The Tennessee Walking Horse is a gentle and comfortable riding horse. The breed was originally bred in the Southern United States to carry the owners of plantations around their lands.  Their unique four-beat "running walk" is especially comfortable to ride, making the breed a well-suited trail companion. The breed is good for trail riding because of their smooth gaits, stamina and easy temper, and are also seen in Western riding disciplines and in harness.

The first horse to be registered with the TWHBEA is Allen F-1 no. 7623.  His sire was Allendorf who was a trotter and his dam was Maggie Marshall who was a Morgan.   Allen F-1 was a black horse with a white blaze face with a off hind coronet and a rear hind sock.  He was born in 1886 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Allen F-1 wasn't the first horse to do the famous running walk.  That title belongs to Bald Stockings.  Bald Stockings was bred by Higgins Chinn, also from Lexington, KY in 1837.  He was a roan with four white feet and a bald face.