Is perfection the goal of dressage? Is perfection what dressage masters expected of all dressage riders who follow their teachings?
Is Perfection the Goal of Dressage?
By Jennifer Klitzke
Recently I watched a video of my gaited dressage mentor Jennie Jackson riding the late legendary naturally gaited dressage stallion—Champagne Watchout. Jennie and Watchout were the ONLY rider/Tennessee walking horse team in history to train and show at the highest levels of gaited dressage.
The video shows Jennie riding Watchout at 21 years old, who had been retired for a few years and far from show shape. Yet, I saw two good friends reminiscing some the best moments of their lives as they danced between piaffe and passage in gait. While I was tickled to watch Jennie riding Watchout again, others criticized the missteps and imperfections.
Was every step perfect? Did they need to be?
While a few folks focused on faults, I noticed the engagement, harmony, rhythm, balance, softness, relaxation, collection, connection—and pure JOY! I could only imagine what it must have felt like to ride such a powerful naturally gaited stallion—even in his retirement. I aspire for the day to reach this level of training with one of my naturally gaited horses.
Will we reach perfection? Do we need to?
Will that be my goal? No.
Never again.
Perfection: The buzzkill joyless endeavor
I know that buzzkill joyless endeavor firsthand. Back in 1988, when I first began my dressage journey, I was driven to be an Olympian.
(Yes, feel free to insert laughter, because I’m laughing now, too.)
During that time in my life, dressage became a driven, self-seeking pursuit. Yes, I loved my horse, but I used him to achieve my lofty perfectionistic goals.
Then one day I was humbled. After riding at our first recognized show, the judge surprised me when she called me forward. She raved about my horse. I smiled with pride and gave my horse a big pat.
Then the judge asked if she could buy him. She said I didn’t have the talent to ride a horse like that.
Dotting the arena with a trail of tears, her harsh words met my ambitious goals. Crushed, I returned home reflecting on what had happened. The encounter was a turning point for me. I realized that perfectionism is a buzzkill joyless endeavor.
The best I can be vs the best there is
I returned to riding with a new frame of mind. I stopped expecting perfection from my horse and from myself. I stopped striving to be the best there is. I just wanted to become the best rider and trainer I can be for my horse.
Riding became a partnership instead of a selfish pursuit. My horse found relaxation and harmony, and so did I.
Since that time, dressage has become the language I speak with my horse. Dressage is a daily discovery as a rider and trainer. It is an ongoing dialogue between me and my horse to bring about harmony, balance, rhythm, relaxation, connection, engagement, symmetry, collection—and JOY.
I even returned to showing as long as I remembered to check my motives and have some fun.
I don’t think “perfection” is the goal of dressage. So far, no one in history has ever ridden a perfect dressage test.
Is this a disgrace to the dressage masters? I don’t think so.
Let’s be honest. How many of us who show naturally gaited Tennessee walking horses are fixated on the hind leg depth and length of stride (the distance between the hind foot behind the horse’s tail to the hind foot beneath the belly)?
I know I have been.
Back to Fore Connected by Core to Improve Natural Gait
By Jennifer Klitzke
There is nothing wrong with striving for the BEST possible natural stride length our naturally Tennessee Walking Horses can offer. However, I realized that focusing on the hind leg stride length is only part of the equation to achieving a quality flat walk and running walk.
Think this through with me.
If the hind legs offer a big stride (the distance between the hind foot behind the horse’s tail to the hind foot under the belly), the front foot stride length distance needs to equal this or else the horse face plant. Right?
Below is the sequence of a full stride of flat walk. Notice the length of hind stride and fore stride along with the head nod.
Hind leg stride with head nod, snaffle bit contact and following hands.Fore leg stride with head nod, snaffle bit contact and following hands.
In order to create the best possible natural smooth flat walk, I think back to fore, connected by core.
Here’s what I mean by back to fore connected by core. First, I establish my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking horse in relaxed balance and forward movement without rushing to develop an even rhythm. At the same time, I follow her natural head and neck motion with my hands to encourage a soft contact. In addition, I follow her side-to-side belly sway with my lower legs and hold my weight in my thighs with my core without tensing. Together this helps my horse produce her best possible smooth flat walk with the most over track she is capable of.
When the naturally gaited horse is working back to fore connected to core, the hind footsteps deeper under the belly and under my center of gravity. This produces my horse’s maximum over track along with maximum depth of back stride equaling the fore stride.
When the naturally gaited horse is working in relaxed balance, with forward movement, and back to fore connected to core, the hind leg steps deeper under the body to produce maximum over track along with maximum depth of back stride equal to fore stride.
How back to fore connected by fore feels
Bringing it all together. Back to fore connected by core feels through. It feels balanced. It feels rhythmic. The chest and wither feel lifted. My horse moves forward without rushing into deep strides with shoulder scope. Most of all, the flat walk is SMOOTH.
So next time you hop on to ride your naturally gaited horse, think back to fore, connected by core.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
After being over horsed with a green, off-the-track rescue thoroughbred as a beginner rider, I took my time to find my next suitable mount. A horse better matched to my skill level, passion for dressage, and modest budget.
Over the course of a year I had looked at over 50 horses of various breeds, ages, and levels of training. This was back in the days before online immediacy. The newspaper classified ads were my connection to finding horses for sale. Some of the horses were within my budget but not suited for dressage. Others were in my price range but beyond my training abilities.
Was I unlucky to find what I was looking for within and my budget? Or was I too picky?
I nearly gave up.
Then in October 1989 I received a call from a friend who had moved to Iowa. She asked, “Are you still looking for a horse?” I answered, “Well, yes.”
“I know that Iowa is a long drive, but I saw well-started, a five-year-old gelding who I know you will LOVE,” my friend said. “He has fabulous gaits, a good mind, is gentle, kind and enthusiastic, and is in your price range.” His lineage was from the Trakehner stallion Karneval II standing at Hamilton Farm and a national show jumping champion thoroughbred mare named Nanaboat.
A road trip was in order to see this horse named Seil Tanzer (which is German for a carnival tight rope walker). They called him Seili for short.
Upon meeting Seili, I will never forget his bright, kind eyes that met me at the gate. I brought him to the indoor and watched him move. OMG did he have the goods! His trot had hang time, his walk over tracked by several footsteps, and his canter was beautifully correct and balanced.
Then I rode him. Yes, he was unsteady and green, yet kind, sane, and generous. His purchase price afforded me professional training while I learned how to ride him.
This was a no brainer. Seili became my next horse.
Twenty-nine years later, Seili has been THAT horse. He hasn’t been ridden the last four years upon turning 30, but he has been my pal, meeting me at the gate, carefully watching over the herd as top of the pecking order.
In those twenty-nine years, Seili and I learned how to become a dressage partnership. We rode 5-6 days a week and took regular dressage lessons to develop rhythm, relaxation, connection, impulsion, straightness, and collection as I developed rider position and correct use of aids. We even rode with international clinician and author Dominique Barbier, were a demonstration team for Axel Steiner as he led a dressage judge certification course.
Seili and I competed successfully at schooling and recognized dressage shows through 1996: Training to Second level.
From that point on, Seili became a school horse for people, young and old, to learn how to ride.
For me, I enjoyed taking the “Mercedes” out every now and then to reminisce our show ring days.
In addition to being one of my very best and life-long friends, Seili was a kind and gentle lead of our herd. He loved the mares and took the young geldings under his wing. All of the horses respected his kind authority.
Even to his dying day, Seili met me at the gate with his kind and generous soul. He will be missed by me and by his pasture mates.
There are no words for our aching hearts. We love you Seili.
Dressage helps the naturally gaited horse develop long striding pushing gaits and engaged carrying gaits that improve the former to form full range of motion.
Collection and its Effect on Stride Length
By Jennifer Klitzke
If you are like me, training your naturally gaited horse using humane methods appeal to you. No mechanical devices. No artificial enhancements. No pads or heavy shoes. No harsh bits. No tight nosebands. No dominating methods. You like training your horse in a kinder way from a relaxed state to bring about harmony, balance, rhythm, connection, symmetry, engagement, and smoother gaits.
If you are like me, training your naturally gaited horse using humane methods appeal to you. No mechanical devices. No artificial enhancements. No pads or heavy shoes. No harsh bits. No tight nosebands. No dominating methods. You like training your horse in a kinder way from a relaxed state to bring about harmony, balance, rhythm, connection, symmetry, engagement, and smoother gaits.
My epiphany
For me, that’s why dressage has been my choice for my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, Makana. However, I hit a wall when we began to explore collection and introduce lateral exercises like shoulder in and haunches in. I had been expecting my horse to move with the long strides and head nod of flat walk while in collection.
Then I traveled to a dressage clinic with my naturally gaited horse. We worked in a posture of collection as we introduced the lateral exercises. The collected walk felt too slow. My horse’s stride length shortened. She didn’t have a head nod. After a few steps of shoulder in and haunches in, we released my horse into an extended posture with longer strides and a head nod.
The wall came tumbling down when I realized the carrying gaits of collection and pushing gaits of extension are two distinctly different postures of training. Both serve a role in developing the full range of motion. One does not replace the other, nor are they meant to be merged into one. This was an epiphany for me and a relief to my horse. I stopped expecting what is biomechanically impossible and embraced the carrying posture of collection to develop strength and balance with my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse.
Just as the naturally gaited horse can learn to develop maximum stride length and head nod at the flat walk and running walk, the horse can learn the collected walk.
The collected walk doesn’t permanently shorten the stride, as if my horse is unable to perform long strides again. The stride length is temporarily shorter while in the posture of collection. Collection doesn’t replace long strides. Collection improves the quality of long strides. Pushing gaits and carrying gaits are two different postures that benefit the naturally gaited horse to develop the full range of motion and quality smooth gaits.
Here’s why.
Pushing vs carrying: Notice the difference between flat walk (pushing gait) and collected walk and half steps (carrying gaits). The pink line shows how much the horse uses the hind leg to push forward for stride length or carry for engagement. Collection and increasing engagement shorten the stride length. Dressage helps the naturally gaited horse develop long striding pushing gaits and engaged carrying gaits that improve the former to form full range of motion.
The collected walk
A collected walk is a carrying gait that develops strength. During a collected walk, the hind leg doesn’t push from behind the tail. Rather the hind quarters carry more weight. Without the hind leg pushing from behind the tail, the stride length becomes shorter because the horse’s four legs carry the body mass upward and forward. In the collected walk the horse bends its hindquarter joints and engages its abdominal muscles to lift its back. The horse also engages the chest muscles to lift the shoulders, wither, head and neck. The horse moves with more balance, poise and elegance. The collected walk also has a much slower tempo than the flat walk with little to no head and neck nod.
Training through the levels of dressage doesn’t mean that the collected gaits replace the big, long striding gaits. Rather, the horse develops a full range of motion: the long striding, scopey ground covering pushing gaits as well as the balanced, light, engaged and elegant carrying gaits of collection. Switching from one posture to the other is as simple as applying the cues.
The carrying gaits of collection along with lateral exercises produces balance, suppleness, and strength which in turn improve the quality of the pushing gaits as the flat walk and running walk.
I own and train my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, Makana and have shown her successfully at rail class breed shows. Developing big strides with a head nod is highly prized. Dressage and rail class are different in the way dressage introduces the collected walk and lateral movements to develop and improve the full range of motion.
While natural smooth gaits like the running walk “push” from the hind legs to create big strides, collected gaits “carry” from the hindquarters to produce balance and engagement which in turn improve the quality of the pushing gaits.
For the rail class competitor, the thought of slower, shorter strides, with little to no head nod may seem pointless. Yet teaching the naturally gaited horse the collected walk and lateral exercises like shoulder in and haunches in, counted walk, half steps and piaffe improve balance and engagement, which in turn improve the quality of the flat walk and running walk. These collected exercises use different muscles than the long striding pushing gaits.
As a dressage rider, I’ve labored to develop a big striding, head nodding flat walk and running walk for rail class events. Then I began schooling Second Level lateral exercises like the shoulder in and haunches in. I tried REAL hard to maintain the same length of stride and head nod when introducing collection and lateral exercises. Then I realized the flat walk and the collected walk are not the same posture. Lateral exercises are developed best at a collected walk.
The collected walk means SLOWING down and encouraging the horse to carry its body mass instead of pushing it from behind. This shortens the stride length for lateral exercises to improve balance, engagement, softness, and strength to further develop the horse’s symmetry, strength and flexibility.
While applying dressage with my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, I realized the demand for maximum length of stride in the collected walk isn’t realistic. Dressage lessons have confirmed this. Carrying gaits and pushing gaits produce different results. Working in the slower, engaged collected gaits with shorter stride and no head nod builds balance and strength which then improve the quality of the pushing gaits of flat walk and running walk with maximum length of stride and head nod.
Engagement and disengagement
The late Jean-Claude Racinet, a classical French dressage master of Baucher’s theories describes engagement and disengagement in a horse’s stride. He described engagement as the amount of stride under the horse’s body mass and disengagement as the amount of stride length behind the horse’s tail that pushes. In addition, the horse’s head and neck become still in the “collected” four-beat gait of walk.
For the Tennessee Walking Horse, the flat walk and running walk both seek to reach a maximum length of stride. This stride length consists of the distance from the foot beneath the body mass (engagement) and the foot pushing behind the tail (disengagement) along with the head and neck nod with each step.
The biomechanics of a collected walk produce a different effect than the flat walk. Both are needed to develop full range of motion and quality smooth gaits.
Yes, I want a maximum stride length and a pronounced head nod while riding the flat walk and running walk. Yet it is not realistic to expect these qualities from a collected walk. For me, this was a light bulb moment. I realized that I needed to change my expectations about stride length and head nod at a collected walk.
Shoulder in
Working in a slow, collected walk through shoulder in, haunches in, and half pass doesn’t mean replacing the flat walk and running walk. It just means I don’t combine the expectation of big strides and a head nod to the collected walk. The collected walk is just one more posture I develop to help my naturally gaited horse more balanced and athletic.
The collected walk has helped my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse find balance. The tempo is slow and deliberate enough for her to learn lateral exercises. These exercises develop balance, strength, flexibility, and suppleness. After we apply moments of shoulder in and haunches in at a collected walk, we transition to a deep striding, head shaking flat walk in a neck extension and WOW! These transitions between strength training and stretching have improved her range of motion and quality of flat walk and running walk!
Neck extension at a flat walk allows the horse in a maximum stretch from nose to tail.
If you’ve ever seen the DVD of classical French dressage master Philippe Karl training High Noon, you’ll see how he trains his horse like he would play an accordion. He works his horse in a long and low frame for a few strides and then gathers the horse up for more collection and engagement in lateral exercises and then releases the horse to more strides of a long and low frame. This is what is known as gymnasticizing the horse to develop its full range of motion: pushing and carrying gaits.
I believe our naturally gaited horses benefit by developing full range of motion: From maximum length of stride and stretching at a flat walk and running walk to slower, engaged, balanced steps in a strengthening posture like a collected walk, and to lateral exercises to improve flexibility, suppleness, and symmetry. Dressage improves the quality of natural smooth gaits.
Applying transitions between the collected walk and moments of an expressive flat walk have been the perfect recipe for me and my naturally gaited walking horse Makana.
Dressage improves quality smooth gait over time. Makana at the age of 19.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH) is a non-profit that supports the sound and humane training of gaited horses and is on the front lines fighting against soring and abuse. FOSH publishes the Sound Advocate which is filled with informative, well-written articles and stories.
I was elated when I received the 2017 September/October issue of Sound Advocate and read the story written about me and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse Gift of Freedom (Makana) who were named the 2016 Western Dressage Champions.
In 2016, Makana and I gave Gaited Western Dressage a try through the North American Western Dressage Association (NAWD) Virtual Shows.
Here’s our story:2007 Sept/Oct Sound Advocate»
Jennifer Klitzke riding her naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse Gift of Freedom at one of three North American Western Dressage Association Shows.
While we have been gaited dressage award winners since 2014, this was the first time we have won in the Gaited Western Dressage division.
To be eligible for awards in the FOSH Gaited Dressage Program, three scores of 60% and over must have been recorded in any level of Dressage competitions with a recognized judge. Tests must have been specifically developed and written for gaited horses. Recognized tests include IJA, NWHA, WDAA and Cowboy Dressage.
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