Here’s how to build the top line muscles of your naturally gaited horse while also developing balanced, quality smooth gait.

Did you know that developing the top line muscles of your gaited horse is more than lowering your horse’s head and neck? Did you know that not all long and low is the same? Did you know that too low is not beneficial to your horse? Find out why…

Building your horse’s top line muscles is a full body activity.

How to Build the Top Line Muscles of Your Naturally Gaited Horse

By Jennifer Klitzke

There is more than one humane way to train your naturally gaited horse to develop smooth gaits. Dressage is one of those ways. One of the purposes of dressage is to develop the horse’s full range of motion (lengthened and collected) for quality gaits and long-term soundness.

As an avid dressage rider since 1988, I’ve learned the importance of developing the top line muscles of the horse. It’s one of the first things I learned as a dressage student riding and training my then five-year-old Trakehner/thoroughbred gelding, Seili. As a result, Seili had a well-developed top line until he died at 34. I rode him until he was 29.

Benefits of building the top line muscles of the horse:

1) Soundness: Developing the top line muscles and stretching the spine can prolong your horse’s soundness for a longer riding career.
2) Relaxation: A lowered head and neck position can help the horse relax.
3) Longer strides: Teaching the horse to reach deeper under the belly with the hind leg steps will help develop length of stride.
4) Quality gaits: Teaching the horse to relax its back and stretch the top line muscles can help develop quality gaits. This is true for both the non-gaited and gaited horses. A non-gaited horse’s trot will be smoother and the naturally gaited horse that tends to pace or hard trot can relax into a natural smooth gait.

As an amateur dressage rider-trainer, I had aspirations of moving up a level each summer like the professionals did, but my work schedule and winter weather limited our training time. I rode my gelding miles and miles of 20-meter circles in a stretched and forward-moving long and low position for more than a year. It took several years before we move from Training level to First level and then to Second level—when collection is introduced and balance is required.

My horse’s impeccable top line collided with a new concept of balance. Our miles and miles on a long and low circle had conditioned my horse to travel on the forehand.

Too much long and low had developed my gelding’s top line muscles beautifully, but it didn’t prepare him for balance. Unknowingly, I had taught him to slouch. That’s why it took a couple years of retraining Seili’s in a posture of balance.

Hindsight is 20/20. Now I’ve learned ways of training non-gaited and gaited horses that develop the top line muscles and develop balance.

I wish I knew then what I know now.

Lowering the head and neck

In 2007, I purchased my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana, and later, my naturally gaited fox-trotting mare, Lady. In my quest for learning, I traveled to a variety of clinics. These gaited experts encouraged us to lower the horse’s head and neck for relaxation and it would help us establish a natural smooth gait. Many believed the lower the horse’s head is to the ground the better.

I knew that relaxation of mind and body are foundations in dressage, and I have come to realize the importance relaxation has in developing smooth gait. A tense back leads to pace, hard trot or a short, rushed gait. A relaxed back leads to quality smooth gaits.

Lowering the head and neck is one way to help the naturally gaited horse relax. There are other effective ways to aid in relaxation. Did you know that lowering the head and neck alone, doesn’t strengthen the top line muscles of the horse? Plus, prolonged long and low teaches the horse to travel on the forehand. I wish I knew this back then. It would have saved me years of retraining.

There is a better way.

Why lower isn’t better

Did you know that the horse’s head and neck weigh up to a nineth of the horse’s body weight? Think about how this affects the horse’s balance when the head and neck are projected ahead of the body mass and nod with each step.

Long and low, especially as low as you can go, trains the horse to travel on the forehand. This leads to tripping. Plus, the low neck position collapses the chest muscles, so the horse isn’t lifting the shoulders and wither. Instead, the horse develops a habit of slouching. Watch the video below for a good demonstration of this point.

Watch: Too Low and on the Forehand

For years I fixated on how low my naturally gaited horse could drop her head and neck while encouraging her to step deep under her body with each hind leg step. In error, I believed as long as my horse was over tracking with the hind leg steps that she was balanced. I had no awareness that my horse was on the forehand and had collapsed her chest posture.

I realized this error when I began to study French dressage and scientific equine biomechanic research by Dr. Hilary Clayton about the horse in balance. Read this article: Research proves the importance of the chest muscles for balance

There is a better way

How about teaching your naturally gaited horse relaxation that builds the top line muscles, helps develop smooth gaits while being mindful of balance? That means less tripping, less pacing and more quality smooth gaits.

Let’s take a look.

Building the top line muscles of your naturally gaited horse is a full body activity

Lowering the head and neck helps the naturally gaited horse relax, yet did you know your gaited horse can still hollow its back, collapse its chest and shoulder muscles, drop its wither, and disengage its hind legs (travel more behind the tail than under the belly)? It’s true. Building the top line muscles is a full body activity.

Lowering the head and neck alone

The photo below shows my naturally gaited fox-trotting horse, Lady, in an unbalanced long and low position. While she is relaxed, her hind legs are disengaged and are not stepping deep under her belly. She has a hollow back and collapsed chest muscles. She is behind the bit and her poll (between her ears) is not aligned with her wither.

Can you see how this long and low position naturally places her on the forehand? She is not able to effectively develop her top line muscles in this position.

Developing the top line is a full body activity

The photo below shows my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse in a balanced neutral position. Notice she is stepping deeper under her belly more than extending behind her tail. Her back is lifted to a neutral position. Her neck extends out, but not too low. Her poll (between the ears) is even with the wither. Her nose is slightly ahead of the vertical and her chest muscles are engaged to lift the wither up.

Can you see how this position helps the naturally gaited horse develop the top line muscles in relaxation, rhythm, and better balance? Can you see how this positions the full body to produce quality smooth gaits?

Three keys to developing the top line muscles for quality smooth gaits:

1) Step deeper under the belly with each hind leg step. The hindquarters of the naturally gaited horse should under its belly and under the weight of the rider. The hind leg step should be MORE under the belly than trailing behind its tail. Encourage your horse to take relaxed, forward steps without rushing. Ideally, the hind leg footprint should over track the fore footprint.

2) Teach your horse to extend its head and neck out while maintaining chest posture. While building the top line muscles, allow your horse to stretch forward, out and down, but no lower than the poll at wither height. If your horse’s head and neck position get too low, the pectoral muscles collapse, the horse drops the wither, and the horse travels on the forehand out of balance and will trip more often. This is why, lower in motion isn’t better.

3) Warm up and cool down with a quality stretch. Beginning and ending a riding session with a big, stretchy, relaxed walk that encourages the horse to engage the hindquarter and step deeper under its belly; activate its abdominal muscles to lift its back to a neutral position, and extend its head and neck out and down, but no lower than the poll at the height of the wither, with many moments of stretch throughout a riding session, are a great practice. This is especially helpful for older horses and horses that are stiff or out of shape.

4) Ride your horse with lots of transitions between a balanced and a stretched position during a riding session. In dressage, riding lots of transitions within a state of relaxation is most beneficial, because transitions help the horse develop balance. This includes transitions between gait, transitions between exercises, transitions of direction, and transitions of frame within a gait, such as from a neutral posture to a top line stretch for a moment and back. Think of riding your naturally gaited horse like playing an accordion.

IMPORTANT: Don’t stay in a stretched position for long periods of time or you’ll condition your horse’s muscle memory to travel on the forehand. Instead give your horse lots of stretch breaks throughout your ride. Instead of 30-40 minutes of stretching at a time, take 30-40 short stretch breaks during your riding session. A stretch is a great way to reward your horse and help your horse relax while developing the top line muscles. If you would like to let your horse stretch to the ground, do this at a halt instead of in motion. In fact, there are many in-hand exercises you can do with your horse at a halt to help your horse develop its top line.

Most importantly, ride your horse in a posture of balance predominantly through your session with lots of transitions to a relaxed stretch. This builds the top line muscles while rewarding and relaxing the horse. The duration of this stretching can be as long as riding the long side of the arena.

Riding lots and lots of transitions between a balanced posture and a stretch posture, without getting too low, and only for short durations, builds your horse’s full range of motion.

Neck extension to develop top line muscles

As you can see, developing the top line muscles of the naturally gaited horse is more than just lowering the head and neck. Developing the top line muscles is a full body activity. It includes stepping under the rider with the hind leg steps, activating the abdominal muscles to lift the back, and maintaining chest posture through the stretch by not letting the horse’s head and neck get too low.

Watch: Cues to Neck Extension

Chest posture is key

Now that I am aware of balance, and the importance of chest posture through the stretch in motion, I position the horse’s head and neck where the poll (place between its ears) is no lower than the wither height. This helps the horse extend and stretch the top line muscles (and spine), while helping to maintain posture in the chest, shoulder, and wither without collapsing. 

Why a balanced position?

If dressage training is meant to help the horse become more balanced, why would you develop your horse’s muscle memory on the forehand by riding in a long and low frame for prolonged periods of time?

It’s like changing posture after you’ve developed the habit of slouching. It is not easy to retrain a horse to be in balance if it has learned to traveling on the forehand.

When the horse learns to carry its head and neck more over its body mass, the lighter it is for the horse to carry, and the easier it is for the horse to be in balance. That is why it is so important to teach the horse balance using in hand exercises. The horse learns to carry its own head and neck (not lean on the rider’s hands).

There is a HUGE difference between the horse learning to carry its head and neck in balance position and accept a light contact with a snaffle bit versus a rider PULLING the horse’s head and neck back into a headset with fixed hands, especially when riding with a shank bit and sitting in a chair seat.

The former teaches balance and self-carriage, and latter forces the horse into a ewe neck and hollow back, and the horse learns bit resistance instead of bit acceptance.

Helping the rider teach top line muscle development to the gaited horse

IMPORTANT: The steps below are meant to help the rider develop the aids and application of a top line stretch, not to convey that the full duration and every riding session is exclusive ridden in a stretched posture that builds the top line muscles.

Instead, train your horse predominantly in a posture of balance with lots of transitions between balance and moments of top line stretches after balance is achieved. Instead of riding 30-40 minutes in a stretched position, ride 30-40 minutes with 30-40 transitions from a balanced position to a stretched position and back. If you ride predominantly in a top line stretching position, you’ll condition your horse’s muscle memory to travel on the forehand.

1) Position. Start at a walk and encourage your horse to move forward and extend its head and neck out so that the poll (place between the horse’s ears) is no lower than the wither (the bump in front of the saddle) height. I prefer to do this on a 20-meter circle for the purpose of stretching the outside muscles and strengthening the inside hind leg as it steps under the body.

2) Develop feeling and awareness. Begin to notice and feel the belly sway with each hind leg step; this will help you become aware of the timing of your aids. Begin to follow (not drive) this belly sway with each hip joint and gently follow with a relaxed lower back and relaxed arms and hands as the horse’s head and neck nod.

3) Engaged and forward without rushing. Encourage the horse to step under its belly with each hind leg in a forward without rushing tempo. Try to feel where that hind leg is placed under its body. Can you feel the hind leg step under your seat? or does it feel like the horse is pulling itself along by the shoulders more that stepping under with the hind leg steps?

If the horse needs to step deeper with the hind leg steps, you can cluck the moment you feel the belly sway down on the inside of the circle. This encourages that hind leg to step deeper at the opportune time. If the horse doesn’t respond with a deeper step under the body, then you can cluck and press and release your calf into the side of the girth the next moment the belly sway goes down. Timing is key.

If the horse is still not responding with a deeper step (and you know that it is able to do more) then apply a tap of a dressage whip to that side as you apply your calf press and release and cluck the next moment the belly sway goes down. Again, timing is key.

4) Most important, stop cueing as soon as your horse responds. If you cue repeatedly the horse will begin to ignore your aids instead of listening to them. The goal is to help your horse learn to respond to the first and lightest cue.

5) Reverse directions and do the same. If the horse seems to struggle in one direction more than the other, it is likely that the outside muscles are stiffer. Make sure you travel in the more difficult direction twice as much as the easy direction in order to produce an equally flexible horse. This is why circles are used so much in dressage versus straight lines. Circles create straightness (symmetry) in the horse, because it helps the horse become more ambidextrous.

6) Start slow and increase tempo gradually. After your horse has developed relaxation, balance, rhythm, and engagement in a free walk, then you can help your horse build its top line muscles in a smooth gait or a trot on cue.

7) Trot on cue has benefits for the hard pacing horse. If the horse tends to pace or lacks engagement from behind, it is helpful to encourage trotting on cue in a stretched frame to build the top line. Naturally gaited horses can learn trot on cue, and it can improve the quality of the natural smooth gait.

Why? The trot is a diagonal foot fall sequence, and the pace is a lateral foot fall sequence. The trot can help the horse break up the pace. A quality trot on cue can also help the horse engage more from behind and that engagement can improve the quality of smooth gait on cue.

8) Free lunging. You can also help your horse build its top line by free lunging in a round pen or lunging on a long line. It is common for a naturally gaited horse to trot without the weight of a rider. Many do in the pasture, also. Do not worry, trot will not ruin their natural smooth gaits. Horses are smart enough to learn multiple gaits on cue. It is important that you are the one directing the gait and not the horse. That is the key.

Free walk on a long rein

If dressage is in your wheelhouse, then developing the top line will improve your free walk on a long rein. This is a required movement in gaited dressage tests. The rider must maintain a light, even and steady contact with the snaffle bit and follow the natural motion of the head and neck.

Natural Smooth Gait on a Loose Rein

For those of you trail riders who prefer to ride on a floppy rein, these exercises also help to improve self-carriage in gait. It is important that your horse is relaxed and balanced before releasing the horse to a long rein. If the horse loses balance, collect the reins, re-establish balance and release again.

Remember that building the top line muscles of the naturally gaited horse is a full body activity. It is more than just lowering the head and neck. While many of us may be focused on smooth, think about quality smooth, less tripping, and the longevity of your riding partner by riding your horse in balance by training your naturally gaited horse in balance with lots and lots of transitions to a top line stretch.

Enjoy the journey!

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