All posts by Jennifer Klitzke

"Dressage is more than trot...and the saddle you ride in." -Jennifer KlitzkeSome traditional dressage riders believe that dressage is ONLY for horses that trot. While many gaited horse owners believe that dressage will MAKE their gaited horse trot. Others believe that teaching their gaited horse to trot on cue will ruin their horse's natural gait.I challenge these notions and here's why...Dressage improves the quality of natural movement in a horse whether it trots or has a smooth four-beat gait.Dressage is a French term for training the horse and rider. Whether a horse is ridden in an english or western saddle; whether the horse trots or gaits, it doesn't matter. Dressage brings about the best natural movement whether the horse walks, trots, flat walks, fox trots, or canters.Why? When a rider grows in knowledge, awareness, and application of a balanced riding position with the horse's center of gravity and applies effective use and timing of leg, rein, seat, and weight aids to communicate with the horse, dressage improves relaxation, balance, rhythm, connection, harmony, engagement, straightness, and collection. These elements improve the quality of movement and the full range of motion. For the naturally gaited horse, this means, smoother gaits, deeper strides, and a sounder horse for longer.Enjoy the journey!
Dressage for the Gaited Horse

Shoulder-in for Gaited Horses

Jennifer and her 6-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse at a clinic with Larry Whitesell teaching us lateral exercises.
Jennifer and her 6-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse at a clinic with Larry Whitesell teaching us lateral exercises.

The shoulder-in is a great exercise for all horses, especially gaited horses that pace. It diagonalizes the footfall sequence and breaks up pace.

The shoulder-in is a great exercise for all horses, especially gaited horses that pace. This exercise is one of several lateral exercises that diagonalizes the footfall sequence and breaks up pace. The shoulder-in also helps the horse engage the hindquarters, lift the back, raise the chest and shoulders, and helps the horse become soft, supple and flexible.

One way to cue for the shoulder-in

I began riding dressage with non-gaited horses and learned to apply shoulder-in with the following aids.

  1. Inside leg on the girth to encourage the bend
  2. Outside leg behind the girth to hold the haunches along the bend,
  3. Outside rein to keep the head and neck from over bending
  4. Inside rein to encourage softness and a slight bend
shoulder in on a four track
A four-track shoulder-in may also be used a suppling exercise.

Another way to cue for the shoulder-in

In 2010, I took my six-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse to a Larry Whitesell, a gaited dressage clinician, who introduced me to a different set of cues for the shoulder-in that seem to work effortlessly.

  1. Outside leg at the girth
  2. Inside leg behind the girth encourage the horse to step under his belly
  3. Outside rein keeps the horse from over bending, inside rein a slight give-and-take to encourage softness and a slight bend
  4. The rider’s shoulders turned to face the direction of movement and slightly more weigh applied in the outside iron

At first Larry’s method seemed completely backwards to me until I tried it. I was amazed how easy my horse grasped the shoulder-in and how effortless it is for me to ride it.

Larry has a DVD set that demonstrates this movement as well as others. It wasn’t until I rode with him that I realized how a soft and light contact can be. Larry travels all over the country to teach riders the benefits dressage has for the gaited horse.

Visit: whitesellgaitedhorsemanship.com

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