Gaited Dressage Clinics

2014 Gaited Dressage Clinic with Jennie Jackson

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Pictured above: Jennie Jackson riding her famous Tennessee Walking Horse stallion Champagne Watchout.

A Riding Clinic with Jennie Jackson:
Dressage as Applied to the Gaited Horse

Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1, 2014
Dirt Floor Arena, Proctor, MN

Jennie Jackson has traveled the world teaching and exhibiting Dressage En Gaite, and we are honored to bring her to Minnesota for a three-day riding clinic held Friday-Sunday, May 30-June 1, 2014 at Dirt Floor Arena, Proctor, MN. Auditors are welcome to enjoy three full days of professional gaited dressage instruction by Jennie. Cost: $25/day or $50 for all three days. Pay at the door.

Whether you ride english or western, are new to dressage or just want to learn exercises that will help improve your horse’s smooth gait, everyone will learn from Jennie’s wealth of teaching and training experience. Riders and auditors will learn effective dressage methods that improve the quality of natural gait through lateral exercises, balance, bending, rhythm, impulsion, and relaxation.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to watch first-hand instruction from a seasoned dressage professional and the pioneer of Dressage En Gaite.

About Jennie Jackson
In the 1980s Jennie began applying and perfecting dressage methods of training to gaited horses, and in 1998 she introduced dressage as a humane training alternative to the Tennessee Walking Horse breed. In 2006, Jennie and her famous Tennessee Walking Horse stallion Champagne Watchout performed the first Dressage En Gaite Musical Freestyle at The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The team demonstrated Prix St. George movements as canter pirouette, tempi changes, and piaffe and passage en gaite. In 2010, Jennie and Champagne Watchout were formally invited to exhibit their Dressage En Gaite Musical Freestyle at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games as the official breed representative of the Tennessee Walking Horse. For more about Jennie Jackson and Champagne Watchout, visit www.walkinonranch.com.

Please note: Still photos are allowed, but no video recording is allowed. DVDs will be available for sale at the clinic.

Photo gallery from last year’s clinic>

Gaited Dressage Videos, Gaited Horse and Endurance Riding, The Versatile Gaited Horse

Video: Gaiting at Sisu on the Border Endurance Ride

By Jennifer Klitzke

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I took my naturally gaited and barefoot Tennessee walking horse mare Makana to our first novice endurance ride of the year: Sisu on the Border. We rode 13 miles in the optimum time of two hours and 15 minutes. The strategy is to ride the first hour and forty-five minutes at a brisk pace (oops, I mean tempo) so that the last 30 minutes is at a walk cool down to get the horse’s heart rate and respiration down for the post vet check.

In addition to reaching the finish line within optimum time, the horse is judged on pre and post vet checks for pulse, respiration, heart rate and recovery, soundness, hydration, and obedience. I’m so proud of my girl! She took first place among Arabians, half Arabians, Pintos and another gaited horse.

If you’ve never ridden at an endurance ride and enjoy trail riding, you’ve got to give it a try. It is a blast and the novice group is led by an advanced endurance rider who will keep you on time and from getting lost. Plus the endurance people are a super fun group to hang around with.

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Thank you Chip and my group riders Kristin and Deb. Thanks also to the dozens of Sisu on the Border organizers and volunteers to God for orchestrating a perfect Spring day through the gorgeous Sand Dunes State Forest! For more about endurance riding, visit Minnesota Distance Riders Association and Upper Midwest Endurance and Competitive Rides Association.

Video: Scenes from our Novice Endurance Ride

The Versatile Gaited Horse

Grandma Body

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By Jennifer Klitzke

If a grandma body can do it, so can you!

This collection of photos is taken with my barefoot and naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse Gift of Freedom (Makana). Her willingness to be versatile has made me a more versatile rider at the age of 50.

In addition to gaited dressage, we enjoy trail riding, trail obstacles, gymnastic jumping, sorting cows and team penning, endurance, and riding in the snow.

Until I bought her in 2007, the only riding I did was in an enclosed dressage arena. I was too frightened to ride trails or go places. Now my calendar is full of fun things to try!

What are some things you do with your gaited horse?

The Versatile Gaited Horse

Natural Gaits in Snow

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By Jennifer Klitzke

Why do I live here?

Every year I ask myself this question. Two feet of snow makes gaited dressage training difficult without an arena. I long for warm weather and dry ground to ride my naturally gaited walking horse, Makana.

However, aside from the darkness and below zero temperatures, riding in the snow is one of my favorite things to do! My rather sluggish TWH horse comes alive in the snow. When she gets the chance to escape the icy paddock, she loves to rip across the field at a hand gallop and dabble with some animated trot and gait on cue.

(I’d still rather it be 75-degrees and sunny, but I’m making the best of it!)

Dressage is More than Trot

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