Is My Tennessee Walker Sleep Walking?
By Gaye DeRusso
Tennessee Walking Horses are great horses but some of them are too calm. Yes, I said it too calm. If you are not entertaining them with something to do, or gaiting, they seem to just fall asleep on their feet. I am not talking about stopping and falling asleep. I am talking about walking and falling asleep. You might be thinking, what?
Exactly, but I have trained so many over the years, show horses and trail horses and some due to their breeding, are just too calm. With these horses you have to constantly give them jobs and help them stay awake, because a horse that is bred to slide its feet forward and then also does not pay attention, can be a tripping disaster.
These horses when riding on trail, you need to keep the rein short enough that you can keep their heads up, do not let them put their heads lower than their chest. If you let them put their head down to their knees, you're setting yourself up to have them fall down if they trip, because all their weight is on their front end. This does not mean you can't let them put their head down to look at something, you can, but then shorten back up. This means do not ride with long loose reins.
Also, because they are so calm when they trip, they usually fall down on their knees, they don't jump up like regular horses. Some trip, fall down, lay there, and hang out, others start eating. Everyone thinks something is wrong with them because what horse would do this. Well, a Walking Horse will. Some don't even care if all the other horses leave, they will still just lay there.
I still love all these horses; you just have to know how to deal with them and not fall asleep yourself. When on the trail every 5 minutes or so depending on the calmness of the horse, give him a job. Leg yield, serpentine, shoulder, or hindquarters in, stop and back up, make a circle, go over logs, go over rocks. Keep giving them things to do. Gait and make them do it with engagement and some energy, not a sloppy gait with all their weight on their front end.
When you see roots or rocks on the trail, make sure they are awake. Tap with your stick or hit them with your spurs, you may feel bad, but you will feel worse if they fall down.
If they do trip, you need to yank their head up and hold so they have something to push against. Lean your weight back as far as you can, on their hindquarters would be great and spur or hit them with the stick to scare them some so they jump up. If you don't, they may fall down and then will just lay there smelling the daisies.
If you're going to not pay attention, be a passenger and ride with long loose reins with the horse's head down by their knees, do not get one of these horses, they are not for you. They are great horses but need to be managed correctly to be good trail horses.
I have seen these horses labeled as trippers and some put down. Sad, very sad as they are put down because they are too calm and guess what, we did that. We bred them too calm and now people are putting them down, because the owners and the vets working them up do not understand these horses.
So, know if you have one of these horses, it probably does not have a neurologic problem or EPM, it has a rider problem and if you're not willing to ride it correctly, please do not put it down, just sell it to someone who understands the issue and is willing to be an active rider.
Please share this article, everywhere you can, as it may save some horses. Any horse can be too calm, I even know of a fox trotter that was too calm and was put down. I would have stopped it but didn't find out until after it happen. But that is why I made all the neurologic videos on YouTube. Some good came of it by saving other horses but at that horse's expense. He was one of the best horses I have ever trained, never spooked at a thing, who would have thought not spooking was a bad thing. Still makes me cry.
By Gaye DeRusso
Tennessee Walking Horses are great horses but some of them are too calm. Yes, I said it too calm. If you are not entertaining them with something to do, or gaiting, they seem to just fall asleep on their feet. I am not talking about stopping and falling asleep. I am talking about walking and falling asleep. You might be thinking, what?
Exactly, but I have trained so many over the years, show horses and trail horses and some due to their breeding, are just too calm. With these horses you have to constantly give them jobs and help them stay awake, because a horse that is bred to slide its feet forward and then also does not pay attention, can be a tripping disaster.
These horses when riding on trail, you need to keep the rein short enough that you can keep their heads up, do not let them put their heads lower than their chest. If you let them put their head down to their knees, you're setting yourself up to have them fall down if they trip, because all their weight is on their front end. This does not mean you can't let them put their head down to look at something, you can, but then shorten back up. This means do not ride with long loose reins.
Also, because they are so calm when they trip, they usually fall down on their knees, they don't jump up like regular horses. Some trip, fall down, lay there, and hang out, others start eating. Everyone thinks something is wrong with them because what horse would do this. Well, a Walking Horse will. Some don't even care if all the other horses leave, they will still just lay there.
I still love all these horses; you just have to know how to deal with them and not fall asleep yourself. When on the trail every 5 minutes or so depending on the calmness of the horse, give him a job. Leg yield, serpentine, shoulder, or hindquarters in, stop and back up, make a circle, go over logs, go over rocks. Keep giving them things to do. Gait and make them do it with engagement and some energy, not a sloppy gait with all their weight on their front end.
When you see roots or rocks on the trail, make sure they are awake. Tap with your stick or hit them with your spurs, you may feel bad, but you will feel worse if they fall down.
If they do trip, you need to yank their head up and hold so they have something to push against. Lean your weight back as far as you can, on their hindquarters would be great and spur or hit them with the stick to scare them some so they jump up. If you don't, they may fall down and then will just lay there smelling the daisies.
If you're going to not pay attention, be a passenger and ride with long loose reins with the horse's head down by their knees, do not get one of these horses, they are not for you. They are great horses but need to be managed correctly to be good trail horses.
I have seen these horses labeled as trippers and some put down. Sad, very sad as they are put down because they are too calm and guess what, we did that. We bred them too calm and now people are putting them down, because the owners and the vets working them up do not understand these horses.
So, know if you have one of these horses, it probably does not have a neurologic problem or EPM, it has a rider problem and if you're not willing to ride it correctly, please do not put it down, just sell it to someone who understands the issue and is willing to be an active rider.
Please share this article, everywhere you can, as it may save some horses. Any horse can be too calm, I even know of a fox trotter that was too calm and was put down. I would have stopped it but didn't find out until after it happen. But that is why I made all the neurologic videos on YouTube. Some good came of it by saving other horses but at that horse's expense. He was one of the best horses I have ever trained, never spooked at a thing, who would have thought not spooking was a bad thing. Still makes me cry.