My TWH

Tell everyone about your 4 legged friend and post pictures too.

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Permalink Reply by LuvMyAQH on September 8, 2008 at 8:32pm

This is Charlie Brown, a 6 yo Spotted Saddle Horse. Also known as a handsome Tennessee Walker. :)

I found Charlie in Bedford, VA after a two month exhaustive search. Here's to hoping many happy years together!

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Permalink Reply by Nina Kraus on September 9, 2008 at 7:59am: I am sure you two will have many wonderful and fun years together. He is beautiful. I do have a question. What makes a spotted saddle horse? Is that part saddlebred or all walker?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LuvMyAQH on September 19, 2008 at 8:11pm: It is a Tennessee Walker who has spots but fits a certain criteria. According to the National Spotted Saddle Horse Association:

"National Spotted Saddle Horse - Spotted Registry
In order for a horse to quality for registration with the National Spotted Saddle Horse Association, Inc., it must be spotted, color above the hock other than facial markings, it must be able to exhibit a gait other than a trot. The "Spotting" must consist of white and any other recognized horse color.

The horse must possess one spot about a level line, midway between the center of the knee and the floor of the chest and midway between the point of the hock and the center point of the stifle. A horse must exhibit a spot TWO inches or more in diameter with underlying contrast skin in the area described above or in the tail. Facial markings and/or high stockings alone do not qualify as a spot.

Unnatural markings: Any horse which is found to have unnatural markings will be rejected from registration, and the owner may be barred from the Association. The Association shall have the option of sending a NSSHA representative to collect hair samples and/or biopsies (by a licensed veterinarian) as a precendent right to registration or for a horse to remain registered.

A stepping pace, a rack, or any type saddle gait other than a trot will be acceptable."

I plan on registering Charlie through here after I get better at riding the gaits.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nina Kraus on September 19, 2008 at 8:21pm: That's really interesting. I had never heard of that before. You know there are so many different breeds that people don't know about. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gimme A Dream on September 19, 2008 at 10:21pm: Charlie Brown is a beautiful horse! I have a soft spot for black and white coloring, lol. But neither have I heard of a Spotted Saddle Horse register.They must be very unusual. Copper, my pinto would only work in the collected walker gaits. He was/is amazing to ride, very showy. So I can only imagine how Charlie will be.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LuvMyAQH on September 21, 2008 at 12:21am: Charlie is very showy and all of the TWH gurus in the area think I have some horse on my hands. Some are disappointed though that I only bought him for a trail horse. Great thing is Charlie is mine so I get to chose what to do with him.

On the same line, I have worked Charlie in the ring and he is okay. His true passion is trail riding. He can be 100 mph in the field and ring, but as soon as you get on and point his nose out the gate, his game face comes on. He trucks right out and even gets a little grumpy (walks stiff-legged) if you try to make him come back early. It is a true match as I am used to 2-4 hour (if not longer) trail rides.

Charlie can be strong on ground work, we are working on that every day before I ride. As soon as you put him in the cross ties and bring out the saddle, it is like a different horse appears. He goes all Zen and settles in. Lets you do anything you want. Mount up and head out the gate and the ears pitch forward, the knees come up and he aims to please.

We are still learning each other as I can be a forward rider compared to what he is used to. I rode Hunter/Jumper for many years so sitting up and back a little with the feet kicked forward slightly are foreign to me. Plus the longer stirrups are something new. I find he responds to little nuances in my change in posture. If I sit forward a little, he stops. If I sit on the seat bones and pitch my pelvis up a little, Charlie moves out. Neat things like that.

Okay, I blabbed on long enough. I realize I forgot to include the link to the National Spotted Saddle Horse Association (NSSHA) http://www.nssha.com/index.html so here you go!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LuvMyAQH on September 21, 2008 at 12:23am: Oh and it is more than just TWHs that are also registered as SSH. I don't think I made that clear. Charlie just happens to be a TWH.

Any gaited horse with the correct markings can be registered with the NSSHA.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nina Kraus on September 21, 2008 at 8:08am: It is always nice to have a horse that enjoys what he does. Our show horses must be pampered puppies--they work about 15 minutes a day lol Our lesson horses put in a lot more time.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gimme A Dream on September 22, 2008 at 6:59pm: I think my Canadian mare might be like that, but I'm not sure. She is smart - smarter than any horse I've ever come to know. She will speak to me verbally in such a manner that I understand what she is saying. That is sometimes scary. But she is lazy and stubborn and a..., I'm sure I've called her pig-headed more often than not. But when she goes to the beach, she seems to be a dream on long trail rides. I'm not all that sure yet though, because she is smart and could decide she doesn't want and that is it, no more fun. She is the decision maker of the herd, the problem solver, but she isn't the alpha horse. Here is a recent photo! She is cute but what a handful!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lynne Levy on November 7, 2008 at 8:29am

OK. I have to show off my wonderful TWH. We lost him in May but he was the greatest horse ever (not that I might be biased or anything). When we bought him we were told that he was "viscious and untrainable". Guess he never wanted to be an English Pleasure rail horse. He was so bored that he got into trouble just for fun. We brought him to a Walking Horse Owners Assoc. Register of Merit and his picture is on the wall at the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Assoc. for his Supreme Versitility Championship. Guess he wasn't untrainable after all. His name was Ideals Carbon Gray aka Boomer and we miss him alot. (hope I did the attachment right)

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Permalink Reply by Nina Kraus on November 7, 2008 at 1:52pm: You did it absolutely right Lynne. What wonderful pictures of him. By the way, how are you doing? I haven't heard from you since your surgery.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lynne Levy on May 25, 2009 at 2:14pm: Sorry, haven't been here in a while. Have had 2 surgeries since and one to come this week. Guess I self destruct really well. Hasn't stopped me from giving lessons, doing presentations on the comparison of various gaited breeds differing gaits, and have judged 2 shows (both last weekend) an "open gaited" show on Saturday and a hunter show on Sunday at oposite ends of the state. The new open gaited series started with 1 show last year (I got to judge and it was a BLAST) and is now 3 shows this year because of the great turnout. The other 2 judges were kinda paranoid and wanted me to do the first one :>) It was just as fun as last year's show. 2 of my students (possibly more) are planning to show the second and third shows so I still get to go and have a great time.
Can you let me know when the ASB shows are in the area?; ▶ Reply to This