For anyone that might be wondering, I have found a gaited horse for trail rides.  He is an 18 yr old Tennessee Walker that has been trailridden everywhere.  I got him from a horse rescue and besides a bit of stringhalt, he's perfect.  I have ridden him with my friend and the two horses do well together.

Thank you all for your help!

Congratulations! Sounds like you got a real expert. And rescued him too. That's great!!

Happy Trails!!

I have 4 horses. My 9 yr old son has a QH/Mustang X, My 16yr old son has a TWH, My husband has a RockyMountain X, and me well I have My TWH.  I have had Morgans, QH, Appys.....I always wanted a TWH you know that dream horse. Well last year I received a call from a friend asking me if my Husband and I would like to go riding with them to help them execise there horses. We agreed and met them and I was shocked at the horse they picked for me. It was a huge TWH bay in color. When I say huge I mean weight. He is about 15.2 and 1200lbs. I had never seen a walker that muscle bound.  We helped them load up at were on our way to the local forestry. I was a little wired knowing this big boy hadn't been ridden in 2 years and worried over that the intire ride there. After unloading the horse the men started teasing me about him. They could see I was a little intimidated by this big guy. I decided to buck up and get on with it. I brushed and sprayed him down with repellent and saddled him up. I asked them if they wanted to ride him out first because thats the way I am, I ride out any horse of mine before a friend mounts up just to make sure all is well. .......  They laughed at me and said "No" hmmmmmm. That got me again LOL. So I took him to a picnic table and mounted. Oh didn't I tell you I am only 5' 1" and not in shape like I was in my younger days. I have to tippy toe to get my foot in the stirrup. Anyways I eased my self in the saddle and bent over and put my other foot in the stirrup raised up walked him about 10 feet out turned around and looked at the men and said are ya ready yet? That got a laugh out of them and they finished and we were on are way. We did a 8 mile ride that day and I had never been as comfortable as I was on that horse. He was so wide I felt like I was sitting on a couch. Smooth gaited and quick and sure footed. I was impressed and I wanted that horse with a passion. Getting back to the trailers I asked them what they wanted for him expecting to be turned down. When the busted out laughing and said $1000 for you it was a done deal. I soon found out that they heard I was looking for a bigger horse then the one I had which was about 14 hands. I was meaning a 14.2 and a lil heftier lol. So they set it all up knowing I would love him. Not only did I buy him "Prince". My 16 year old bought his pasture mate a 16 hand 4 year old palamino TWH mare. They matched up perfect. I can not say enough about the TWH breed and good friends and nice trails.

 Pony234

I just got my first walker, and the place that I got my walker from uses the Imus Bit.  They are a mullen mouth bit with no snaffle effect, but have an arch (not a port) for tongue relief.  I tried a bitless bridle, and he wouldn't gait in it, but the moment I put this bit in, with no reins or tension, he drops his head of his own accord and gaits.  I haven't seen any of her horses fight this bit, and it seems very light on pressure.  I just use a very loose curb chain so no tension is applied and occas half halt like in english riding with just light squeezing of alternating reins when he gets too fast, immed drop in head and slow.  This might work for your horse as another option not snaffle.

Hope this helps you out.  I'm still learning too, but mine goes barefoot in Cavallo horse boots and is super fast on trails.

Thanks for letting me know. I actually have a new boarder at my barn and she used to train Walking horses. She also recommended the same bit and I tried it and it does make a bigggggg difference! He actually bobs his head and performs the running walk and the rack! She is working with him now and we are going to start showing. I am so excited!!

I switched to a gaited horse when the pain in my neck prevented me from riding my quarter horse.  Since then I have owned and loved a number of gaited horse breeds including Walkers, Foxtrotters, Rocky Mountain and Kentucky Mountain horses.  They are all wonderful horses but I love my Mountain horses the best.  Their natural four beat gait is smooth and they pick their feet up so that they do not trip on mountain trails.  But, most importantly, they have wonderful dispositions - they are calm and willing - and they have endurance to carry me for days without failure.  The Rocky & Kentucky Mountain horse is bred to gait naturally (without artificial aids) and for steady dispositions.  We use our Mountain horses on trail rides, training and competing our bird dogs and driving cattle across the open range.  Additionally we show our horses.  The Mountain show horses must gait naturally - you will not see padded shoes or other artificial aids at a Mountain horse show - this means that we can take our trail horses to a show and be competitive.  Search for United Mountain Horse web site for more information on this excellent breed.

Victosmith:

The Rocky & Kentucky Mountain horse is bred to gait naturally (without artificial aids) and for steady dispositions.   The Mountain show horses must gait naturally - you will not see padded shoes or other artificial aids at a Mountain horse show - this means that we can take our trail horses to a show and be competitive.  Search for United Mountain Horse web site for more information on this excellent breed.

So as to not cause any confusion for folks that don't own gaited horses, Tennessee Walkers are also naturally gaited.

I own three Tennessee Walkers, with the 21+ yo having been with me since he was not quite 3.  I have never had to teach any of them anything regarding gaiting.  They don't trip over themselves either.  Any time a horse trips over themselves (trotted or gaited), the blame can in all likelihood be placed on the farrier.

Tennessee Walkers with very long reaches can be difficult to get rear their hooves trimmed correctly (they sometimes like to overreach), but my Tennessee Walkers have ridden the trails for years without tripping.  All they get is one of those gawrsh-awful Quarter Horse trims.  If I needed shoes they weren't keg shoes, they were St. Croix rim shoes with borium head nails because we used to do some real 'rock climbing" when we were all younger (the horses and me

 I will not get into a debate over pads on Walking Horses, but the bottom line to them is that they are put on the Walking Horse to enhance the gait the horse was born with --- not to teach the horse to gait.

Now that I've said that, please don't let this turn into a "performance package" debate.  It's not what this thread is about.

I just don't want any misconceptions amongst the owners of trotting horses that Tennessee Walkers can't gait and are trippy

When in fact "naturally born to gait"  IS what their gene pool is all about if one researches their early beginnings and treating their hooves "normally" does a whole lot more good than someone commenting "oh that's a Tennessee Walker, he needs to be done different".  My three are living trail proof that is an absolute fallacy

Walkinthewalk - I Agree - we have also owned naturally gaited walkers (and foxtrotters) which we love to trail ride   I did not mean any disrespect to walkers.  I was referring to the show - you may have had a different experience, but our trail shod walkers were not competitive in the show and our moutain horses are.  Not a dish on the horses, but I suppose that it is a difference in show objectives. We enjoy that (without reshoeing) we & our children can take our mountain horses from our rugged mountain trails to the show ring and give a winning performance.  Apologize for any misunderstanding.