What is straightness? Does this mean riding straight lines? Why train straightness with your naturally gaited horse and how does straightness improve even, quality smooth gaits?

Straightness Improves Even Smooth Gait

By Jennifer Klitzke

It might be surprising to know that the quality of straightness in dressage isn’t about traveling straight lines. Straightness develops symmetry and an ambidextrous horse that is flexible and supple. Straightness is key to develop quality smooth gaits with even strides.

Did you know that most horses are born right sided or left sided? This happens as they develop in the womb curved to one side. The inside curve of the body contracts and the outside of the body stretches.

This foal development in the womb produces imbalances in the naturally gaited horse including, stiffer outside muscles in one direction more than the other; unequal use of shoulders; tilting the poll; and an unequal use of carrying and weight bearing of each hind leg that impacts rhythm and a steady head nod for naturally gaited Tennessee walking horses and Fox Trotting horse.

How to Improve Even Quality Smooth Gaits with Straightness

Improve straightness by discovering the stiffer side

One way to know which side your horse is more contracted is to notice which side the mane falls. It flops to the inside of the curve while the horse is formed in womb. After the horse is born, the mane continues to flop to the same side.

While riding a horse that hasn’t developed symmetry or straightness, you’ll notice that it is easier to ride a circle in the direction where the mane flops to the inside of the circle. When you reverse the direction, it will be harder for the horse to maintain a circle because the outside muscles are stiffer when the mane-flopping side faces outside of the circle. Often riders think their problem is with the inside bend of the horse. Rather, the real problem is the outside muscles are stiff and the horse is having trouble stretching to produce a bend to the inside.

In other words, a horse struggles to stretch its outside muscles which causes the symptom of not being able to bend to the inside of the circle.

Riders need to help their horses become ambidextrous by stretching the stiff outside muscles until their horses are equally flexible in both directions. Riding your naturally gaited horse on a 20-meter circle is a great way to begin—twice as much in the direction of stiff outside muscles.

Improve straightness by noticing shoulder imbalance

Another way asymmetry presents itself on a circle is when the horse leans on the inside shoulder one direction and falls out through the shoulder the other direction.

Improve straightness by noticing poll imbalance

Also, the horse’s head will tilt at the poll. A great sign is when the ears aren’t level. This usually happens when the horse is traveling with its mane-flopping side to the outside of the circle where the muscles are stiffer and need to stretch.

Improve straightness by noticing uneven rhythm

In addition, the stiffer side and more flexible side on a circle affect how the horse uses its hind legs. One leg bears more weight under the body and the other will push more from behind. This becomes noticeable on a circle. The horse tends to step shorter and under its body with the hind leg of the mane-flopping side while the other hind leg will push more from the non mane-flopping side. This uneven use of the hind legs produces an uneven rhythm.

Improve straightness by noticing uneven head nodding

This uneven rhythm on a circle really becomes apparent for naturally gaited breeds such as the Tennessee walking horse and Fox trotter. Why? Because there are more moving parts than the trotting horse. Not only do all legs move independently to produce a smooth, even four-beat gait, but these breeds have a head nod. It is much easier to create rhythm in the trotting horse breeds because there are less moving parts.

For the naturally gaited horse, the lack of straightness or symmetry really becomes apparent when riding on a circle. The horse might take a few consistent steps in a smooth, even four-beat gait rhythm and then lose rhythm, break gait, begin to rush, or have uneven hind leg steps.

Think of riding a circle as two circles not one

Part of the reason the horse loses rhythm on a circle is that the horse’s outside muscles are stiff. Another reason is that a horse is actually traveling on two circles: a larger circle with its outside legs and a smaller circle with its inside legs.

Here’s an extreme example, yet it illustrates the point that the outside of a circle is a bigger than the inside of the circle. Have you ever watched a drill team perform a circle in a straight line? You’ll notice that the horses in the center are barely moving. Each consecutive horse moves faster until you reach the end of the line. The end horse is galloping in order to maintain a straight line.

In order for the horse to maintain rhythm, it needs to lengthen and stretch the outside of its body to take bigger strides with its outside legs in order to keep up with the smaller circle of the inside legs. It will be easier for horse to travel on a circle with its mane-flopping side to the inside, because the non mane-flopping side stretches more easily. Switch directions and it will be more difficult, because the horse has to stretch its stiffer outside muscles and take longer strides to keep up with the smaller inside circle.

This is one big reason why circles are used so much in dressage to help horses become ambidextrous. As the horse advances in its flexibility, the circles get smaller to increase the stretching of the outside muscles. Twenty meter-circles become 15-meter circles to 10-meter circles.

If you’ve ridden your naturally gaited horse in a circle, you’ve likely felt the difference between one direction and the other. Now you know why. It is up to us to develop our naturally gaited horses evenly on both sides by stretching the stiff outside muscles using circles and lateral exercises Shoulder-in, shoulder-out, haunches in, and haunches out are great lateral exercises that stretch the outside muscles and also teach our naturally gaited horses balance in their chest and shoulders. Chest balance lifts the head and neck and the wither. The horse learns to carry its own head and neck and not lean on the bit and the rider’s hands.

In the end, straightness training on circles and lateral exercises will help our naturally gaited horses become more even in their strides, consistent in their rhythm and head nod, and stronger and more flexible in both directions.

In addition to lots of circles, below are three of my favorite exercises that help develop straightness, flexibility and balance: the flechi-droit, counter bend neck rein turns, and the shoulder-in on a circle. These exercises can be introduced to your horse in-hand and then in the saddle at a walk and later in gait.

Exercises for Straightness, Flexibility and Balance

Flechi-droit (pronounced fleshy-doowa)

The flechi-droit isn’t an exercise taught in mainstream dressage. It is a French dressage exercise. To me, the exercise looks and feels super weird, but the flechi-droit produces so many great benefits for the horse and coordination of aids for the rider.

1. The flechi-droit teaches the rider coordination of the rein aids.
   
2. The flechi-droit stretches the outside neck muscles of the stiff outside muscles which is important in developing straightness.
   
3. The flechi-droit teaches the horse straightness in the shoulders, meaning the horse isn’t leaning on the inside shoulder or falling out with the outside shoulder.
   
4. The flechi-droit is a great preparatory for circles. Developing straightness in the shoulders using the flechi-droit is crucial before introducing circles. If the horse develops a habit of leaning on the inside shoulder, the horse develops a habit of being crooked, not straight, and the rider develops the feeling of crookedness as the norm.
   
   When the horse is straight in the shoulders, the horse can be introduced to circles. In this way, the rider will feel if the horse begins to lose straightness. Then the rider can return the horse to the flechi-droit for straightness and try the circle again.

In the flechi-droit, the horse’s body travels straight along the wall or following the arc of a 20-meter circle and the neck is bent inward 45 to 90-degrees. The flechi-droit is introduced in hand at a halt and walk and then in the saddle at a halt and then a slow walk. Later the flechi-droit can be applied at a trot or gait once the horse and rider are comfortable in the exercise.

Counter bending

Sequence of counter bending aids:

1. Begin at a very slow walk
2. The rider positions the horse’s head and neck slightly to the outside bend enough to see the horse’s eye
3. Then the rider draws both hands to the opposite side and motions gentle sideways nudges with the reins at the timing of the inside front leg in motion to shift the horse’s balance from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder
4. The outside leg steps forward while the inside leg steps into the circle as if the horse is extending sideways
5. As the rider and horse get a good sense of the sequence and timing of aids, the tempo can increase
6. Counter bend neck rein turns can be done in serpentines, squares, figure eights, circles and random turns as needed for lightness

I have been applying counter bend neck rein turns with my naturally gaited horses for a couple years now. We do serpentines, squares, figure eights, circles and random turns as needed for straightness and lightness. These exercises began at a slow walk, to a slow gait, and then we increased the tempo.

To my amazement, the counter bend neck rein turns have freed up my horses’ shoulders. My naturally gaited horses have become lighter in my hands, because they are less on the forehand and more balanced overall.

Think about it: if the horse is turning through the shoulders, they cannot be on the forehand or leaning on the bit, right?

Counter bends eventually improved the quality of our true bends–which actually are straightening around circles and corners since horse’s spine doesn’t actually bend. Horses spines move side-to-side with each step. How can the spine remain at an arc when it is in motion? It can’t.

Shoulder-in on a circle

One of my favorite exercises for improving balance in the naturally gaited horse are shoulder-in voltes (shoulder in on a small circle). It is helpful to teach the horse this exercise in-hand and the introduce shoulder-in on a circle while riding at a “slow” but “active” walk.

Benefits of shoulder-in volte for the rider and horse:

1. It teaches the rider the coordination of hand, leg, seat, and weight aids.
2. It stretches the outside muscles of the horse’s body to develop equal flexibility in both directions.
3. It strengthens the horse’s inside hind leg as it steps under its body.
4. It produces balance when the horse lifts its chest and shoulders and engages its hindquarters to lighten the forehand.
5. It produces softness.
6. The shoulder in ultimately improves the quality of the natural smooth gaits as the medium walk, flat walk, running walk, and canter.

Watch the video below of me and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking. While we perform the shoulder-in on a circle, I’ll explain the rein and weight aids, the importance of maintaining an even contact with both hands to the snaffle bit, while following the natural head and neck motion of the horse in walk, flat walk, running walk and canter.

Is your naturally gaited horse really stiff in the jaw and poll? This next blog post has many great exercises to teach your naturally gaited horse that will make the rest of your smooth gaited riding easier. Beginning lessons in Legerete>

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