From me and my furry friends to you and yours, have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
—Jennifer Klitkze
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Fun comparison of four walking gaits on a loose rein of the same naturally gaited horse on the same day in regular and slow motion.
By Jennifer Klitzke
In dressage, we communicate with the horse through the consistent use and effective timing of our rein, leg, seat and weight aids. The horse learns to accept and follow a light snaffle bit contact and the rider learns to follow the horse’s natural head and neck motion.
In dressage, through the course of a 30–60-minute riding session, the horse is offered many breaks (rewards). The horse is halted or released to a walk and the rein is extended to the buckle on loose rein.
This is video captures moments through our ride where my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse is enjoying her breaktime. She is relaxed in mind and body, traveling forward with even rhythm, and in balance.
As I watch this video, I notice her free walk and flat-footed walk are the most expressive with the biggest strides, over track, and head nod. In these expressions of walk, they have the most motion to follow with my hip joints.
I also notice, the faster she travels, the smoother she naturally becomes, and the less motion I have to follow with my hip joints. However, I also notice, the faster she travels on a loose rein, the shorter her strides become.
Very interesting.
In terms of quality gait, her free walk and flat-footed walk are the best she can do. However, while the flat walk and running walk are smooth, they are not the quality steps she is capable of.
Is contact required for quality smooth gaits or are the faster smoother gaits naturally shorter strided? If the latter, are we forcing our naturally gaited horses into positions that are not natural? Or is my naturally gaited horse just enjoying a break from the longer stride I had been working her in?
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The leg yield is a great exercise for pacey gaited horses. The diagonal footfall of the leg yield break ups the lateral sequence of the pace for smooth gait.
In 1988, I was riding an off-the-track thoroughbred who knew nothing about dressage. Same as me. It was my first dressage lesson. Green rider, green horse is not usually the best combination. At least I was committed to regular dressage lessons.
Anyhow, during this first dressage lesson is when I was introduced to the leg yield. It is a great introductory exercise for horses and riders. It teaches the use and timing of the rein, leg, and seat aids of the rider to direct the horse in a forward, slightly angled direction in a rather straight position. For a green horse, it is an introduction to what the rider aids mean.
The leg yield is not a sideways movement, but a forward angled movement. A great way to introduce the leg yield is along the fence or wall of the arena at a slow walk. In a leg yield, the horse moves away from the leg cue and steps its hind leg under its belly towards the opposite front leg. Once the horse understands moving away from the rider’s lower leg alongside the fence, the leg yield can be introduced from the quarter line to the fence.
After the horse understands leg yield at a walk along the fence and from the quarter line to the fence with relaxation, rhythm, and balance, then introduce leg yield at a flat walk. Begin with a couple steps of leg yield at a flat walk and then proceed in a straight line. Increase the number of leg yield steps until the horse is able to travel gradually from the quarter line to the fence (or arena wall).
After my horse understands the leg yield at a walk, then I increase the tempo to a slow smooth gait.
Once your horse understands the leg yield in both directions, the next progression is the zig zag at a walk and then a flat walk. The horse leg yields one direction and then changes to the other direction.
More exercises for gaited horses to develop quality smooth gaits.
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Starting a gaited horse under saddle began with developing a relationship of relaxation and communication from the ground up!
Sixty rides later, it’s paying off!
By Jennifer Klitzke
With each horse I work with of any age, relaxation is the key. Relaxation of mind and body. A relaxed mind is a teachable mind. I help the horse focus on me and our training instead of being worried about distractions around us. A relaxed body is a trainable body and able to produce quality smooth gaits.
Most importantly, relaxation begins with me. I need to be relaxed in my mind and body in order to lead my horse into relaxation. This is helpful when working with a young untrained horse or whenever in the saddle.
It is important to note that relaxation does not mean lazy, dull or shut down. Relaxation means the absence of tension and anxiety in both me and the horse. Horses learn best from a relaxed handler and in a relaxed state of mind. A horse’s best quality smooth gaits are produced in a posture of relaxation.
Whenever the horse becomes tense, I redirect the horse’s focus, slow down or stop and regain relaxation. When a horse is tense, they often raise their head and neck, hollow their back, their whole body becomes tight, they hold their breath, they are tight lipped, their eyes grow worried, and their attention is fixed on what is causing the tension. In this state, the horse is not listening and not trainable. In a posture of tension, a gaited horse often paces, pace canters, or hard trots. These are the rough gaits we don’t want, right? That’s why relaxation of mind and body are key to training the naturally gaited horse.
There are many ways I help a horse relax, such as teaching them to draw their attention back to me, lowering their head and neck to a neutral position, breathing, chewing and swallowing, and relaxing their mouth and lower jaw. Beginning this education from the ground from the lunge line or in hand builds a great foundation of relaxation with lots of rewards for every good thing.
With a young horse, their attention span is short, and they are easily distracted. Knowing this, I break down training into small progressive steps with ongoing reminders to draw the horse’s attention back to me any time it drifts off.
I have been working with Marvel about 20 minutes, three days in a row with one day off. During our sessions, when Marvel responds to a cue, I will immediately praise with a voice aid like, “yes, good boy,” and stop and give him a treat. I reward him for every good thing. Then we repeat an exercise a couple times with a reward in between.
If we are working an exercise in one direction, we switch directions and do the same exercise. This is super important. Most horses are like people in that they are born right-handed or left-handed. Horses can be trained to be ambidextrous over time. Ideally, work the less developed direction twice as much as the easy direction. This will help the gaited horse develop more even strides.
Encouragement goes a long way with people, and it does the same with horses. A young, green horse has a lot to learn. Marvel is learning a new language, so it is my job to be clear and consistent day after day.
I used body cues by bringing my energy up and down, verbal cues, “Yes, good boy,” and rewards, treats, and breaks with moments of letting the horse rest in relaxation.
Later in training, I will introduce the snaffle bit to help the horse accept contact and follow a light contact. Then when we begin saddle training, I will add leg, seat and weight aids.
I used the mounting block in our sessions together to get Marvel used to me being taller than him and hearing my voice above him. Then I began laying my arm around him and placing weight on his back.
After establishing a relationship of relaxation and a consistent communication system, the next priority before saddle training begins is to access whether Marvel is physically developed to carry a rider.
During the first six months Marvel was at our place, he has grown and put on a hundred pounds. He will be four years old in June. I decided to wait until the snow and ice melted before I started Marvel under saddle. I began his saddle training in May, just a month shy of his fourth birthday.
Six months of groundwork and work in hand led to saddle training with my soon to be 4-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse / Spotted Saddle Horse. For our first time in the saddle, I wanted Marvel to get a sense of my voice and weight on his back before I got off.
I used a mild snaffle bit and a bareback pad. This made it easier for me to gradually get on by adding my weight over his wither, then move my knee onto his back, then my leg and foot to the other side slowly while watching how he handled it, and then I moved into position onto his back. It sure felt great to be on his back! I sat on his back a couple minutes and quietly dismounted.
On my second time in the saddle, I repeated the same slow process of getting on using the bareback pad. Then I asked Marvel to take his first steps with me on his back. Wobble. Wobble. Good boy! It was a short ride, only a couple minutes.
On our third time in the saddle, I again repeated the slow process of getting on using the bareback pad and then asked Marvel to move his hindquarters and his shoulders. We doubled our time in the saddle. What a good boy!
On our fourth ride, I added the saddle now that Marvel understands the concept of me being on his back. I don’t need to get on in steps like I did with the bareback pad. Since Marvel feels like I’m riding a water balloon, it is easier to maintain stability in a saddle with stirrups.
In this fourth ride, I asked Marvel to move forward. It is clear that I need to clearly separate my connection with the bridle when I ask for forward promptings of the leg. It is confusing if I combine a light contact of the bridle with the request to move forward. By separating the rein and leg aids helps Marvel move forward much easier.
Each ride we have increased our time in the saddle over the previous ride.
Marvel has had thirty-one rides in the last 10 weeks. Our last ride was our first time experiencing his smooth natural flat walk!
A good trail ride is in order if I can find someone to be the lead.
Oh, horse whisperer?
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Jambette offers great stretching benefits for the naturally gaited horse. It teaches the horse to extend the foreleg and lift and chest and shoulder for greater mobility and range of motion.
By Jennifer Klitzke
The first time I saw jambette was in 2016 when my French dressage instructor was finishing up a training session with her upper-level mare. Jambette teaches the horse to extend a foreleg on cue while at a halt. It is the precursor to the Spanish walk. The Spanish Walk adds a walk step between the jambette. The jambette and Spanish walk offer great benefits for the naturally gaited horse’s shoulder mobility and chest muscle development which improve scope and range of motion.
Marvel is a three-and-a-half-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse / Spotted Saddle Horse gelding. I’ve been working with him for five months in preparation for spring saddle training.
The jambette and Spanish walk are upper-level movements I hadn’t considered teaching him at this stage. Yet combining his playful curiosity, high intelligence, and winter boredoms, Marvel had other ideas.
In February 2022, I finished rasping the rough edges around Marvel’s front foot using the hoof stand. His front leg extended straight and forward. The next day I placed Marvel in the cross ties, and he began extending his front leg as if the hoof stand were there. The first time he did this, I thought it was rather humorous. The next day he did it again. After several days in a row, I knew his curious behavior was more than a fluke. Then Marvel began to extend the other front leg.
By golly, Marvel is teaching himself the jambette. Who am I to tell him, “No dude, the textbooks say this is an advanced movement and you need hold off a few years!”
What is my alternative? If I were to discourage Marvel, he likely would resort to pawing like Makana does. Pawing is an annoying habit which I haven’t had success curbing. So, if Marvel takes delight in an exercise that is beneficial to his body, I began putting cues to the jambette. Each time he offered a stretch with the front leg, I say,”jambette,” and touch his shoulder. Now Marvel offers jambette on cue and with each foreleg. (And I join his dance line routine, too!)
Then Makana, my 17-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, began offering jambette in the cross ties, too. She must have been auditing Marvel’s shenanigans in the cross ties (or Marvel has been coaching her on the sidelines). Good thing, jambette has now replaced her years long annoying habit of pawing in the cross ties!
The next step is to incorporate jambette with forward walk steps to develop the Spanish Walk—an exercise I have longed to teach a horse. Again, I have been in no hurry to teach the Spanish Walk, but if Marvel says otherwise, who am I to stop him.
After all, my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana, taught me counted walk and piaffe. Naturally gaited horses are multi gaited horses and can learn jambette and Spanish Walk, too!
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.
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