balanced and light flat walk

Beginning Lessons in Légèreté: Following Hands

Following the motion of the head shaking horse

Dressage requires riding with light, even, steady contact with both reins connected to a snaffle bit—not floppy, loose reins. Even, steady contact is a lot easier when riding a trot when the horse’s head and neck remain stationary, but what about the naturally gaited head nodding breeds that perform flat walk, running walk and fox trot? How do you maintain an even contact while the horse’s head and neck nod with each step?

Beginning Lessons in Légèreté: Following the Motion of the Head Shaking Horse

By Jennifer Klitzke

I’ve been a passionate student of dressage since 1988, predominantly of the German school, riding bouncy trotting horses. They kept me in shape, I’ll give you that!

Then in 2007, my aging body longed for smooth, and that’s when I acquired my first naturally gaited horse: a just turning three-year-old Tennessee walking horse filly named Makana. Dressage is the only form of riding I knew, so that’s the form of training I applied.

Philippe-Karl-Legerete-DVDs-video-camera
My DVD collection of Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl.

If you’ve been following NaturallyGaited, you know that I’ve been studying the work of classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl through his books and videos. I became acquainted with Karl’s dressage method from Naturally Gaited Clinician Larry Whitesell, Classical French Dressage Instructor Susan Norman, and Naturally Gaited French Dressage enthusiast Ricky Cummings.

In 2016, I set out to Seattle, WA, to visit family and learned that Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl had been conducting School of Légèreté instructor certification clinics in three USA locations—one of which is Cadbury Farm, not far from where I would be staying.

Ecstatic with the opportunity to get first-hand teaching in this Classical French Dressage method I had been studying, I contacted Nichole Walters, the owner and instructor of Cadbury Farm for lessons while I was in Seattle.

Following the natural head and neck motion

I took several lessons each day with Nichole on her trotting horses. First I learned work in hand. Here’s a recap of our work-in-hand lessons: Work in Hand: Educating the Mouth.

Then Nichole taught me how to apply the work-in-hand exercises from the saddle while riding at a walk.

While I was riding, Nichole noticed that I wasn’t following the horse’s natural head and neck motion at a walk. Instead I was keeping my arms quiet at my sides. She encouraged me to follow the horse’s natural head and neck motion with my hands while maintaining an even, steady contact with both reins connected to a snaffle bit.

Nicole noticed that while my arms were quiet at my sides, my pelvis and back followed the motion of the horse more than necessary. The tension in my shoulders became evident through my efforts to remain still with my arms and hands. Yet this tension and stillness translated heaviness to the horse.

Very interesting.

While some following motion with my body is needed, Nichole encouraged me to also follow the horse’s natural head and neck motion with relaxed shoulders, arms and hands while maintaining a light, even, steady contact with both reins of the snaffle bit.

This was an epiphany for me!

Granted, I was riding a non gaited horse, but I was riding the horse at a natural four-beat walk. This got me thinking about the smooth four-beat gaits of the naturally gaited head nodding breeds.

What compromises have my tension and still arms had on the quality of the naturally smooth flat walk, running walk, and fox trot in my naturally gaited horses?

  • Could the tension in my shoulders and still arms and hands be saying “stop” to my naturally gaited horse, Makana?
  • Would following hands produce less prodding on my part to encourage Makana to go forward?
  • Would following hands produce less tension and more relaxation, harmony and lightness in my naturally gaited fox trotting horse, Lady?
  • Would Lady be more apt to seek contact with the snaffle bit and trust the contact more if I followed her head nod?
  • Would Lady’s back be less hollow if I rode her with following hands?
  • Would Lady be less heavy on the bit?
  • Would Lady learn to relax more rather than take off at a quick gait?
  • Would Lady track up more with deeper strides if there was greater relaxation in her back?

Think about it. How many riders of naturally gaited horses struggle with a camel walk, hard pace, step pace, and a lateral canter?

Nichole taught me the importance of following the natural head and neck motion of the horse’s four-beat walk with relaxed shoulders, arms and hands. This fostered relaxation, harmony and lightness in each horse I worked with.

If following the natural head and neck motion of a non gaited horse in walk produces relaxation, wouldn’t this translate to the naturally gaited head-nodding breeds that move in flat walk, fox trot, and running walk?

I just wonder if following the horse’s natural head and neck motion—the head nod, head shake or what ever we want to call it—might lead our naturally gaited horses to greater relaxation, harmony, and lightness, and produce less bracing in the jaw and back and produce more naturally smooth gaits?

True or False
When the horse’s tongue, jaw and poll are stiff and tense, it will lead to tension in the back which will cause more pace in horses prone to pace when tense.

True.

Wouldn’t the opposite be true? If we follow the natural head and neck motion of the horse with relaxed shoulders, elbows hands, seat and back, our naturally gaited horses will be more apt at relaxing their backs which helps to break up pace caused by tension. Right?

Granted, it is a lot easier to ride a naturally gaited head nodding horse with floppy reins, but if dressage is your passion, like it is mine, then we need to figure out a way to establish a light, steady contact with both reins that produces relaxation, harmony and lightness. I believe following the naturally head and neck motion of the naturally gaited horse is the way to do it.

Video: Following the motion of the head shaking horse
Do you follow the natural head and neck motion of the naturally gaited horse?The video below recaps concepts that I learned while I took lessons in 2016 from French dressage instructor Nichole Walters of Cadbury Farm who was a student of Philippe Karl’s instructor certification program of the School of Légèreté. This video covers the concept of following the motion of the horse’s natural head and neck motion. I believe there are great takeaways for the naturally gaited horse. In this video are both Lady my naturally gaited fox trotting horse and Makana my naturally gaited Tenennessee walking horse.

If you are on this gaited dressage journey, I’d love to hear from you. Contact us»

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Special thanks to Nichole Walters, the owner and instructor of Cadbury Farm who taught me the “Educating the Mouth” and “Following Hands” exercises that she learned first hand from Philippe Karl and his School of Légèreté.