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“Dressage is more than trot and the saddle you ride in.”
—Jennifer Klitzke
Learn more about gaited dressage on Pinterest with tips to improve balance, rhythm, relaxation, softness, impulsion, harmony, quality of gaits, rider position effective use of aids. New pins added daily.
By Jennifer Klitzke
There’s nothing like trail riding on a naturally gaited horse. You can cover lots of ground and your body won’t pay for it later. But who ever said that dressage has to stay in the four walls of an arena? Why not take dressage to the trail and transform a ride to a dance?
My friend’s naturally gaited horse fox trotting horse, Lady has been living at our place the last two summers. She doesn’t get out to ride much so she has encouraged me to ride Lady as much as I have time for.
Lady was purchased by my friend as an 8-year-old unregistered Walking horse. Registration didn’t matter to my friend since she just wanted a beautiful black trail horse. And Lady is all that—beautiful, black, and an exceptional trail horse.
When Lady first arrived she had two distinct gears, a dog walk and a hard trot. Over time Lady has developed a naturally smooth fox walk and fox trot. She’s more diagonal versus lateral on the gait spectrum.
Lady is used to being ridden bareback on the trail with a long, loose rein, so the concept of being ridden on a light contact and in balance have been new to her.
Here’s how balance and connection all started…
A month ago, I began applying classical French dressage methods of training as taught by Philippe Karl from his DVD series Classical Dressage and Classical versus Classique, as well as principles taught from the late Jean Claude Racinet in his book: Another Horsemanship and his student Lisa Maxwell from her DVD: Getting Started in Lightness.
These instructors have taught me the importance of teaching the naturally gaited horses I ride to be soft in the mouth, jaw and poll to create relaxation in the mind which is critical before moving on to body exercises.
A relaxed mind is a teachable mind while a tense jaw and anxious mind bring about a resistant body that will not produce quality movement. Teaching the horse softness in the mouth, jaw and poll is best introduced in hand on the ground using a mild snaffle bit. These videos all provide excellent teaching in this and I highly recommend owning them for your personal library.
Once the naturally gaited horse is soft and relaxed (in the mind and body); relaxed in the jaw and mouth, and licking, salivating, and chewing, then I proceed to teaching the horse exercises that bring the horse into balance. This is where the horse begins to engage the hind quarters by bending the joints, stepping under its body, engaging the abdominal muscles to lift the back, and lifting its whither to lighten the forehand for a few steps. This also can be introduced to the horse in hand which the videos encourage.
The French dressage philosophy differs from the German dressage philosophy I had been trained in for 12 years. While the German philosophy taught me to use my legs and seat to drive my horse into a rein contact, the French method separates the brake pedal (reins) from the gas pedal (seat and legs). Separating my seat and leg aids from my rein aids has been one habit that I have been working hard to break, and it is worth the results that I am seeing in the horses I ride. Lightness, harmony, and more willingness to go forward with less cueing on my part are among these benefits.
In addition to the separation of aids, is the crucial timing of my aids. My rein aids cue my horse’s front and my leg aids cue my horse’s hind legs. It is critically important for me to correctly discern the feeling of when my horse’s leg is in a cue-able position so that I get the desired result.
For example, if I am asking my horse to leg yield along the fence going to the right, my left calf needs to touch my horse at the girth as my horse begins to step its left hind foot forward. As I release my calf, I squeeze and release my outside (right) indirect rein to tell my horse to remain straight and not lead with the right shoulder. If my horse begins to get tense in the jaw, I squeeze the left rein with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers, and release by opening these three fingers as soon as the horse gives. At all times, I maintain a very light contact with the horse’s mouth on both reins with my thumb and index fingers.
Also, here’s an excellent blog post “The Wonder Whip” written by Manuel Trigo which was forwarded to me from a fellow gaited dressage friend. This blog post talks in detail about the timing of aids, and I find it very insightful.
Below is a video showing Lady being introduced to light contact as we leg yield along the fence. I am riding her in a Level 1 Mylar snaffle bit with white reins so that it is easier to see the amount of contact. The first leg yield is nothing short of a “hot mess,” and I explain what we worked through to “clean up” the second pass.
For Lady, establishing a soft contact and a relaxed mind before moving on to body exercises for balance have been the winning combination. Together they have brought out a beautiful transformation in Lady’s fox trot that is simply a joy to ride. The video below begins and ends just after the leg yield exercise which shows the most balanced, supple, and elegant fox trot Lady has achieved thus far.
What are your thoughts? Please reach out send me a message or stay connected by subscribing to the Naturally Gaited youtube channel and joining our community on facebook.com/naturallygaited.
Here’s a sequence of cues that produce a soft, round, and relaxed halt without the use of force or pulling back on the reins.
Back in the days before owning horses, I looked forward to the hour-long trail rides each summer. Before our group mounted up, the trail guide would give us these handy instructions: “kick” to go and “pull” on the reins to stop.
Now that I’ve been a horse owner for a few decades, I’ve learned better approaches than “kick” to go and “pull” to stop which produce softer and rounder responses. The cues are a blend of tips I have learned from classical French dressage and natural horsemanship philosophies.
I ride my naturally gaited and barefoot Tennessee walking horse in a mild snaffle bit and have been competing at schooling dressage shows since 2010. We consistently earn scores of “8” on our center line halt and salute.
Below is a sequence of cues that produce a soft, round, and relaxed halt without the use of force or pulling back on the reins.
I have found that this approach produces a softer, rounder, more relaxed and square halt than when squeezing both reins at the same time, and definitely better than pulling back on the reins.
Repeat the exercise: If the horse didn’t stop by my seat, I will return to a forward walk and repeat the exercise a few times before moving on to something else. Then I’ll come back to the exercise a couple more times during our riding session.
A square halt from the medium walk is required in NWHA Intro tests, a square halt from the flat walk is required in NWHA Training Level tests, and a square halt from a canter is required in NWHA Fourth Level.
More Exercises for the Gaited Horse to improve smooth gaits.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
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By Jennifer Klitzke
Interested in riding a gaited dressage test but not sure what to expect? Here are a few tips to help riders who are interested in giving gaited dressage a try.
Schooling dressage shows are a friendly environment to receive constructive feedback from an experience dressage professional on where the horse and rider are at in their training—what’s working and what needs improvement.
I love riding dressage tests because they force me to train all of the required movements in both directions. Invariably, there is one way that is more difficult for the horse and some exercises that I would rather avoid, but a test makes me address them. The test itself challenges me to be a precise communicator to my horse to prepare and perform each movement at the letter, ride my horse in the correct frame through an effective use of aids and riding position.
There are many gaited dressage tests to choose from of varying levels of difficulty created by FOSH, Western Dressage, Cowboy Dressage, and the NWHA. The introductory tests are two gait tests for those not ready to tackle the canter.
Schooling shows require riders to wear an approved helmet with a chin strap and boots with a heel. Informal riding attire is acceptable such as breeches and a polo shirt for English gaited dressage or jeans and a cowboy shirt for western gaited dressage. The horse must be ridden in a mild snaffle bit and a dressage or all-purpose English saddle or western saddle depending upon the test that is selected. Formal riding attire and braiding the horse’s mane are optional. I often wear my formal riding attire since I don’t show at recognized shows (and it makes for nicer photos).
Some breed shows offer gaited dressage classes. Another opportunity to show your gaited horse in dressage is at USDF schooling dressage shows. Whenever I see a USDF open schooling dressage show in my area that I would like to ride at, I contact the show secretary and ask if I can enter my gaited horse and ride a gaited dressage test. If the show manager agrees, then I mail a copy of my tests with a copy of my current Coggins, completed entry form and fees by the closing date.
The show posts a schedule of ride times 24 to 48 hours before the show, so I can plan my arrival and warm up accordingly. When I get to the show I ask the show manager if the arena is open to school my horse during break times. Recognized shows do not permit this, but many schooling shows do. This helps nervous horses get acclimated to the strange surroundings and build their confidence.
When I get to the show grounds, I get my horse settled and go to the show office to obtain my number and ask if the show is running on time. Sometimes there are scratches. Many times I’ve been asked to ride earlier. Although I am not required to, I will accommodate this if I am able. Other times the show may be running behind schedule. This is really important for me to know so that I can pace my warm up and not wear out my horse before our tests.
When the rider before me completes their final halt and salute, that’s my cue to enter the outside of the arena to school my horse before my test. Relaxation for the horse is key. In the short couple minutes I have, I like to ride my horse by anything that might spook her, like the judging area, flower boxes along the rail, or bushes that are swaying in the breeze.
While warming up, I like to talk to my horse, but as soon as I enter the arena voice or clucking is not permitted during the test without penalty.
As soon as I hear the judge sound the bell or whistle (or sometimes the ‘toot’ of a car horn), it is my signal that I have 45 seconds to enter the arena and begin my test.
I like to position my horse to ride in straight at “A” down the center line to the halt and salute (remaining immobile for three seconds) before proceeding forward.
I try to remember to smile as I ride toward the judge and ride my horse into the corners to show a nice bend. Judges like to see the horse being ridden close to the rail without jumping out of the arena (which means elimination).
Most shows permit a ‘reader,’ someone who reads the test for the rider as they ride the test. Normally the reader stands at “E” or “B”. I rode with a reader for many years, and it has only been recently that I began memorizing my tests mainly because I show solo. (I’m hoping this will have an added benefit of prolonging my grandma brain!)
Each test has required movements that are evaluated on a score from 0 to 10. Among the judging criteria are rhythm, balance, bend, relaxation, impulsion, precision, gaits, rider’s use of aids and riding position. Dressage tests movements mirror each other to show that the horse has become ambidextrous because of its training.
After the final halt salute, I ride my horse forward toward the judge at a free walk on a long rein. Sometimes the judge offers verbal feedback in addition to the written comments on the test so I’ll stop and take it all in. Then turn right or left to exit the arena at a free walk on a long rein.
While a test is being ridden, the judge verbalizes feedback to a scribe who writes down the comments on a test sheet. The tests are given to the show office and added for the final percentage. Sometimes gaited dressage is placed in its own category and other times gaited dressage is scored with the trotting horses of the same level. Scores are usually posted for placings and the test will be available at the show office for riders to take home.
I try not to get discouraged when my horse doesn’t show all of my hard work during my test. It is common that horses perform better at home than when in a strange environment. I hold onto the magic moments that made it a positive experience for me and my horse. We did it!
When picking up my tests from the show office and returning my number, I like to thank everyone who helped organize the show and for accommodating gaited dressage.
Do you show your naturally gaited horse in dressage? If so, I’d love to hear from you. Please reach out and share your story by sending me a message.Or stay connected by subscribing to the Naturally Gaited youtube channel and joining our community on facebook.com/naturallygaited.
By Jennifer Klitzke
I was so excited to return to Wildfire on Saturday, August 8, 2015 with my 11-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse mare Gift of Freedom (Makana). Why? Because this time to ride for USDF “R” judge Nancy Porter. Normally one has to ride at a recognized show to be judged by this caliber of a judge.
However, we were off to a rough start. First my GPS was out of order and my cell phone ran out of juice, so we hustled back home for an ol’ fashioned map.
On our way to the show, a car that pulled out in front of us and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the car. Thankfully we didn’t collide, but the sudden stop left Makana rather rattled.
Forty minutes later we arrived safely at the show. I let Makana relax for a while then tacked her up for some long and low before beginning our warm up. Then I set up the video camera only to discover that I left the video chip at home. Rats! No photos or videos to capture the event.
On the bright side, we couldn’t have asked for better weather: 70 degrees, partly cloudy with a light breeze. And this time, no disco-dancing flower boxes to contend with.
But Makana’s heart didn’t seem to be into showing today. (I felt like I was squeezing an empty tube of toothpaste the morning before my annual dentist appointment!) I don’t know if it was the sudden stop or if she felt entitled to a weekend off after such a wonderful performance last weekend at Carriage House.
We rode NWHA First Level Tests One and Three. Areas we excelled in were center line halts (straight and square), 10-meter half circles at a flat walk, transitions and quality of our medium walk and free walk, flat walk leg yields, 20-meter flat walk stretch circles, 15-meter canter circles and transitions from flat walk to canter and flatwalk to medium walk to freewalk.
Improvement areas are showing more balance in the counter canter serpentines, showing more difference between the working and medium canters, and overall impulsion.
Despite how sluggish Makana felt, we received respectable scores of 66.5% in NWHA First Level Test One and 63.9% in NWHA First Level Test Three.
For me it was an honor to ride for an “R” judge at a schooling show! Normally you have to ride at a traditional USDF recognized show for this caliber of judge.
After the show, I had the chance to talk with Judge Nancy Porter in the show office with a couple of other riders. Nancy asked me about gaited dressage, and I was able to share about how it is a humane and natural alternative to the soring and abuse that has tarnished the Walking horse industry. She fully supports the fight against soring and is all for applying dressage training methods for the gaited horse as an alternative to abusive and artificial training methods.
Wildfire Farm has hosted several schooling dressage shows this summer and has accommodated traditional dressage, gaited dressage, and western dressage tests. The next schooling show is scheduled for September 12. If you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and are interested in giving gaited dressage a try, this is the perfect, low-key, beginner-friendly schooling environment for you!
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