# can i ride a tennessee walker english?



## katie1118 (Apr 9, 2012)

I ride saddleseat and show saddleseat but i just got a tenneessee walker that i planned on riding western. I kinda changed my mind since I always ride english and want to get an english saddle, but i want something thats super comfy and that is good on trail rides. anyone have any suggestions? and will my tennessee walker be ok riding english? i just got her to ride for fun, not planning on showing or anything just a pleasure, trail riding, for fun horse thanks!


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## Puddintat (Jul 24, 2010)

If the saddle fits, why not? A friend of mine uses an english saddle on her Tenn. sometimes.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

She'll be fine. :wink: I ride my SSH only English. No problem.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

English is Ok, just dont ride it Yankee


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## phoebeeliza (Aug 13, 2012)

*Yes!*



katie1118 said:


> I ride saddleseat and show saddleseat but i just got a tenneessee walker that i planned on riding western. I kinda changed my mind since I always ride english and want to get an english saddle, but i want something thats super comfy and that is good on trail rides. anyone have any suggestions? and will my tennessee walker be ok riding english? i just got her to ride for fun, not planning on showing or anything just a pleasure, trail riding, for fun horse thanks!


I grew up riding at a TWH barn and they were all trained and ridden English. In fact, I didn't even know that TWH were considered a "Western" horse until recently, thanks to the internet. I just adore Walkers, they have the loveliest temperaments and there's nothing in the world like a nice fast running walk, it's like riding a horse with wheels instead of legs! And most that I rode had gorgeous rocking horse canters too. I even used to jump on a Walker, a big grey stallion named Sir.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

I have never ridden a gaited horse and can't even begin to understand what you all are talking about but it sounds fantastic!


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

TWH are usually ridden English in the show ring.  You can ride her in whatever saddle you like!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Of course you can. A friend of mine had one in the UK and always rode him in english tack - he did some showjumping & hunting too. She hadn't a clue about the whole gaited thing and he trotted normally most of the time but would start to gait when he got excited.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Nobody mentioned that the Plantation Saddle, as pictured below, (Steele version)
Steele Plantation Trail Saddle
was _created_ to ride the TWH. It is technically, a type of SaddleSeat saddle, with English irons, and no knee rolls, usually cut back at the pommel to accommodate a horse with prominant withers.
In the agricultural pre-CW South the population was much lower than the north, with few towns and good distances in between them. It was natural that gaited horses would be preferred to get you comfortably around, and yes, they rode "English." We own a very old plantation saddle--sorry, don't know where the pictures are of it, but I'll take some this weekend--and it's almost identical to the site above, just without the fancy tooling.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I thought that most people rode TWH's in saddleseat saddles unless they wanted something different for trails. Back when I had my walker, I rode hundreds of miles in an old saddleseat saddle. It worked well for me. I liked the saddleseat better on the walker than the all purpose saddle.


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## HighstepperLove (Aug 6, 2012)

Of course! I rode saddleseat on Saddlebreds most of my life.. just now starting to ride western on my TWH. I broke a SSH/TWH cross to ride both western and saddleseat. Talk about a FUN ride!!!


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

I rode my TWH gelding english up until our accident. I ride him bareback now, because I can't ride english anymore and I don't have a western saddle that fits him well...


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Britt said:


> I rode my TWH gelding english up until our accident. I ride him bareback now, because I can't ride english anymore and I don't have a western saddle that fits him well...


 Why cant you ride in an english saddle any more - I tried a western saddle and didnt find it any more comfortable - I can see that the western saddle has more in front and behind you for support? If so I cant see how riding bareback would be better than an english saddle


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