sites/5c/5cc5321141481b9480be028a1fbbbeb3/attachments/Media/runningwalk.mpg

Silverstone Stud has been established for the purpose of breeding and promoting the purebred Tennessee Walking Horse in New Zealand.

In the early days of the breed, the walking horse was established by farmers living around the Appalachian area in middle Tennessee, they were an all purpose mount, pulling plows, taking the family to church in the buggy, but specifically prized for their ability to provide a comfortable ground covering ride over the local rocky, steep mountain terrain.  The farmers needed athletic, surefooted horses with stamina and smoothness as well as a significant focus on temperament.  These horses were utilised the by whole family, from youngest to oldest, and to this day retain the reputation of having trusting and very forgiving natures.

They exhibit an intermediate gait between trot and canter that is naturally smooth, a square 4-beat stride that eats up the miles in a less tiring manner for either horse or rider. This is a gait uniquely their own.  Most Tennessee Walkers do not display a trot at all, preferring instead their intermediate running walk.

Picture a scale with the pace at one end, and a trot at the other, with the natural 4 beat flat walk right in the middle of the two.  They have two speeds in their intermediate gait, the first being the "flat walk" which compares in speed to a jog or slow trot, and their true run walk which ranges in speed between trot and canter.  The canter is on the diagonal like other breeds, but with exceptional spring and lift, which can feel like the forward and back movement of a rocking horse.