Tag Archives: counted walk

Counted walk to piaffe

Counted walk to piaffe for the naturally gaited horseCounted Walk to Piaffe for the Naturally Gaited Horse

By Jennifer Klitzke

Does your naturally gaited horse lean on the bit? Does it feel heavy on the forehand? Mine was. Then I discovered an interesting exercise that helped bring balance, lightness and engagement to my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse: the counted walk.

A few years ago I audited and rode in a few clinic with Susan Norman who was both a student of Classical French Dressage Masters Philippe Karl and the late Jean Claude Racinet. After her clinics, I began purchasing DVDs and books by both Philippe Karl and the late Jean Claude Racinet to learn the Classical French method of Dressage.

In Racinet’s book Another Horsemanship and a DVD: Getting Started In Lightness: The French Classical Dressage of Francois Baucher as taught by Jean Claude Racinet presented by one of his students Lisa Maxwell, I learned about the counted walk. This was something I had never heard about in the 30 years riding dressage.

Watching the horses on this DVD inspired me. The counted walk transformed ordinary horses, with not the best conformation, who were heavy on the forehand to becoming light and balanced after a few steps.

Jean Claude Racinet's book and Lisa Maxwell's DVD
Jean Claude Racinet’s book Another Horsemanship and Lisa Maxwell’s DVD Getting Started In Lightness: The French Classical Dressage of Francois Baucher as taught by Jean Claude Racinet presented by one of his students Lisa Maxwell introduced me to the counted walk.

I had to give the counted walk a try with my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana. I was amazed the first time I gave it a try.

While the steps are small, the hind leg steps are in front of the tail which increases engagement for other gaits like the naturally gaited flat walk, running walk, and canter.

Any time I feel like my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse feels heavy on the shoulders and needs more engagement behind, I do a few steps of counted walk.

I have been dabbling with the counted walk for a few years now. This year, I began experimenting with steps in place—our version of a piaffe. While our piaffe is no where near FEI dressage standards, the piaffe and counted walk as exercises have really helped improve  balance and lightness in the shoulders and bridle.

After a few steps of counted walk, transitions and quality of the flat walk are improved in balance and length and depth of stride, as well as our canter transitions and canter quality. Plus, the counted walk and steps in place are really fun to ride!

The video below shows a terrific balancing exercise for the naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse: transitions of collected walk to counted walk to steps in place—piaffe.

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