# New to riding and got a question



## silkenrosepetal2 (Dec 25, 2007)

Hello guys. Not only am i new to riding but I'm new to the forum. 

Ok.. I know that people are going to say this is probably dangerous but I'm a new rider riding a 4 year old Tennessee walker who has been classified as 'green broke'. We ride really well together, we know each other and we're both getting comfortable with each other. I'm 4'10 and I'm riding in an endurance saddle, i think. 

Now here is my question. I'm just learning to get comfortable with her trot, she's still learning her gait. I want to get comfortable in a canter and eventually a gallop. She's a bit bouncy, but I enjoy it, and wanted to know if anyone had any tips on helping me get comfortable with her and with her going faster, she is getting impatient with me I think keeping her in a trot and walk. I hate to hold her back and want to feel comfortable on her.


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## BluMagic (Sep 23, 2007)

I wouln't suggest going faster at all. Especially on a young horse! Just learn to move with her. You have to adjust to eachother. I still don't like the age and all but I guess that's ok. Just wait for more opinions.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I'm not sure why you want a gaited horse to trot. You should at this point in her life be working on her collection and gaits. Its a bad habit to get a gaited horse to trot excessivly. I'm not that familiar with the TWH but she should have enough speed in her running walk to keep your need for speed happy. 
Just a note, please be careful. You are both pretty green and I would hate for either of you to get hurt. Is there any way you could get some lessons together? Or is there someone close by who could help you? If not there are a couple of good clinitians out there you might look into. Brenda Imus is in particular for the TWH and gaited horses and Don West is good too although he is more toward the Paso horse. Don West has a couple of good books one called something I can't remember "A sure Cure for the Trots" my husband swears by. You could google either one of these names for more info.


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## xoLivxo (Dec 27, 2007)

blumagic is right. i def wouldnt go fast on a horse thats four and when you just started. hold off on the gallop. once youve absolutly mastered the trot id move on. and you dont HAVE to master the gallop. i ride english hunters jumpers and equtation but i dont have to do the gallop because it is not a required gate. however a hand gallop is.....

and if the horse is still new, id think about trying a different horse unless this one is DEAD quiet. you know wat they say, green on green equals black on blue.


please be careful...my trainer at my show barn says that greens are like todlers, very unpredictable.


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## kim_angel (Oct 16, 2007)

I have two TWH's and my best suggestion to you is to buy the Clinton Anderson video on Gaited Horses. You can get it on ebay rather cheap.

Also, make sure you have the correct saddle. Gaited horses need saddles that are specifically designed for a gaited horse because of their range of motion. Thats VERY important or it will not only hinder your horse from doing her natural gait, but it can also hurt them.

If your horse goes into a bouncy gait, you want to slow it down some. You dont want a gaited horse to trot. 

First thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with gaited horses and go from there.

Get the book Easy Gaited Horses by Lee Ziegler.
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/Clinton-Anderso...goryZ617QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## silkenrosepetal2 (Dec 25, 2007)

*Thx*

Thanks for all the advice and concern. My Baby Girl is a little unpredictable but I've been riding her so long now that riding another horse doesn't feel right, and she gets jealous. Anything she does I know it's not ment to hurt me or try to. The saddle I have is the one the previous owner had with her. 
I don't know alot about TWH but I kind of let her do what she wants as long as she doesn't go to fast and out of my comfort zone. I want what is best for her and me as well. I definately don't want black on blue.. I've fallen once on her ( wasn't her fault) and it hurt really bad. 
Like I said I'm a new rider and just want some help on being comfortable as well as being comfortable enough to allow her to find her gait. Thanks for the advice and I'll look into the links and such.


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## horse_luver4e (Jul 12, 2007)

> I'm not sure why you want a gaited horse to trot. You should at this point in her life be working on her collection and gaits.


I agree.


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## silkenrosepetal2 (Dec 25, 2007)

I don't even know what you mean by her collection of gaits.. again.. I'm new. So please speak with simple terms and explain because I probably dont know what your talking about. 

And why do I want a gaited horse? Why not have a gaited horse? They have a better ride, smoother... is there really a problem with having a gaited horse?


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

No, it's just that it's hard to give advice via forums. With horses, its much more effective to be there in person.

If you have a trainer or an experienced friend, consulting them would be much more helpful to you. Although, experience is often the best teacher when it comes to horses. I say give it a shot, see what happens. 

And since you're new, remember, when horse people give advice, it's 75% personal opinion. 

:wink:


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

No problem what so ever with having a gaited horse I have 4 of them. Love them to death. Its collection AND gait by the way. Kim_angel would give the best advice on the TWH I'm not sure what their gaits are called (its different with different breeds). Your horse is still pretty young so he can't be expected to perform all gaits yet. This is a really good article http://www.gaitsofgold.net/content/view/109/16/ . The advice she gives on working the horse in soft ground is great. I try to work Vida in a freshly plowed field when available or up hills.


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## horses4ever123 (Jun 1, 2007)

*...*

Not to be rude but you should have learned much more about TWH before you bought one. Gaited horses can be different from regular horses with there gaits and special needs like saddles. Any way you always have to find information on a breed of horse before you buy it. I also think the age of te horse is not great for a beggining rider. If you really want to learn on her I would try to get a trainer or a video like Kim_Angel said. You can definately not go faster with her until you get the trot down, unless you really want to trot.


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## TheStables (Dec 29, 2007)

Are you interested in showing this horse or is this just for fun? I think you will come along much faster as a rider with an older, more advanced horse. If this is for fun, keep having fun! Just be careful. If you want to be a better rider overall, I think it's best to ride as many different horses (all gaited if that's what you like) as you can. Each horse has a different stride to their gait and different personality. I find it interesting to try to "figure out" what makes each horse respond.


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## mylucalove (Jan 2, 2008)

You say that when you ride another horse "it doesn't feel right." In my experience that means that your might be giving wrong or bad cues that your horse might have "figured out" by itself. With one so young you also have the potential to teach it wrong things without even knowing. As far as the saddle goes just because the saddle came with the horse doesn't mean it fits. (That happened to me one time.) 

You really should look into getting lessons together. And ride different horses. Its the only way to be safe. Also, your lack of knowledge makes me nurvous. Sorry, but it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.


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