Westwood Farms Reference: Walking Horse History

Reference

Walking Horst History This section of our website is meant to showcase some of the great horses in our own horses' pedigrees. The content in this section is often copyrighted, and we ask that you do not take photos without first asking permission. You are more than welcome to link directly to any of these pages if you want to show off your horse's ancestors. The Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse Magazine has graciously given us permission to use photos and/or articles that were published in the Voice and many wonderful former owners, trainers and enthusiasts have provided us with photos and stories to use. Also, special thanks to Franne Brandon, who has been a wonderful resource for the heritage walking horses.

We enjoy studying our horse's bloodlines to learn about the fascinating history behind their ancestors, however, we feel that bloodlines alone do not make the horse. Just like humans, horses (even full siblings) inherit different genes and traits. While certain lines are proven to throw certain traits, each horse is an individual, and should be judged as such. It used to be a well kept industry secret that certain many registered horses weren't who their papers proclaimed them to be. Prior to DNA typing, registration papers could be wrong for a number of reasons, some honest (mistaken identity, accidental breedings, etc.) and some not (reused papers and fraud). (See the curious case of Merry Minnie!) Even today, the owners of WGC stallions often pull the papers of their colts who don't make show horses to sell them as grade if they aren't the quality that they hoped for and geldings are sometimes given different sets of papers to show with. While I'm totally against fraud and skewing the numbers in favor of one stallion or another to win points for offspring in the showring, I believe that a great horse is a great horse, no matter the pedigree. I'd take a fantastic horse with no pedigree over a mediocre horse with the world's best pedigree any day. My (albiet unpopular) opinion is that horses that exhibit the proper gaits, disposition and live up to all the original breed standards ought to still be allowed to be registered.

The walking horse breed as seen today is very different from the breed's beginning, but that is true of almost all breeds. The walking horse breed, like all modern horse breeds, has utilized linebreeding to magnify the desirable traits ("backend" - or the reach of the hind legs, "headset" - or the height of the head and set of the neck, and other traits.) While this can be a good thing, sometimes there are traits lost along the way.

One common criticism of modern show horses is their predisposition towards the lateral (pace) side of the gait. In order to carry a "performance package" (stack/pad), a horse with a natural hard pace is preferred as the weight of the package itself throws the natural timing of the hard pace off to appear more 4 beat. A horse who was more naturally square 4 beat would not be able to carry the package properly.

We utilize old foundation bloodlines, working western lines and modern lines in order to produce what we believe was the original intent of the breed: a solid minded, good hearted, naturally gaited working horse who can trail ride with the whole family or win a blue ribbon.

We are always adding and expanding our content. If you have stories or photos that have to do with walking horse history and you would be willing to share, please e-mail us! If you have orginal photos that you would like to donate to us to scan and/or restore digitally, please mail them to 2063 Meander Run Road, Locust Dale, Virginia 22948.