Tennessee Walking Horse (Tennessee Walker)

People usually look up the Tennessee Walking Horse when they’re weighing up a gaited mount for trail rides, trying to understand the famous “running walk”, or checking whether the breed’s show-ring controversy affects everyday riding. Comfort matters here. So does welfare.

What follows is a clear, grounded profile: where the breed came from, what it typically looks and moves like, how it’s used today, and what “soring” means in practical terms—without blurring the line between the horse itself and the way some people have handled it.^{1, 2}

Quick facts: Tennessee Walking Horse (Tennessee Walker)

• Origin: United States (developed in Tennessee)¹
• Height: commonly around 15–16 hands; many sources give a broader range up to about 17 hands^{1, 3}
• Weight: often around 900–1,200 lb (roughly 410–545 kg), varying with size and condition³
• Coat colour: wide range of solid colours and markings are seen^{1, 3}
• Distinctive feature: natural four-beat “running walk” (inherited; not something you can train into a horse that doesn’t have it)^{1, 4}
• Temperament (general): commonly described as calm and people-friendly; individuals still vary¹
• Common uses: trail and pleasure riding; also showing in gaited classes¹

History and origin

The Tennessee Walking Horse developed in the American South as a practical riding horse—built for long hours in the saddle, over uneven ground, with a gait that stays smooth as the speed rises. Over time, a mix of horse families contributed, with selective breeding fixing the “running walk” as the trademark movement.¹

What the breed looks like

Most Tennessee Walking Horses sit in the middle-to-large riding-horse range: solid through the body, with sloping shoulders and a longer outline that suits a ground-covering stride. Height varies by line and individual, but many adults fall around 15 to 16 hands, with taller horses also seen.^{1, 3}

Colour is not the point of the breed, and you’ll see plenty of variation—dark bays and blacks, chestnuts, palominos, greys, and more. Markings can be minimal or bold.^{1, 3}

The running walk (and why it feels different)

The running walk is a four-beat gait with the same basic footfall pattern as a normal walk, just faster and more ground-covering. A key detail is overstride: the hind foot typically lands ahead of the print left by the forefoot, giving that long, gliding feel from the saddle. Many horses also show a natural head nod in rhythm with the stride.^{1, 4}

It’s worth saying plainly: this gait is inherited. Training can improve balance, softness, and fitness, but it can’t manufacture a true running walk in a horse that wasn’t born with it.^{1, 5}

How Tennessee Walkers are used

In everyday riding, the breed’s reputation rests on comfort and stamina. A smooth intermediate gait can make longer trail days easier on a rider’s back and hips, and it’s one reason the breed has stayed popular beyond its home region.¹

Common, realistic roles include:

• trail and pleasure riding (English or Western tack)
• gaited showing (flat-shod or performance divisions, depending on rules)
• general riding where a calm, steady horse is valued

Breeding and training: what matters most

Good Tennessee Walking Horses are usually the quiet result of sensible selection: parents with a clear natural gait, sound legs and feet, and minds that stay steady under pressure. Training then polishes what’s already there—rhythm, straightness, responsiveness—so the horse can keep the gait without tension or fatigue.

Because the running walk is a natural gait, training that prioritises relaxation and correct conditioning tends to produce the best movement. Heavy-handed methods may produce a look, but they rarely produce lasting soundness.

Soring, “Big Lick”, and the rules that surround them

The Tennessee Walking Horse itself isn’t the controversy. The controversy is “soring”: deliberate pain applied to the lower limbs or feet to exaggerate action in some show classes. In the United States, soring is illegal under the Horse Protection Act, and it is enforced by USDA APHIS.⁶

APHIS describes soring as using substances, devices, and/or practices that cause pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness to create a more animated gait—an approach tied particularly to some Tennessee Walking Horse and racking-horse competition settings.⁶

Regulation also changes over time. As of late January 2026, APHIS announced a postponement of implementation for parts of its strengthened Horse Protection Act rule, with non-vacated provisions moving to an effective date of 31 December 2026.⁷

For owners and riders outside that show niche, the practical takeaway is simple: a naturally gaited, flat-shod Walking Horse can be a comfortable, capable trail horse; an exaggerated “manufactured” look should always raise welfare questions.

Health concerns: laminitis and colic

Tennessee Walking Horses share the same big-ticket health risks as many riding breeds. Two that owners routinely plan around are laminitis and colic—not because they’re unique to Walkers, but because they can become life-threatening quickly.

Laminitis

Laminitis is inflammation and damage within the hoof that can cause severe pain and, in serious cases, destabilise the pedal (coffin) bone. Early signs can include heat in the feet, a bounding digital pulse, reluctance to move, and a characteristic “sawhorse” stance as the horse shifts weight to reduce pressure on the front feet.⁸

Colic

“Colic” means abdominal pain, and it ranges from mild to surgical emergencies. Signs can include pawing, looking at the flank, repeated lying down or rolling, reduced appetite, and reduced manure output. Colic can be fatal, so it’s treated as an urgent veterinary problem until proven otherwise.⁹

Famous horses (a careful note)

You’ll often see famous names from the show world attached to the breed’s history. They can be part of the story, but they’re not a reliable guide to what you’ll experience in the saddle day to day. When choosing a Tennessee Walker, the useful questions are closer to home: how sound is this horse, how naturally does it gait, and how was it trained?

Final thoughts

The Tennessee Walking Horse is best understood as a smooth-travelling riding horse shaped by practical needs—distance, comfort, and steady movement. The running walk is real, natural, and quietly impressive when it’s produced without force. The breed’s welfare debates are also real, and they sit alongside the better, everyday reality of flat-shod horses doing what they were built for: covering ground, calmly.^{1, 6}

References

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica — “Tennessee walking horse”
2. USDA APHIS — Horse Protection Act (HPA)
3. Oklahoma State University — Tennessee Walking Horses
4. Wikipedia — Ambling gait (running walk overview)
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica — running walk as a natural gait (breed profile)
6. USDA APHIS — definition of soring and what the HPA prohibits
7. USDA APHIS — “USDA Postpones Implementation of Horse Protection Amendments” (January 28, 2026)
8. Virbac Australia — Laminitis in horses & ponies (clinical signs)
9. Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine — Colic (signs and urgency)