Neighbor's new horse

[Minouri]

Rode neighbor's new TWH yesterday. Anyone on here have one? I thought he was a little choppy, but his feet are very long. I'm going to have to do some reading up on the breed. My neighbor asked me if I could help him figure out the gait and stuff since I love gaited horses. I've ridden TWHs before and they were much smoother than this boy....BUT this guy doesn't know gaited horses and doesn't care about the level of smoothness....just wants a sane horse. I've only test ridden TWHs. I don't know the correct level of collection or how to reinforce the gait.

He seemed like a good boy. The seller had him in a snaffle that he was chomping on like no one's business. Does anyone know what they are usually ridden in? Maybe his teeth need to be floated? I've never seen a horse constantly chew on the bit like he did. Maybe he was ridden in a hackamore or something?

[Linda Y]

I don't know a whole lot about them, but his gait should be smooth. They tend to roll side to side a little. And when they walk they have what I call a camel gait.
They should get in touch with the former owner if possible to see what type of bit was used. They don't usually use snaffles on Walkers. He may want to try an ordinary curb. TWHs are like Pasos and have a 'special' bit, but if he is chewing that much they may well have used a mechanical hackamore on him.

[reuben T]

i never had one but have rode a few, they vary greatly in gait, can trot rough like any horse but usually they can go into a smoother gait. chewing the bit is usually a first time response to a bit.

[DebJ]

We have one. He is my husband's horse. He rides with a snaffle bit and Treasure does really well. Try moving your hands up and down in different heights and play with seat position. My husband did not know the previous owner, bought horse through a third party, so he just tried different things till the horse responded. It took awhile, but Treasure has a very smooth gait and can keep up with my Paso pretty well. But --yes--it does depend on the horse too. The gait should be more like a side to side movement, so not as "smooth" as a paso, but still no bouncing.
My paso chewed the snaffle bit, so I changed bits and now she does not do this. So you could try something else. Experiment and have fun. That is what we have done and all worked out well.

[Tracey]

I have ridden some, rode with lots. Lots of them pace (and most of the owners don't know it), and most of them are ridden for some reason in a curb with foot long straight shanks (they are called walking horse bits)

[Blameitonbrio]

When we got Mack, my husbands's TWH, I asked Lee Ziegler about bits. She is deceased now, but her website exists as a tribute to her and it has tons of info on gaitedhorses. http://leeziegler.com/

Anyway, for our TWH, she recommended trying a dressage curb, and Mack has done very well in it. It is much shorter shanked than a walking horse bit, and it has a low port. We got it online from Libertyville Saddle shop -- www.saddleshop.com catalog number 05-0781.

Check out her site though; it is chock full of good stuff to learn.