There are many ways to train your naturally gaited horse. Is dressage the right choice for you?
By Jennifer Klitzke
You don’t have to show dressage to learn how to ride dressage with your naturally gaited horse. Dressage doesn’t require that you ride in an english saddle. Dressage doesn’t even require that you ride in an arena, but here are a few things to consider if dressage is a good choice for you.
10 questions to ask if dressage is right for you:
- Do you desire to train your horse in a manner that can prolong your horse’s soundness and riding career?
- Do you desire to teach your naturally gaited horse gaits on cue that break up pace and the hard trot for a smooth natural ride?
- Do you desire to learn and apply a humane training method with your naturally gaited horse that doesn’t use heavy shoes and pads, harsh bits, big spurs, and artificial training aids?
- Do you desire two-way communication with your horse?
- Do you LOVE the process of learning?
- Are you committed to riding your horse regularly, at least three days a week?
- Are you willing to learn how to become an effective and aware rider in order to communicate consistently with your horse in ways your horse understands?
- Are you willing to invest in regular lessons (two-four lessons a month for several years) with an experienced dressage or gaited dressage instructor?
- Are you open to an instructor’s feedback in order to improve your riding that will in turn help your horse?
- Will you apply what you learn between lessons in order to progress in your riding skills and sense of feel?
If you’ve answered “yes” to all 10 questions, you are a PERFECT candidate for dressage, and your naturally gaited horse will thank you!
Dressage isn’t for everyone, though. And that is okay. For those who ride once a week or once a month or for those who are unable to take regular lessons with an experienced dressage instructor, dressage isn’t going to be good choice.
Here’s why.
Dressage is a form of riding and consistent communication with your horse every time you are together
The main ways dressage riding uses to communicate with your horse are through your balanced riding position and effective use and timing of your reins, legs, seat and weight aids.
Effective rider aids and a balanced riding position can lead your naturally gaited horse into:
- Relaxation of mind and body
- Balance of the horse’s weight more equally on all four legs and posture in the chest instead of on the forehand
- Forward energy from the hindquarters without rushing
- Steady rhythm with even strides
- Connection from the hindquarters, through the back to the bit
- Contact with a snaffle bit teaching the horse to accept connection while also following the natural head and neck motion of the horse with relaxed shoulders, arms and hands
- Engagement of the hindquarters to step deeper under the belly and activating the belly to lift the back to a neutral position
- Straightness, meaning training the horse to be equally flexible in both directions
- And ultimately collection to do really fun things like the counted walk, piaffe, and canter pirouettes after the horse has been physically developed
The effective use and timing of rider aids and a balanced riding position can develop these attributes and lead your naturally gaited horse to quality smooth gaits on cue and a partnership of harmony.
Unfortunately, becoming an effective dressage rider can’t be grasped in a two-minute Youtube video. It takes commitment and an investment of time and money–often years–of regular lessons in order to develop a balanced riding position and effective use and timing of rein, leg, seat, and weight aids. In fact, top dressage riders continue to take regular lessons, because dressage cannot be perfected and riders never stop learning. Dressage is a journey.
Learning dressage is an investment
Dressage lessons are an education. You can expect to pay $50-$75 or more for a 45-minute lesson. The more experienced the dressage instructor, the more you will pay for a lesson. Some instructors pay a facility fee to teach there. If you use a school horse, it will also cost. Traveling clinicians cost even more because of their expertise, insurance, and added travel and lodging expenses.
It also takes commitment to develop your horse physically for dressage. This means you need to ride your horse up to six days a week. Your riding sessions don’t need to be long, just consistent. This will help you and your horse progress. Riding three days a week can help maintain your horse’s training and conditioning. If you desire to advance with your horse, you’ll need to ride more often.
Developing the feeling of right
So much of learning how to become a dressage rider is developing the sense of feel. The best way to learn feel is with an experienced dressage instructor who can help you become aware of how it feels when the horse is moving well, what to do when it doesn’t feel right, and how to direct your horse back to the feeling of right. After you have learned how it feels with one horse, it takes time to discern the feeling of right when riding different horses.
Dressage riders learn to work through conflict
Sometimes progress is slow. Sometimes there are set backs. Sometimes it feels like you hit a brick wall with your training or you can’t figure how to overcome a bad riding habit or mental obstacles such as the fear of falling off. Dressage riders press on and overcome obstacles and work through these conflicts with their instructors.
Becoming a dressage rider is entering a relationship with the horse and learning how to work through conflict, discerning if you’re encountering resistance, if your horse is trying to tell you it hurts or it isn’t clear with your instructions. A dressage rider is always searching for resolution with day-to-day conflict and breaking through a recurring issue. When that happens it makes the struggle worth it!
Becoming a dressage rider and working through conflict with my horses and facing my riding fears have taught me to be a better and more understanding and compassionate person with people.
Dressage riders have a different perspective
What sets dressage riders apart from pleasure riders is their utter passion for learning and improving their riding and their horse’s development. A dressage rider can be consumed with enjoyment by just traveling in a 20-meter circle. A pleasure rider would say, “Boring!”
Why? To a dressage rider, every step of that 20-meter circle is a thinking, sensing and feeling world, and communicating with their horse through the reins, legs, seat and weight aids.
Oops, falling in. Communication to restore. Good horse. Release and reward. Oops, need more engagement. Communication to restore. Good horse. Release and reward. Oops, falling on the forehand. Communication to restore. Good horse. Release and reward. Oops, rushing a bit. Communication to restore. Good horse. Release and reward. Oops, getting tense in the jaw and back. Communication to restore. Good horse. Release and reward.
Hurrah! Seven amazing steps in a row with balance, relaxation, rhythm, engagement, connection, and deep even strides. The feeling is euphoric! Praise and release and enjoy the ride until the next communication to restore. No worries.
A word about showing dressage
Dressage isn’t something you do only at a show. The purpose of dressage shows are to perform before a trained dressage judge the effectiveness of your balanced riding position and the use and timing of your rein, leg, seat and weight aids. Together, this balanced riding position and set of aids communicate with the horse to lead the horse through the test requirements.
Dressage shows feature a series of tests beginning with Introductory level on up to Grand Prix–what you see in the Olympics–only with trotting horses.
Dressage isn’t something you do only at shows.
Every dressage test is written to evaluate flexibility in both directions. This checks for how ambidextrous the horse has become through its training. During the ride, a scribe writes the judge’s scores and feedback on the test. Riders can take home the test sheet with comments and scores. The test results confirm whether the rider and horse are ready to move up to the next level in training. Generally, if they are consistently scoring over 65%, they are ready to move up. Showing Gaited Dressage>
For those who pursue dressage, here’s what you can expect
Dressage offers many benefits for your naturally gaited horse such as prolonging your horse’s soundness. Dressage teaches the rider to help the horse find relaxation in its mind, body and travel more balanced on all four legs, and activate the abdominal muscles to lift the back from a hollow to neutral position. Plus, dressage is a humane training method that doesn’t use heavy shoes and pads, harsh bits, big spurs, and artificial training aids. This helps the horse stay sounder longer.
Dressage offers benefits for the rider as well such as helping your naturally gaited horse break up pace and the hard trot for a smooth natural ride that is easier on the rider’s body.
Dressage is a two-way communication between the rider and horse through a balanced riding position and effective use and timing of rein, leg, seat and weight aids.
So, if you LOVE the process of learning and improving your riding position and effective use and timing of your aids to help develop your horse, and you enjoy riding often, at least three days a week, dressage is a great choice!
Find an experienced dressage instructor
You’ll need to find an experienced dressage instructor who will school you in developing a balanced riding position and becoming effective with your rein, leg, seat, and weight aids at the proper timing. This will help you communicate consistently with your horse in ways your horse understands. You don’t need to find a gaited dressage instructor to teach you this.
For me, I took regular lessons with my dressage instructor for 12 years. I took two lessons a month. After each lesson, I kept a notebook and wrote down everything we worked, everything I learned, and I practiced what I learned until the next lesson. Many dressage riders I know take one or two lessons a week. If I had the money, I would have done the same, so I made best use with the lessons I could afford.
My regular dressage lessons ended when my husband and I moved to a rural hobby farm. Not much dressage where I live, let alone gaited dressage.
Yet, I still take as many lessons as I can with dressage and gaited dressage clinicians who come to my state, like Jennie Jackson.
Bottom line, to learn dressage, you need to take regular lessons for a long time. Olympic dressage riders take regular lessons. Dressage is a riding discipline that cannot be perfected. That’s why I love dressage so much. Every ride is new. It never gets boring, because there is always something to improve, usually with me, and then my horse follows.
Find the right dressage instructor for you
If you have the option of choosing from several dressage instructors, I would watch how they teach and find the instructor who suits you best. Ask them questions about their teaching style and how their approach with a new dressage student and one with a horse that gaits instead of trots.
Every instructor has their own style and personality. Some are direct, firm and to the point, others are gentle and encouraging and instill confidence, others are driven to achieve and desire to see their students in competition, others are laid back, fun and could care less about showing. Some are better teachers than riders. Some are better riders than teachers. Some have a set curriculum that all students work through. Some meet the individual needs of you and your horse. Some have thick accents that make it hard to understand what they are saying. Some cost more than others. Some travel to your barn. Others require that you trailer your horse to their facility.
Getting to know your instructor can be uncomfortable. I remember a couple of my instructors spent our first couple lessons working in hand. I never even got on my horse! And this was after over 20 years of riding. I had to be open minded to hear what I was being taught if I wanted to learn from these instructors. One of my teachers is an instructor in training with Philippe Karl, and I needed to learn how to work in hand. It makes riding easier. I am so grateful!
Dressage is a partnership
Dressage is a partnership between the rider and the horse. We are in a relationship together. Sometimes a circle. Sometimes sorting cows. Sometimes on the trail.
Enjoy the journey!
What are your thoughts? Please reach out and send me a message or stay connected by subscribing to the Naturally Gaited youtube channel and “like” us on facebook.com/naturallygaited.
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