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Sandra with Lady Bug

 

Pleasure Gaits Walking Horse Farm

Hechtel, Belgium, Europe

 

Please visit our website at www.pleasuregaits.com for more information!!

 

Tennessee Walking Horse

 

The Tennessee Walker is established in the 19th century by mixing several breeds like the Morgan, Naranganset Pacer, Standardbred and Thoroughbred.

 

The Walking Horse is bred to be ridden, driven and perform light farm work. They also became very popular with Southern plantation owners. The most prominent characteristic of Tennessee Walkers is their smooth flat walk and running walk. It is    a square four-beat gait with a gliding motion, and a bobbing of the head accompanying each step. Traveling at speeds from   6 to 12 miles per hour  (9 to18 kilometers), Walkers can sustain these gaits for long distances without fatigue to themselves  or their passengers.

 

 Sandra on "Lilly", Red Bud's Last Lady

 

Breeding

 

Pleasure Gaits is well known in the gaited horse scenery and breeds Tennessee Walking Horses since 1999. Our stallions and mares have been carefully selected on disposition, conformation, and gaits. In our breeding we strive to preserve the original Walking Horse type.

 

We import mares from the USA on a regular basis in order to create a variety of bloodlines. Our stallions possess old bloodlines and a human oriented character. They are available to a limit number of outside gaited horse mares. All our horses and their offspring have been TWHBEA registered and carry an equine passport and DNA profile.

 

                        

                        Baby Ravi taking a nap                                         Our foals are born walking!

 

Natural Horse keeping

 

Our location is spread over several lots around our house containing 3 hectares in total. Next to the various pastures we also created paddocks, each with a shelter. The hayrack, water trough and mineral block is placed on different parts of the paddock in order to stimulate natural movement of the horses. Social contact is very important. Therefore we keep our horses in bands including our stallions. All horses are pastured daily.

 

Pleasure Gaits has a beautiful terrain excellent for raising our young stock. The manure is removed daily from the paddocks  to avoid weed and to keep the risk of worm infections to a minimum. Our deworming schedule is based on worm egg count of the manure. This is our way to keep our horses as natural as possible and to strive for harmony,  balance and partnership.

 

 

Workshops

 

Sandra van den Hof has been involved with gaited horses for over 15 years. Started as a hobby organizing and giving a single clinic or demonstration resulted into a business of hosting workshops, guiding people, teaching Centered Riding® lessons and gaited horse training. The (for us) obvious way of respectful treatment of horses became a dedication to teaching horses and riders to enjoy each other without artificial barriers. The positive training methods at Pleasure Gaits are applicable to any breed of horse, any age rider, and any riding style.

 

  Above all, harmony, balance and partnership is at the top of our wish list when working with horses.

 

 

 

                           

 

 

  Centered Riding

 

  Centered Riding® is an innovative teaching philosophy that emphasizes body awareness, the value of a soft eye, correct  breathing, centering and balance. Riding from your center allows the horse and its rider to ride in harmony and to move together without barriers and comfortably. The result is a rider with a relaxed posture and horse that moves freely.

Sandra van den Hof is Centered Riding® instructor since 2007 and specialized in combining Centered Riding® and gaited horses. The technique of Centered Riding® is used in both the workshops, riding lessons and training of horses at Pleasure Gaits.

 

 

 

    

Sandra with Ravi

 

   

Sandra with LuLu, who isn't too thrilled about being woke up from her beauty rest