To me naturally gaited dressage is a humane method of training and communicating with a horse that brings about beauty and harmony, balance, rhythm, relaxation, and suppleness, which results in gait quality. It develops a connection of trust and respect between horse and rider, and as the relationship grows in trust, understanding, skill and refinement, the horse and rider transform into a wonderful dance partnership without the use of heavy shoes, big bits and spurs, and mechanical devices.
I took my naturally gaited walking horse Makana to North Run Farm for our last schooling dressage show of the season. We were the only gaited entry among trotting horses. I bring her to schooling dressage shows because I like to get feedback from a professional eye as to where we are at in our training as it relates to balance, rhythm, gaits, impulsion, submission, harmony, rider position and effective use of aids, and accuracy of the required movements. It helps confirm areas of improvement and areas we still need to work on.
At the North Run show several spectators were given an introduction to dressage as it applies to the gaited horse. After every two test rides, the arena opened for ten minutes of schooling, so Makana’s expressive head shaking movement was quite the contrast as we warmed up with the trotting horses! Many onlookers had never seen a gaited horse ridden dressage style, barefoot and in a snaffle bit (without mechanical devices, big bits, and heavy shoes). Plus, the SMOOTH ride was evident in comparison to the bouncy sitting trot.
Thanks to the fine coaching I had received from Jennie Jackson this summer, the dressage judge remembered us from last year and commented on how we had made a noticeable improvement. We placed 5th of 9 in Training Level with a score of 67% and 4th of 6 in First Level with a score of 68.966%.
A huge thank you to my wonderful husband who volunteered to film my rides. (Wow, I love that man!)
When your body can no longer endure the sitting trot, it’s time to discover dressage with a naturally smooth gaited horse!
Age-Defying Dressage with a Smooth Gaited Horse
By Jennifer Klitzke
H-X-F, extended trot along the diagonal. Oh, dread, my German warmblood Seiltanzer has never been smooth to sit, especially at the extended trot, and over the last twenty years both of us have aged. Each stride has become more dislodging, resulting in back pain, sagging breasts seeming to hit me in the face with each step, and sometimes “splash”—the loss of bladder control! What began as a beautiful dance between horse and rider has now become a losing fight with gravity.
Jennifer Klitzke riding her dressage gelding SeilTanzer (1998)
In 2007, I joined other aging baby boomers and retired from showing hard-trotting horses, but I didn’t want to give up riding, especially the beautiful dance of dressage.
This quandary introduced me to the bounceless stride of the Tennessee walking horse, and I have learned that I’m not alone. The naturally gaited horse industry has seen a continual climb in popularity. Tennessee walking horses, Missouri foxtrotters, Rocky Mountain spotted horses, Icelandics, gaited mules, Paso Finos, and Peruvian Pasos are among these naturally smooth-gaited horse breeds. Not only that, I was thrilled to learn that dressage actually improves the gaited horse’s quality of movement. The principles of dressage build balance, forwardness, relaxation, suppleness, and engagement and can actually transform a pacey horse into a smooth four-beat gaiting dance partner.
Below are seven ways that improve the naturally gaited horses’s quality of movement using the dressage I learned while riding trotting horses. These humane training methods transform an ordinary ride into a beautiful dance—even while on the trail!
1. Equipment: Just as it is no fun to dance with ill-fitting shoes, an uncomfortable horse is an unhappy dance partner. Dressage methods are best applied by riding with a well-fitted snaffle bit that encourages salivation and acceptance of the bit, as opposed to bits that are engineered for pain avoidance. Remember to loosely adjust the noseband so your horse is able to open its mouth. A tight noseband causes undue tension that can show itself throughout all dance expressions. Equally important is a properly fitting saddle that does not pinch the shoulders or touch the wither while you’re in the saddle.
2. Stretching: Begin and end each dance session with 5-10 minutes of a forward moving without rushing walk. Follow your horse’s side-to-side belly sway with your hip joints and encourage your horse to maximize each step deep under its body. Allow the horse to stretch forward, down and out. Stretching helps lengthen the naturally gaited horse’s topline muscles and increase a horse’s stride. Be careful that the horse’s poll doesn’t drop below the wither height, or the gaited horse will begin to fall onto the forehand. It is important that the gaited horse remains balanced over all four feet during the stretching.
This is a great example of a neck extension at a flat walk. My horse is engaged, lifting her back, stretching out, forward, and down at chest level with an even snaffle bit contact.
3. Transitions: Choreograph every ride with changes of direction and tempo to keep it interesting for you and your horse. Walk-canter-walk, halt-rein back-walk, and transitions from walk to gait and back every 5-10 steps are great exercises that will improve the communication between you and your equine dance partner. Transitions can improve your horse’s responsiveness and graciously establish you as the dance leader.
4. Bending: Twenty-meter circles, three-loop serpentines, spiraling in and out of a circle are great exercises to encourage a horse to bend through the neck, shoulders, and rib cage, and teach the horse to step deeper under its body with its hind leg steps. Bending exercises improve a horse’s balance, lighten the forehand to carry itself more poised, and help smooth out a rough gait.
Lateral exercises at a slow collected walk help the naturally gaited horse develop balance.
5. Lateral exercises: Zig-zag leg yields, turn on the haunches, turn on the forehand, haunches-in, shoulder-in, and half-pass are great dance moves to bring balance, supple and soften your gaited horse and build trust and communication between you and your dance partner.
6. Canter: It is a popular myth that cantering a gaited horse will ruin its naturally smooth four-beat gait. On the contrary, I have found that cantering actually improves my Walking Horse’s flat walk and running walk. Cantering up hills, in 20-meter circles, over ground rails and small jumps will strengthen your horse, lengthen its stride, and break up a pace.
First level tests require 15 meter canter circles, working canter, canter lengthenings, and one loop counter canter serpentines.
7. Become a dressage student: There are a few gaited horse trainers and nationally known clinicians who I have learned from who use dressage methods to improve the movement of naturally gaited horses. Among them are Jennie Jackson, Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer. Audit their clinics, read their books, and watch their training DVDs or find an open-minded traditional dressage instructor to help you and your gaited horse get started with suppling exercises.
Dressage will help your gaited horse improve its smooth, four-beat gaits, and make your horse a more mentally connected dance partner. Dressage with your smooth gaited horse can transform even a ride on the trail into a beautiful dance you can comfortably enjoy well into your senior years.
There’s a convergence in the gaited horse world: the traditional dressage rider of non-gaited horses who later applies what they have learned with the naturally gaited horse and the rail class rider who later learns dressage.
The former describes me. While dressage has been helpful in developing relaxation, balance, rhythm, connection, symmetry, engagement, and collection, I’ve learned so much from rail class riders in developing smooth gait like the flat walk and running walk.
Dressage and rail class equitation: A convergence of two worlds for the naturally gaited horse
By Jennifer Klitzke
I believe gaited dressage has an equation: dressage + gaited equitation = gaited dressage. While each paradigm offers unique perspectives about what is considered “correct,” converging these perspectives adds value to the equation of what is considered “correct.” One perspective without the other is only half the gaited dressage equation.
Riders like me who have spent decades studying dressage on non-gaited horses understand the importance of relaxation, rhythm, connection, balance, impulsion, straightness, collection, harmony, a balanced rider position, and effective use and timing of aids. These elements of dressage help to develop the horse’s full range of motion in each gait equally in both directions to produce an ambidextrous horse. Learning this can improve the quality of smooth gaits for the rail class.
Dressage was the only language I knew when I acquired Makana, my first naturally gaited horse. While the elements of dressage are the same, I quickly learned differences in how gaited horses and non-gaited horses move. What is “correct” with a non-gaited horse, is not the same as what is “correct” with a smooth-gaited, head-nodding Tennessee walking horse. Makana’s flat walk and running walk have a distinctly different “feel” than that of the trot and trot lengthening of my Trakehner/Thoroughbred.
Rail class show riding my six-year-old Tennessee walking horse in a curb bit with contact.
Riding a head-shaking horse in flat walk has a distinctly different “feel” as compared to the stationary headset of a trotting horse. To help me navigate this difference, I’ve needed the perspectives and knowledge from Tennessee walking horse rail class riders to help me develop “correct feel” with contact. And I’m still learning.
On the other hand, many rail class riders are new to dressage with their naturally gaited horses. They know how to ride a head-shaking horse in a shank bit yet need to learn how to teach the gaited horse how to accept and follow a light contact using a snaffle bit. They need to understand the benefits of helping the horse relax the mouth, lower jaw and poll to release braces that cause pace and step pace.
Rail class riders know how to keep their gaited horse in a consistent four-beat gait along a straight line along the rail. Yet they need to learn how to help their horses establish bend and balance in the gait through circles, lateral exercises, transitions within and between gaits. They need to learn how to develop the full range of walks, smooth gaits, and canters with symmetry to develop evenness traveling clockwise and counterclockwise. They need to learn the effective use and timing of aids to communicate consistently with the horse. This takes time and a knowledgeable dressage rider for the gaited horse to learn this.
How dressage improves quality smooth gait over time. Pictured is the same horse at the age of 19.
Dressage is a journey, not a destination. Dressage is challenging no matter how long you’ve been at it, and riding a smooth gaited horse consistently well is challenging. The goal is improvement, not perfection.
Whether you are a rail class rider beginning to learn dressage or a non-gaited dressage rider applying dressage with a naturally gaited horse, be part of the full equation: dressage + gaited equitation = gaited dressage. You have something to offer (and learn from) the other half!
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
Two unique breeds, a Tennessee walking horse and a Spanish Mustang, were featured on CSDEA Foto Friday showing that dressage and jumping can be applied with success whether the horse trots or gaits, and versatility training can be achieved by a rider of any age.
After the TWH Celebration Show, my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse and I were back to being the solo gaited horse/rider entry at the St. George Dressage Academy schooling dressage show held Saturday, August 9, 2014. One of the spectators saw us gaiting and asked if I would be trotting my gaited horse during the test. Was I ever glad that I had contacted the show manager ahead of time and received permission to ride the NWHA gaited dressage tests en gait, otherwise that’s what I’d be expected to do—trot!
Our NWHA Training Level Test Three and NWHA First Level Test One were among the 46 dressage tests ridden—Intro level through First level. Our training level test felt like our best yet with a respectable score of 66.8%. I attribute our success to Jennie Jackson who traveled to Minnesota for the second year in a row to teach a “Dressage as Applied to the Gaited Horse” clinic. Jennie really set us on course in establishing rhythm, connection, and forwardness without rushing. My mare is no longer “flat walkin’ in a tight skirt.” Her hind steps are deeper, more even and consistent, combined with a deeper and straighter head nod. Makana’s canter has also improved. While we love to see a true “four-beat” flatwalk, Makana has achieved a solid “three-beat” canter which is rounder and more engaged.
After our first level dressage test Judge Jim Hatch remarked, “Thank you for bringing your gaited horse to the show. This was a first for me!” I thanked him for his willingness to provide feedback for where we are at in our training. Even though my gaited horse doesn’t trot, the elements of dressage still apply: rhythm, balance, forwardness, harmony between horse and rider, acceptance of the bridle, rider’s correct and effective use of aids, rider’s position and seat, and precision of the required movements.
Thank you to St. George Dressage Academy for opening their beautiful tree-lined facility up for this venue as a chorus a song birds kept us company while we rode our tests.
Video: NWHA Training Level Test Three
httpv://youtu.be/-Iv6XNCcQfY
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