Did you know that the natural gaits [on cue] can include trot for the gaited horse?
It was just what I needed, to be back in the saddle after several months off due to cold temperatures, darkness, and icy footing. It warmed up above freezing today, so me and Makana, my 14-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse played in the snow.
Just how many natural gaits did we tinker with on cue? Well, there was the freewalk, medium walk, flat walk, running walk, fox trot, trot, (yes, trot) and canter.
Crazy as it may sound, the trot [on cue] has actually improved Makana’s flat walk! How’s that, you ask?
After trotting for five minutes, her flat walk becomes more engaged from behind with a head-banging nod. The trot makes her engage her hindquarters, lift her back, activate her shoulders and chest to raise her wither, and helps her develops better balance and rhythm.
How many of you have tinkered with trot on cue with your gaited horse? What differences have you noticed in the quality of your horse’s movement? I’d love to hear from you if you have. Drop me a line and share how trot has improved your naturally gaited horse.
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.
Coming from the traditional trotting horse dressage camp to gaited dressage, nothing sounded more foreign to me than desirable attributes as ear flopping and teeth clicking.
What I have discovered since I began my gaited dressage journey in 2010 with my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse mare, Makana is that it’s not so much the actual ear flopping and teeth clicking that’s important as what these attributes represent: relaxation and rhythm. Both relaxation and rhythm are what we seek in good dressage training whether riding a gaited or trotting breed. Along with this is relaxation of the jaw.
In breeds like the Tennessee Walking Horse, Missouri Foxtrotter and others that offer a natural and even four-beat gait, such as the flat walk and running walk, the horse will begin to click their teeth with each head nod in rhythm with the hind leg steps as the horse settles into relaxation of the jaw. Along with this relaxation, the horse may also begin to flop its ears with each head nod up and down.
This is something that doesn’t happen with trotting horses because the horse’s head and neck remain stationary in the trot. And when the trotting horse walks, it is too slow to produce the head nod that produces the same teeth clicking and ear flop seen in the flat walk and running walk.
Now, it is important to recognize the sounds: teeth clicking and the grinding of teeth are not the same things. In fact, they are on the opposite spectrum. If a horse is grinding their teeth, it is because the horse is tense and unhappy, not relaxed. The source for the grinding of teeth may be a tight fitting nose band, ill-fitting saddle or bit, or teeth that need to be looked at by a veterinarian or equine dentist.
In any case, the video below will provide the sound of teeth clicking as a result of relaxation and a happy mouth. (And yes, it is possible to train your naturally gaited horse to do a four-beat gait on a loose rein, barefoot, and in a mild snaffle bit.)
Video: Teeth Clicking Flat Walk in the Tennessee Walking Horse
Next to the 2017 August Cow Sorting League with our personal best by leaps and bounds (5th of 17), I’d have to say that riding the Trail Challenge at Governor Knowles State Forest on September 3, 2017 with Stephanie, Brian, Indy, Lefty and Lady was one of the best memories of the summer.
The St. Croix River vista through the ears of Indy.
Earlier this year, I made the heart-felt decision to sell my Spanish Mustang Indian’s Legend back to his previous owner, Stephanie. My Dad had passed away after an illness and my life circumstances had changed. Indy wasn’t happy as a backyard dressage horse. He missed our weekend-get-aways.
As much as I miss him, my heart is happy and at peace knowing that Indy is with Stephanie and Brian who love him like I do. Not only that, but Indy is living in his happy place and in the trail horse dream: miles and miles of mature forests and river crossings every weekend with lots of pasture space to goof off with his fellow Spanish Mustang comrades.
Stephanie had checked in with me a couple weeks prior to the Trail Challenge at Governor Knowles State Forest. I quickly got naturally gaited foxtrotting horse Lady up-to-date on a Coggins so that I could join her and Brian.
Lady with two Spanish Mustangs–all barefoot and sound!
What an amazing day: enjoying their great company, great scenery, great horses, great weather, and challenging obstacles, with the added bonus of several river and bridge crossings to boot! A first for Lady.
Indy and Stephanie eating up the obstacle.
It was so fun to watch Indy and Stephanie eat up those trail obstacles. They gave Lady and five-year-old Spanish Mustang Lefty courage to give them a try. There were six obstacles along a 10-12 mile trail through scenic mature forest, ferns, wildflowers, butterflies, and songbirds. The footing was perfect for naturally barefoot horses like the three of us were riding. It was a comfortable temperature and the sun made its brilliant appearance mid-point of the ride.
There were two divisions, the just-for-fun and the jackpot. I entered Lady in the just-for-fun since this was her first obstacle challenge. Stephanie and Brian opted for the jackpot—why not—no doubt Indy was up for the challenge!
The first of six obstacles was opening and closing a gate without letting go. After closing the gate, then maneuvering to a barrel and picking up a clanger. Then navigating through two poles and ringing the “come-an’-get-it-dinner-is-ready triangle three times in two minutes or less. I was amazed how afraid Lady was of the gate. At home, all she wants to do is open and close the gate herself! Dang! We danced around the gate until the two minutes ran out.
The jackpot level had to back out of the rails after clanging the triangle in the same amount of time. Indy and Stephanie did this obstacle really well.
The second obstacle was navigating the horse through a wooden ladder in two minutes or less. The horse had to step within the narrow ladder prongs, turn on the fore and return through the narrow ladder prongs. After Lady realized that the ladder wasn’t going to eat her, she killed this obstacle—even on a loose rein!
For those in the jackpot level, they had to side pass the ladder in the return. Indy rocked this obstacle! I wish I had video to show for it!
Me and Lady playing some broom ball, if we can only get close enough to the ball.
The third obstacle was broom balling a heavy soccer ball with a wispy broom through a goal in two minutes or less. Sound simple? Yes, in reality. Yet, it was very difficult. Lady as well as many of the horses seem to have ball phobia. (Peeps, practice makes perfect! Until next time. Right!)
The jackpot level had to WEAVE the ball through a set of cones and into the goal. Stephanie and Indy made it look easy and received the fastest time thus far. WAY TO GO!
Me and Lady at the ring toss…better luck next time.
The fourth obstacle was a ring toss. The horse and rider needed to pick up rings placed on a barrel next to a super spooky skeleton. Then the rider needed to position the horse at a rail and toss a ring to loop onto a steer horn, then advance to the next rail and do the same.
The just-for-fun level had four rings and the jackpot level had eight rings to pick up and toss in two minutes or less.
I congratulate Lady for her effort. Me, on the other hand, ugh. I did not navigate the rings anywhere near the horn. Stephanie and Indy ringed several on the horn. Well done!
Me and Lady doing the dressage moves through the log obstacle. One of two obstacles we crushed!
The fifth obstacle was a log maze. The just-for-fun level had to pivot through the log maze, do a turn on the fore and return through the log maze. Lady rocked this obstacle. We’ve been working on these exercises all summer and it paid off.
The jackpot level had to pivot through the log maze and then rein back through it. Stephanie and Indy killed this obstacle as well!
Harder than it looks!
The final obstacle was picking up a pole where the end of it needed to remain in a hoop while the horse and rider rode in a circle and over two rails and back to the starting point in two minutes or less. Lady’s initial try didn’t go very well as she ran away from the pole that was chasing her. Since we had two minutes, we had time to give it another shot and we maneuvered our way through the obstacle with flying colors and time to spare.
The jackpot level had to do this obstacle with a turn on the fore after the first circle and then ride the opposite direction before returning to the starting point. Indy and Stephanie rocked it again! I was sure that they would be in the money!
Between obstacles the horses rode together terrifically. Spanish Mustang Lefty has such a large, scopey walk that Lady and I fox trotted the entire 3-1/2 hour JOY ride! (I don’t think that Stephanie minded trotting and cantering Indy to keep up!)
I know that there are strains of Spanish Mustangs that have a natural four-beat gait. I wonder if Lefty is one of them. He is a stunning example of the Spanish Mustang. Several riders along our route stopped and asked what breed of horse Brian and Stephanie were riding. I was so happy, none of them asked: “Is that a Norwegian Fjord?” (Really, I have nothing against this breed. I really do like them. It’s just that Spanish Mustangs are not Norwegian Fjords.)
One woman asked what type of horse I was riding. (Yes, it is clear that Lady is NOT a Norwegian Fjord). Of coarse, Lady is anyone’s best guess since she isn’t registered. When my friend bought Lady, she was told that she was a Tennessee walking horse (in part). This woman replied, “I think the horse you’re riding is a Tennessee walking horse/Morgan cross.” Hallelujah! This affirms my thoughts in movement, intelligence and temperament. When Jennie Jackson was in Minnesota giving us lessons, that was her thought, too.
It was a great time had by all—people and horses. Walking Lady back to the trailer, I could hear Indy whinnying through the trees, “Until next time, my friends, until next time!”
Photo Gallery: (Click to enlarge)
Me and Lady: Team 230.
Lady and Indy get reacquainted.
Brian, Stephanie, Lefty, and Indy through the ears of Lady.
Lady’s first river crossing and it came up to her chest! And this wasn’t even one of the obstacles!
Indy and Stephanie eating up the obstacle.
Me and Lady.
The St. Croix River vista through the ears of Indy.
Me and Lady with Indy
Me and Lady at the scenic St. Croix River vista.
Me and Lady doing the dressage moves through the log obstacle. One of two obstacles we crushed!
Brain and Lefty leading with me and Lady following.
Me and Lady.
Trail riding
Me and Lady at the ring toss…better luck next time.
Lady and I kick it into fox trot.
Me and Lady playing some broom ball, if we can only get close enough to the ball.
All three of us
Harder than it looks!
Brian and his five-year-old Spanish Mustang Lefty.
Stephanie with her Spanish Mustang Indy (my old pal).
Stephanie and Brian riding their beautiful and talented Spanish Mustangs. (Stephanie and Brian are the Horse Couple of the Year in my book!)
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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