
of the big problems with many of our Walking Horses today is
that their riders do not know just exactly what they, are looking
for with regard to the TRUE gaits. We hope to assist you with
this article.
OUCH . . . MY NOSE—A horse cannot concentrate on but
one thing at a time and here our colt is thinking about her
nose and not her ears. She gets a good trim and is ready to go
to work.
LOOKING AROUND—Note that her mane has been trimmed
down about eight inches and a good swatch of forelock is
left in front.
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse