The gait tells you first
A Tennessee Walking Horse announces senior discomfort in his signature before he shows it anywhere else. The running walk should stay what it has always been — smooth, ground-covering, evenly four-beat, with that relaxed head nod keeping time. A senior Walker who turns pacey, loses the nod, shortens behind or starts tripping on ground he has crossed a thousand times is filing a comfort report, and it deserves investigation rather than more schooling. Gaited horses are generous about compensating, quietly shifting work to other muscles until the compensation itself aches, so the owner who knows this horse's normal gait owns the best early-warning system the breed offers. Film him moving a few times a year; memory edits, video does not.
Back, legs and topline with age
The Walker's long, level back is his conformation trademark and his senior watch-point: topline muscle softens with age and reduced work, the back dips a little more, and saddle fit that suited him at fifteen may bridge and pinch years later. Hocks and stifles that powered a lifetime of that reaching hind step can stiffen, showing as reluctance on slopes, difficulty holding the gait downhill, or a horse who warms out of stiffness slowly on cold mornings. Regular, moderate work remains his friend — steady trail miles at his own gait maintain the muscle that protects everything else — but the work should now follow his warm-up rather than the clock or the riding group.
Feeding an easy-going senior
Most Walkers keep weight willingly, and retirement feeding is about holding the line: enough forage to keep the gut busy, a ration sized to his actual workload rather than his history, and restraint with rich pasture for a breed quite capable of getting round on scenery. Teeth follow the standard senior script — grinding surfaces wear, sharp points develop, quids appear around the feeder — and soaked senior feeds step in when chewing efficiency goes. Constant water, access to salt and several smaller meals rather than one large one keep an older gut comfortable. Condition is judged by hand over ribs and crest, because a Walker in a full winter coat carries his padding discreetly.
Records that make gait work-ups shorter
When a gait changes, the veterinarian's questions are all historical: when did it start, which direction is worse, what changed in work, feed or farriery. Owners who can answer precisely get to an explanation faster and with fewer detours. And should your Walker stop eating, bear weight unevenly at rest, or lose his gait quality suddenly rather than gradually, that is a call today, not a note for the next routine visit. Those notes belong with the rest of his file — dental dates, bloodwork, vaccination record, past lameness findings — in a KinsLe Pet Passport, so the whole record travels with the horse to the clinic or the specialist instead of living in three gloveboxes and a memory.