Tag Archives: gaited horse training

French Dressage for Gaited Horses

USA Légèreté with Linda Kaye Hollingsworth-Jones

Nothing beats one-on-one coaching.

My naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse and I put 7 years of DVD and book study to practice at the Légèreté clinic with Linda Kaye Hollingsworth-Jones. 

USA Légèreté with Linda Kaye Hollingsworth-Jones

By Jennifer Klitzke

In October 2019, owners Rick and Kari of the Schmitt Training Center in Sommerset, WI hosted the first Midwestern Légèreté clinic with Certified Master Instructor Bertrand Ravoux from France. This year COVID-19 put a halt to Bertrand’s USA travels. We’ve also learned that further clinics with him need to be filled with committed instructor-in-training students to expand USA Légèreté.

So this year Rick and Kari reached out to USA Légèreté Level One Certified Instructor Linda Kaye Hollingsworth-Jones of Idaho to continue our study. I was thrilled to participate as a student with my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana. She was the only gaited horse among impressive breeds: Lusitano, Zweibrücken, Selle Français, Holsteiner, Dutch Warmblood, Norwegian Fjord, Arabian and Thoroughbred. Horses and riders ranged from starting Légèreté to those schooling, extended trot, tempe changes, and piaffe.

My DVD library of Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl that I continue to resource as I learn this method with my naturally gaited horses and trotting horses.
My DVD library of Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl that I continue to resource as I learn this method with my naturally gaited horses and trotting horses.

Last year’s clinic with Bertrand Ravoux was a perfect introduction to Légèreté. This year, Linda’s clinic took me to the next level of understanding. Not only is she a knowledgeable and experienced rider, trainer and teacher of Légèreté, she is hilarious, personable, and gives each student and horse 110% attention. 

The first day, Linda began by riding each horse through the Légèreté  program to realize the horse’s needs. 

The Légèreté program begins at a slow, organized walk in this sequence of exercises:

  • Fléchi droit: stretching the outside neck muscles while the horse’s body remains straight
  • Neck extensions: stretching the spine and top line while maintaining balance
  • Counter bends: checking shoulder mobility
  • Shoulder in and haunches in on a circle: checking hindquarter mobility
  • Transitions between shoulder in and haunches in along the wall in preparation for half pass
  • Half pass to reverse pirouette
  • Then checking the trot (or gait) and canter

We watched Linda ride each horse in relaxation and lightness to the hand and leg through this sequence of exercises and beyond. We watched her organize her aids to organize each horse into balance. Within 20 minutes, we even watched her ride the advanced horses in extended trot, tempe changes and piaffe!

Riding unfamiliar horses. Horses that didn’t know her. Some were new to the program of Légèreté. Within 20 minutes Linda had a plan to meet each horse’s needs. This truly demonstrated her vast  riding and training knowledge and abilities. Plus, she had the endurance to provide each student 110% through the three-day clinic. Wow!

Each student rode the remainder of the lesson(s) while Linda coached them through the program of Légèreté and into their horse’s training needs:

  • Teaching the rider to organize their rein, leg, seat and weight aids
  • Coaching the rider to organize the horse into balance, lightness, and engagement beginning at a slow organized walk and then into an organized trot (or gait) and canter
  • Organized for the horse means as slow as needed in each gait so that all four legs are under the horse’s body mass

Some of the horses at the clinic were gifted with elegant, long-striding movement. This includes Makana, my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse who loves to be long from nose to tail. Long-striding gaits make up part of the full range of motion. Horses also need to develop  shorter, collected, carrying steps. These body-building movements develop different muscles and a more balanced posture by folding the hindquarters and bending the hock joints. This collection helps the horse sit behind more in order to raise the wither and lift the chest, head and neck.

Since long-striding movement comes naturally for Makana, Linda introduced her to a more collected and organized walk and smooth gait using the exercises and progression of Légèreté . The organized smooth gait is shorter steps that are more balanced where all four legs are beneath the body mass. This is new for Makana as I have always pursued the longest stride length in her smooth gait. This doesn’t mean I replace the long striding smooth gaits, the organized smooth gait is another smooth gait on cue that builds new muscles for the full range of motion.

The purpose of the shorter-striding movements are not to replace the long-striding gaits, rather improve them and expand upon the full range of motion.

fléchi droit
Fléchi droit is a warm up exercise that stretches the outside neck muscles while riding the horse’s body straight. This teaches the horse how to travel in a straight line with the neck bent 45-90 degrees to the inside before teaching circles. This exercise teaches the horse to be balanced equally on both shoulders without collapsing to the inside shoulder. It is important to establish this shoulder balance before teaching circles, otherwise the horse will learn to fall onto the inside shoulder.
fléchi droit
Linda coaching me in a fléchi droit on a circle where I organize my aids to organize the horse to stretch the outside neck muscles while riding her body on the arc of a circle.
Neck extension
Neck extension: Allowing the horse to stretch out and down, yet not lower than the poll (between the ears) at wither height in order to maintain balance.
neck extension
Linda coaching me from the fléchi droit to a neck extension to stretch without rushing or falling on the forehand. I raise my hands so that I make contact with the less sensitive corners of my horse’s lips instead of pulling back with low hands that would press on the tongue.
Counter bend neck rein turns
Counter bend neck rein turns are the next exercise to see how mobile the horse’s shoulders are. This can be done on a serpentine, circle, square or random squiggle.
Counter bend neck rein turns
Linda coaches me in organizing my rein aids in timing with my horse’s front leg steps. First slightly bend to the outside and see the outside eye, then draw both hands over as the horse steps forward with the outside leg and to the inside with the inside leg which shifts weight to the inside shoulder.
Travere or Haunches In
Shoulder in, Travere or Haunches In on a circle are great exercises to test the mobility of the hind leg stepping under the belly. In Legerete, the angle varies according to what the horse needs in building mobility instead of sticking to a rule of three tracks.
Travere or Haunches In
After shoulder in, Linda coaches me in organizing my rein, leg, seat and weight aids to draw my horse’s haunches into the circle in proper timing with her outside hind leg stepping under her belly.
Renvers or haunches out
Renvers or haunches out is another exercise to check the mobility of the hindquarters.
half pass
Then we proceeded to shoulder in and haunches in along the wall to prepare for half pass. Linda rides Makana from the wall to the centerline in a half pass at a walk. Then at the centerline, she directs Makana into a reversed pirouette.
half pass
The shoulder in and travere prepare my horse for the half pass. Here Linda coaches me in organizing my rein, leg, seat and weight aids to organize Makana to equally step under and over with the hind leg and over with the shoulder in the direction of the bend.
Organized Smooth Gait
Once Makana became more balanced, light and engaged through the exercises, Linda asks for an organized and balanced smooth gait which is on the fox trot spectrum.
Rein back
Linda coaches me through several transitions of rein back to organized walk. The rein back steps need to be smaller so that she sits behind.
poll flexion
Makana maintains a nice poll flexion in the rein back, organized walk, and  lateral exercises yet tends to open the poll at the organized smooth gait.
Organized smooth gait
Linda helps me organize the poll flexion at an organized walk before the transition to the organized smooth gait.

Then Linda coached me through transitions of organized walk travere (haunches in) on a small volte to the organized smooth gait, as well as transitions of rein back to organized walk and organized smooth gait. These transitions help Makana fold more behind, sit, engage and be higher in the wither and lifted in the chest, head and neck. Her organized smooth gait still has a head nod, yet not as pronounced as the flat walk.

rein back
Linda is coaching us with two whips. One asks the hind legs not to step behind the tail and to fold more. The other whip encourages the haunches to bend.
piaffe steps
Linda says that a true piaffe is when the hind quarters bend and lower, the base becomes shorter, and the wither raises. A true piaffe doesn’t need a jump step. Some horses gifted in passage have a harder time learning piaffe and tend to passage in place. They have a harder time shortening the base.
cantering the gaited horse
The final exercise Linda coaches us through is rein back to steps of piaffe to canter. Because piaffe is a diagonal gait, it is great for the gaited horse to learn in order to improve canter quality.

For me, being a student with my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse in this Légèreté clinic connected many dots in my book and DVD studies. Linda thanked me for bringing such a well-schooled Tennessee walking horse to the clinic—something outside the norm (both a gaited horse at a Légèreté clinic and a well-schooled Tennessee walking horse in Légèreté principles).

My biggest Légèreté clinic takeaways with Linda

The importance of being an organized rider

  • The organization and effective timing of the rider’s leg, rein, seat, and weight aids in order for the horse to become organized

The importance of rider awareness of the horse being light to the hand and leg

  • Becoming immediately aware of heaviness on the rein with a prompt demi-arête and immediate release when the horse stops being heavy
  • Becoming aware of the horse’s light responsiveness to the leg and following up with the whip when needed and an immediate cease of the leg or whip when the horse responds

The sequential progression of the Legerete program

  • Flechi droit: stretching the outside neck muscles
  • Neck extension: stretching the spine and top line
  • Counter bends: checking the mobility of the shoulders
  • Shoulder in and haunches in on a circle: checking the mobility of the hindquarters
  • Shoulder in and haunches in along the wall in preparation for half pass
  • Half pass to reverse pirouette
  • Then checking the trot (or gait) and canter
  • Then once my horse is in balance, maintain it through the next neck extension; the importance of not throwing the horse onto the shoulders once balance has been established

Redirecting Makana’s ideas of opening the poll at will by teaching her poll flexion

  • Allowing the horse an open poll is one thing; the horse choosing an open poll is another and Linda helped me become aware of this

The importance of continual transitions between exercises, gaits, and direction to improve balance, lightness, strength, and lightness

  • Riding transitions often pointed out to me my need to ride more of them, such as preparing Makana in an organized walk on a counter bend volte or a haunches in volte before releasing her to an organized gait down the long side of the arena and transitioning to an organized walk volte at the other end instead of riding several minutes of consecutive unorganized gait

The importance of working the horse’s full range of motion not just the gaits that come natural for the horse

  • This means educating the horse in stretching and body-building exercises both laterally and longitudinally, actively forward and long elegant strides, as well as slow, engaged, short, balanced, carrying steps to improve the quality of all gaits and full range of motion

Using diagonal exercises to break lateral movement such as improving canter quality using diagonal transition exercises as rein back to piaffe to canter and shoulder in and travere on a volte at an organized walk to an organized smooth gait

Teach the horse how mobilize its shoulders in balance

  • Last year Bertrand introduced the counter-bend turns to mobilize the shoulders which has made both of my naturally gaited horses much lighter, more balanced and has improved Lady’s gaits
  • For the horse that is heavy on the forehand (collapsing one or both shoulders) and continually leaning on the hands, a terrific exercise is counter bending the horse just enough to see the outside eye and neck reining with both hands to the opposite direction in timing with the shoulder movements. This is key!
  • By neck rein, it means that the rider draws both hands to the opposite side of the bend. This teaches the horse to move the shoulders. If the horse isn’t moving the shoulders, then the rider makes sideways nudges in timing with the front leg steps until the horse moves or a light tap with the whip on the outside shoulder. (Don’t use the inside leg in this exercise because it will talk to the hind leg instead of the shoulder). This is also key! 
  • This counter bend neck rein exercise can be done on a circle, figure 8, or serpentine changing the bend at each short side to the counter bend and walking straight between bends to the next counter bend loop. Or in a random squiggle so that the horse has to pay attention to the rider

Friends, I highly encourage you to purchase Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books.

Book: Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage

DVDs: Classical vs Classique
Classical Dressage, Parts 1-4
The School of Légèreté, Parts 1 & 2

You will not be disappointed. If you live near a Légèreté clinic, it is a must see! There is discussion about having Linda back for another clinic. No doubt, I will be there as an auditor or rider for sure.

Ecole de Légèreté 

I will continue to share approved photos from the Ecole de Légèreté community on the Naturally Gaited Facebook page. Make sure you “like” and “follow” to stay connected.

flechi droit
Practicing flechi droit at home after the clinic.

Stay tuned. I share my application of what I learned in the clinic with my naturally gaited horses in future posts. I am especially excited to apply all that I learned with Lady, my naturally gaited fox trotting horse in helping her be light to the hand and help my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse be more balanced.

rein back
Practicing rein back with smaller steps that bend and fold the hind quarters.
piaffe
Since the clinic our piaffe steps are becoming more purely diagonal.

If you are on this gaited dressage journey, I’d love to hear from you. Contact us»

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Tips for the Gaited Horse

Flat Foot Walk & Flat Walk: How Can You Tell the Difference?

Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Foot Walk and Flat Walk: How Can You Tell the Difference?

While both the flat foot walk and the flat walk have a head and neck nod and are even four beat gaits, how can you tell them apart?

Flat Foot Walk and Flat Walk: How can You Tell the Difference?

By Jennifer Klitzke

How can you tell the difference between a Tennessee walking horse flat foot walk and a flat walk? While the horse has a natural head and neck nod and natural four beat gait in both the flat foot walk and the flat walk, how can you tell the difference?

The main difference between the flat foot walk and the flat walk is that the flat foot walk still has a lot of motion in the horse’s back that the rider needs to follow. In the flat walk, the horse’s back is still and there isn’t motion to follow so the rider’s pelvis doesn’t move.

Not only that, both the flat foot walk and the flat walk can be ridden in many variations: free walk, working walk, medium walk, collected walk, extended walk.

Watch this video below:

Flat Foot Walk vs Flat Walk, How to Tell the Difference?

The secret is in watching the rider’s pelvis. If the pelvis is moving to follow each step, it is a flat foot walk. If the rider is still without bracing, it is a flat walk.

If you are the rider, it is a little trickier to discern. Begin to notice if in motion, the horse’s back is still, the gait is smooth as glass, it sounds like a four-beat gait with a head and neck nod with each hind leg step. Then it is likely a flat walk or running walk.

If the horse’s back has a lot of motion to follow with your pelvis, while the horse’s head and neck continue to nod with each step, it is likely a flat foot walk.

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.

Balance for Gaited Horses

Counter Bend Balance for the Gaited Horse

Counter bend
Counter bend with neck rein moves balance from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder.

Do you have a gaited horse that’s heavy on the forehand and leans on the bit? Counter bend exercises have helped my gaited horses find balance and lightness.

Counter Bend Balance and Lightness for the Naturally Gaited Horse

By Jennifer Klitzke

For years I rode true bends along the arc of on a circle as I trained my non gaited and gaited horses. While the true bend helps the horse strengthen the inside hind leg as it steps under its body mass, it wasn’t helping my naturally gaited horse find balance and lightness through the shoulders.

Why? Because my horses were on the forehand and I needed to teach a shoulder moving exercise before introducing true bend exercises. It wasn’t until I learned a simple but effective exercise called the counter bend neck rein turn that we found lightness, straightness and balance in the shoulders.

What is a Counter Bend Neck Rein Turn?

Introduced to me during a French dressage clinic, the counter bend neck rein turn became a game-changer on our journey towards balance. This exercise shifts the horse’s balance from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder. The horse’s outside foreleg steps forward while the inside foreleg steps into the circle as if the horse is extending sideways. It is a terrific exercise to help the horse find shoulder balance, straightness, and lightness.

How Counter Bends are True

After this clinic I began applying counter bend neck rein turns with my naturally gaited horses. This exercise began at a slow walk before increasing the tempo to a slow smooth gait. We did counter bend turns in a variety of patterns such as serpentines, squares, figure eights, circles and random turns any time we needed to regain balance and lightness in the shoulders.

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

Counter bend
Counter bend with neck rein turn moves balance from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder.

Steps to the Counter Bend Neck Rein Turn:

  1. With an equal light contact with both reins riding in a snaffle bit, I position the horse just enough to see the outside eye while keeping the neck straight.
  2. To turn, I draw both hands toward the inside of the circle (opposite side of the bend) with gentle nudges in timing with the inside shoulder as it begins to lift forward. This encourages the inside leg to move forward and slightly into the circle. The outside leg continues straight and forward. The front legs do not cross over the inside leg for the counter bend turn.
  3. Important tip: This is a shoulder moving exercise, not a hindquarter moving exercise. The rider uses the reins to move the shoulders, not the legs. The rider only uses the legs to cue the horse forward as needed, not to activate an outside hind leg or inside hind leg.
  4. I like to start the counter bend exercises at a SLOW walk until I am organized with my aids in timing with my horse’s shoulder steps and that my horse understands the concept of the exercise before we progress to more tempo at a walk or smooth gait.
  5. Counter Bend Applications: Counter bend neck rein turns can be applied on a serpentine by changing the counter bend at each turn, on a figure eight and changing the counter bend in the center, on a square by applying a counter bend neck rein turn at each corner, on a circle by maintaining a counter bend, or a random counter bend turn any time I feel the need to rebalance and straighten the shoulders.

What a Counter Bend Turn is NOT

neck rein turn out of balance
This is NOT a counter bend neck rein turn. Crossing the outside foreleg over the inside foreleg throws the horse out of balance instead of moving the shoulders in balance.
The purpose of the counter bend neck rein turn is to move the horse in balance from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder. This will help the naturally gaited horse find lightness in their smooth gait.

Counter bend on a circle at a fox trot in regular and slow motion.

Counter bend turns have helped my naturally gaited horses became lighter on the forehand, lighter in the bridle, more balanced in the shoulders. Then I began to re-introduce true bends, shoulder-in and shoulder-fore exercises as long as Lady remained light in the shoulders. I began to notice improvement in engagement and lifting her back to a neutral position.

Together the counter bend and true bend exercises have improved bit acceptance, balance, engagement from behind, activating the abdominal muscles to lift the back, and lifting the chest and shoulders, plus Lady’s naturally smooth fox trot is getting faster without breaking into a hard trot!

Counter bend neck rein turns have helped us find lightness and balance in the shoulders and now I can apply shoulder in and haunches in with greater balance and effectiveness!

More exercises for gaited horses to develop quality smooth gaits.

I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.

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Gaited Horse Training

Free Lunging Boot Camp

free lunging

Do you have months and months and months of winter time off? Then spring arrives and you can’t wait to ride again. Only your horse has grown a sagging hay belly and is desperately out of shape. Now what?

Free Lunging Boot Camp for the Naturally Gaited Horse

By Jennifer Klitzke

Ever since my husband and I moved to our farm, it feels like I have to start all over again each spring after five months off. On one hand, I love seeing my horses every day even though the winters get long without an indoor arena. The downside is having to start the first month of spring getting back to where we left off in the fall.

When I used to board my horses, I rode year-round in an indoor arena during the winter months. This kept me and my horses in shape, and we didn’t have the downtime we have now.

Yet, winter offers me time to read my dressage books. Time to study our videos. Time to reflect on how we are doing and what we need to improve upon.

In my winter studies, I became aware of a few things in my riding that I have started to apply now that spring is here.

Stretching stiff outside muscles

Reading Philippe Karl’s Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage offers many insights about why horses are crooked, the symptoms of crookedness, and a how good dressage program helps horses become ambidextrous and equally flexible. This spring I am making a conscious effort to stretch stiffer outside muscles to become even with the flexible side. Read more>

stretching the outside muscles

The importance of engaging the hindquarters AND engaging the abdominal muscles to lift the back

It occurred to me that teaching the naturally gaited horse to engage the hind quarters to step deeper under its body and engage its abdominal muscles to lift its back are two separate functions. Both are essential for top line muscle development. I have noticed that engaging the hindquarters does not automatically engage the abdominal muscles to lift the back to a neutral position.

I wrongly believed that by engaging the hindquarters for a deeper step under the body also engaged the abdominal muscles to lift the back. This may be the case for some horses, but not all.

For me, I had to recognize this on video and photos and then begin to develop a sense of feel while in the saddle for when the horse’s back was hollow and when the horse’s back was neutral.

When I ask the horse for a quality rein back, I feel the back and wither lift. So this is the feeling I seek to maintain. The rein back, transitions between gaits, and a quality canter engage the abdominal muscles and so does a stretching trot.

Now that it is spring, I have started a few new tactics with my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse Makana and naturally gaited fox trotting mare Lady. Neither are spring chickens. Both are 16 years old. And both have developed sagging hay bellies over winter.

Getting back in shape starts in the cross ties

While in the cross ties, I have started to apply belly lifts. I poke them in the belly until they lift their back to a neutral position. I ask them to hold their back up for a few seconds. Then I release and praise them, rub their belly, and give them a snack. I do the belly lift about six times on both sides.

Free lunging

Then I take each horse to the round pen for free lunging. Normally I tack up my horse with a saddle and bridle, cross the irons, and loop the reins. For the purpose of this post, I free lunged Lady without tack to show how free lunging in trot and canter improve engagement of the hind quarters and abdominal muscles to lift the back.

Allowing the naturally gaited horse to trot at liberty will not ruin the horse’s smooth gait. In fact, teaching a gaited horse a quality trot on cue can improve the quality of smooth gait.

Below is a series of photos during our
20-minute free lunging session.

Pictured above is Lady, my 16-year-old naturally gaited fox trotting mare. I captured this photo in the beginning of our free lunging session that lasted about 20 minutes. You can clearly see how much of a sagging hay belly she has, how hollow her back is, how disengaged she is from behind (not stepping deep under her belly and her hind leg trails behind her tail), and how much she is on the forehand.
This is Lady about 10 minutes later. I encourage her to trot. While she trots, I encourage her to stretch her top line muscles. Notice the difference in the engagement of the hind legs and the back is more neutral. Lady is being free lunged in a round pen. This forces her to stretch her outside muscles. When she travels counter clockwise, she stretches her stiffer outside muscles.
I also encourage Lady in the working trot. Her poll (between her ears) is about level with her whither. Notice that her back is neutral, her stomach is not sagging, and she is engaged from behind. A quality trot like this builds the top line muscles, stretches the outside muscles (when on a circle), teaches the horse rhythm, and relaxation.
Canter
The other thing I encourage while free lunging is transitions from trot to canter to trot. Notice how the canter teaches Lady to step deep under her belly and lift her back.

I have been free lunging both Lady and Makana for 20 minutes each five days a week. I ask them to travel counter clock wise more than clock wise so that they stretch their stiffer outside muscles.

After free lunging, I work each horse in hand for 5-10 minutes to soften the jaw and poll and encourage the horse to taste the bit. Then I ride for another 20 minutes.

We should be back in shape before you know it!

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.

French Dressage for Gaited Horses

Ecole de Légèreté Comes to the Midwest

Connecting the dots by seeing Ecole de Légèreté live. I was both humbled and awestruck auditing a PHENOMENAL Ecole de Légèreté (School of Lightness) clinic with Classical French Dressage Master Instructor Bertrand Ravoux.

By Jennifer Klitzke

Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl certified Bertrand Ravoux in 2007 as his first Licenced Ecole de Légèreté Master Instructor. Bertrand only teaches Instructor Training Clinics in the USA and Europe. Yet owners Rick and Kari of the Schmitt Training Center in Sommerset, WI were fortunate to have Bertrand come to the Midwest for the first time. Not only that, but the lucky eight riders were not in the Instructor Training program. Even more rare was that one of the eight horses was a naturally gaited Icelandic!

As soon as I heard Bertrand was coming to the Midwest, I signed up immediately, as did dozens of auditors traveling as far as Missouri. I didn’t want to miss out on live in-person instruction about this form of dressage that I have been studying the last seven years through Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books: Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage and The Art of Riding.

Philippe-Karl-Legerete-DVDs-video-camera
My DVD library of Classical French Dressage Master Philippe Karl.

This Ecole de Légèreté clinic was composed of a diverse mix of horses such as an Icelandic, off-the-track Thoroughbred, Norwegian Fjord, Arabian/Holsteiner, Zweibrücken, Holsteiner, Dutch Warmblood, and an Arabian Saddlebred. Equally diverse were the mix of riders ranging from Intro level to Intermediare.

Bertrand’s kind and encouraging teaching style met each student and horse exactly where they were at in their training. He led both the rider and horse to relaxation and confidence, forwardness, straightness, and balance through the full range of motion: neck extension to collection to lateral bending.

For me, many dots were connected from studying Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books that only witnessing this form of riding in person can do. The only thing that could top auditing the clinic would be riding in it. And I am keeping my fingers crossed for future clinics and perhaps applying to participate in the three-year Instructor Certification program.

Throughout the Ecole de Légèreté clinic, Bertrand instructed each rider to lead their horse through exercises that helped achieve balance, relaxation, rhythm, engagement, connection, straightness, and collection. If a horse became heavy on the forehand, he offered useful instruction for lightness in the bridle and exercises to lighten the forehand. If a horse became sleepy, he encouraged the rider to engage the horse through forwardness along the long side of the arena in a neck extension.

Each rider was instructed how to help their horse become light to the hand and light to the leg and to work their horse in relaxation,  balance, straightness, and forwardness through its full range of motion (laterally and longitudinally) to improve its quality of gaits. Watching the riders lead their horses through exercises in hand and from the saddle better helped my understanding of this kind and humane dressage method.

My biggest Ecole de Légèreté clinic takeaways

  1. The importance of rider clarity of the leg, rein, seat, and weight aids to help the horse’s understanding
  2. The importance of the rider training the horse to be light to the leg and light to the hand:
    • ONE leg aid means “go” and what to do if the horse doesn’t
    • The difference between a rein aid to lighten a horse that is leaning on the bit (demi-arête) and a rein aid to ask the horse to follow the contact (action/reaction)
  3. The importance of the position and use of the reins:
    • Always raise the hand(s) to communicate with the corner(s) of the horse’s lips which is less sensitive
    • Never pull the reins back and press the bit on the tongue which causes pain
    • The importance of the outside rein contact
    • The use of the inside rein to encourage the horse to soften the jaw, taste the bit, and flex at the poll
    • The neutral position of the hands close together and above the pommel with elbows relaxed at side
  4. The importance of straightness of the horse’s shoulders and what to do when one shoulder dominates
  5. The importance of working the horse’s full range of motion laterally and longitudinally, relaxed, balanced and actively forward as well as slow and engaged to improve the quality of gaits

Watching the naturally gaited Icelandic

I was so excited to watch how Bertrand instructed a naturally gaited horse during the four-day clinic and address the following issues:

  • This 15-year-old gaited horse was lateral in all of its gaits: pacey camel walk, a hard pace, and lateral canter. 
  • The horse leaned on the bit.
  • The horse was on the lazy side.
  • The horse was slouching its chest muscles which caused it to be heavy on the forehand. It leaned on its shoulders instead of carried its weight equally on all four legs. 

I was glued to how Bertrand addressed pace, laziness, and heaviness on the bit and shoulders (as my naturally gaited fox trotting horse and I struggle with the latter and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse and I could be more forward and responsive to the leg than we are). 

Bertrand’s instructions:

  1. Teach a lateral moving horse diagonal movements on cue:
    • The shoulder-in on a circle at an active yet slow walk is an excellent exercise to a diagonal movement. It is impossible for a horse to pace while performing the shoulder-in on a small circle.
    • A quality rein back is a diagonal movement. Teach the horse walk-rein back-walk-rein back transitions.
    • Lunge the horse over ground rails to establish trot on cue.
    • Trot is the diagonal gait. Teach the horse trot-walk-trot transitions and trot-canter-trot transitions.
  2. Teach the horse to be light to the hands.
    • It is the horse’s responsibility to carry its own head and neck. The horse is not to lean on the rider’s hands. The rider needs to teach the horse to be light.
    • Anytime the horse leans on one or both reins, the rider make a QUICK motion upward (not back) with one or both reins. This tells the horse to stop leaning on the rein or reins.
    • It is important that the motion with one or both hands is quick and upward to affect the corner(s) of the horse’s lips and not pull back which would hurt the horse by pulling on the tongue.
    • The idea is to make one quick motion upward, the horse becomes light, and the horse stays at the same head and neck position that the rider desires, no lower. If the horse leans on one or both reins again, then the rider makes another quick action upward with one or both reins.
  3. Teach the horse to be light to the leg.
    • Go means go. One leg aid means “go.” If not, the rider does not continue to squeeze and prompt the horse forward with the leg. No. The rider uses one leg aid and if the horse doesn’t move forward and stay forward, the rider lightly taps the horse’s hindquarters with the whip in a slow, rhythmic way, gradually increasing the tap until the horse moves forward. Eventually the horse will learn that one leg aid means, “go.”
    • For the horse that like to be on the lazy side, it means freshening up the horse with a REALLY forward gait, like trot, as fast as a canter forward. The rider posted to the Icelandic’s pace in a neck extension.
    • The rider encourages to the horse to take the rein contact into a forward neck extension straight along the wall. The horse extends its head and neck outward and down with the nose pointing forward. The poll is no lower than the height of the whither. The horse keeps an open throat latch (an open angle between the underside neck to jaw). The neck extension stretches the top line muscles of the horse, stretches the spine while engaging the horse from behind in forwardness and balance.
  4. Teach the horse how to travel in a straight line with the neck bent 90 degrees to the inside (fléchi droit) before teaching circles.
    • It wasn’t until this clinic that I understood the purpose for this exercise that I learned a few years ago when I took lessons from a student of Philippe Karl. This exercise teaches the horse to be balanced equally on both shoulders without collapsing to the inside shoulder. It is very important to establish this before teaching circles to a horse, otherwise the horse will learn to fall onto the inside shoulder.
    • This exercise also stretches the horse’s outside neck muscles.
    • Once the horse has established the bend in the neck and is traveling balanced on both shoulders, then the horse can be led into a small circle (volte) in a neck extension position.
  5. Teach the horse how to work its shoulders in balance.
    • For the horse that is heavy on the forehand (collapsing one or both shoulders), a terrific exercise is counter bending the horse and neck reining the opposite direction.
    • By neck rein, it means that the rider draws both hands to the opposite side of the bend. This teaches the horse to move the shoulders. If the horse isn’t moving the shoulders, then the rider makes side ways nudges until the horse moves. (Don’t use the inside leg unless you are cueing the hind leg to move over). 
    • This counter bend neck rein exercise can be done on a circle, figure 8, or serpentine changing the bend at each short side to the counter bend and walking straight between bends to the next counter bend loop.

Within the first 45-minute lesson, Bertrand had taught the rider how to lead her Icelandic into a natural four-beat walk instead of a pacey, camel walk. The naturally gaited Icelandic remained in a quality walk for the remaining three lessons.

Some progress was made in breaking up the hard pace, but it will take time. After all it is not realistic to expect a 15-year old hard pacing horse to learn a diagonal gait, like trot, in four lessons. I truly believe this horse can do it with the rider’s persistence in Bertand’s suggestions.

Friends, auditing the Ecole de Légèreté clinic with Bertrand, a Certified Master Instructor, was humbling, awe inspiring and educational. I wish I had photos and video to go along with this post, but photos and video were not allowed. Instead, I highly encourage you to purchase Philippe Karl’s DVDs and books. You will not be disappointed and if you live near an Ecole de Légèreté clinic, it is a must see!

Ecole de Légèreté 

I will continue to share approved photos from the Ecole de Légèreté community on the Naturally Gaited Facebook page. Make sure you “like” and “follow” to stay connected.

Stay tuned. I will begin sharing my application of what I learned in the clinic with my naturally gaited horses in future posts. I am especially excited to apply all that I learned with Lady, my naturally gaited fox trotting horse in helping her be light to the hand and help my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse be lighter to the leg.

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