Does your gaited horse have a smooth gait but short strides? Or does your gaited horse have a rough ride? In either case, I have experienced both and here are tips on developing longer strides and smoother gaits.
Tips to Longer Strides and Smoother Gaits
by Jennifer Klitzke
Like many of us gaited horse riders, I couldn’t wait to experience that comfortable smooth gait. In 2007, when I began my journey with Makana, my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, I quickly realized that the faster she moved, the shorter her strides became. Although this quick gait was smooth, I yearned for longer strides at the flat walk and running walk.
To achieve longer strides and smooth gaits, I learned that I had to begin by SLOWing down. By taking the time to develop a quality free walk, my horse learned to move in four evenly timed steps with longer strides. This groundwork transformed her flat walk and running walk from short quick steps to long smooth strides.
Video: Tips to Longer Strides and Smoother Gaits
How to develop longer strides at a free walk
What is a free walk
During a free walk, the horse takes slow, ground-covering steps while maintaining a relaxed and extended posture. The horse stretches its head and neck forward and out, making contact with a snaffle bit and an open throat latch.
The free walk is an even four beat footfall. It is not a pace. If your horse has trouble walking, don’t practice more pace if you desire a walk. There are tips in this post to help break up pace: Quality Step to Quality Steps | Naturally Gaited Horse
Riding with a snaffle bit and a light following contact
There are various approaches to training gaited horses, and my passion is French dressage to develop quality smooth gaits. In training, I use a mild snaffle bit to teach my horses how to relax their mouth, lower jaw, and poll, as well as how to accept and follow contact with the bit. As I ride, I maintain a light following contact with both hands to ensure a harmonious connection and communication with the horse.
Relaxation of the mouth, the body and mind are keys to unlocking a quality, smooth gait with rhythm and long strides. This is why I teach my horses to accept and follow a snaffle bit contact, while I gently follow their natural head and neck motion with my hands.
When riding with low fixed hands, the bit can uncomfortably press into the horse’s tongue. This causes pain and leads to tension in the lower jaw and poll. In response, the horse may run off or over flex at the poll in an attempt to escape this tongue pressure. This tension not only affects the mouth, it also has a negative impact on the entire body, including a braced back which can result in more pacing, step pacing, and hard trotting.
Additionally, a noseband that prevents the horse from opening its mouth can contribute to the tension, and the horse may struggle to swallow, further exacerbating the issue. An indication of this is when saliva drips from the horse’s mouth.
For these reasons are why I believe it is best to ride with a light following contact using a snaffle bit and ensure the horse’s comfort and relaxation.
2023: Makana, my naturally gaited barefoot Tennessee walking horse at a flat walk (19 years old).
Cues for the head and neck
To encourage my horse to stretch her head and neck forward and achieve a more extended posture, I position my arms at my sides and gradually lift my hands until I feel the bit touching the corners of her mouth. As she responds by lowering her head to a neck extension position, I follow her movement by guiding the reins down and out, until her poll is aligned with her withers. These asking and releasing cues are known as known as “Action/Reaction.”
During the free walk, I aim for an open throat latch, ensuring that my horse’s nose is slightly ahead of the vertical position.
2023: A free walk on a long rein. The horse extends its head and neck forward and out with an open throat latch. The horse takes maximum slow walk steps with over track where the hind hoof steps over the fore hoof print.
Maintaining a neck extension position during the free walk not only enhances the stretching and relaxing benefits for my horse but also ensures better balance. It is important to avoid a head and neck position that is too low, as this can shift too much weight onto the forehand, causing the horse to be out of balance and more prone to tripping. As a responsible trainer, I always strive to keep my horse in balance and avoid any training that may compromise their stability.
Cues for the length of stride
As I tune into my horse’s movement, I notice the side-to-side sway of her belly with each hind leg step. Then I notice my riding position. There is a balance between core tone and a relaxed lower back and hip joints that follow her natural motion. It is essential to maintain relaxation in my hips and lower back, as tension in these areas could lead my horse to shorter her strides. I strive to follow her movements with relaxation and core tone. Yet I avoid driving her forward with my pelvis as this can irritate the horse and actually cause them to slow down. Instead, I coordinate the motion of each hip joint with the corresponding hind leg step, almost as if my own hip joints are walking alongside hers. The belly sway also helps me with the timing of leg cues to encourage the horse to take a deeper step under the belly.
Leg cue
When riding a free walk on a 20-meter circle going clockwise, my right calf will be on the inside of the circle. As my horse’s belly sways down and to the outside of the circle, that’s when her inside hind leg is stepping under her belly and is the ideal time to cue for a deeper step by pressing and releasing with my inside calf. It is important to stop the cue as soon as I feel a response, otherwise my horse will begin to ignore the cue. If my horse doesn’t respond to my leg cue, I follow up with a tap of the dressage whip on the same side at the same time as the press and release of my calf. Another thing I do is make a “cluck” sound at the timing of the leg aid, and/or tap of the whip.
Noticing uneven strides
Asymmetry is common in horses which can be apparent in uneven strides, with one leg taking longer steps than the other. While lameness can sometimes be the cause, it is often a sign of weakness or stiffness. Just like humans, most horses are born with a dominant side, whether it be right or left-handed. As a result, one side of their body may stretch easier than the other. This can affect their stride length and overall movement.
Also, when riding on a circle, the inside of the circle is a smaller circle than the outside of the circle. If a horse is stiff on the outside, it can be harder for them to take a longer stride on the outside of the circle. I make a point to notice which direction my horse is stiffer so I can help my horse become more flexible. Over time, this work helps my horse become more ambidextrous with more even hind leg steps.
Noticing rider unevenness
The other observation I’ve made is that I have an easier riding direction since I am right-handed. This means if I’m always traveling my easiest direction, I’ll be compromising my horse’s development as well as mine as a rider.
Full length of stride
Developing full length of stride is more than just encouraging my horse to take a deeper step under her belly. This is only one half of the length of stride. The other half is the leg that extends back and pushes forward. Together the pushing leg and the carrying leg make the full length of stride. I have found that the best way to develop length of stride is to SLOW the walk down taking relaxed and deliberate big steps.
2023: The full length of stride (green line) includes the hind leg step reaching under the belly (red line) which can be influenced by the proper timing of the rider’s leg cue and the hind leg step behind the tail (yellow line) as it pushes the horse forward.
Slow walk to smooth gait
Why is it important to have a SLOW, big walk? A quality walk is composed of four evenly timed steps— the same sequence in the flat-footed walk, flat walk, and running walk. For horses that are naturally offer pace or step pace, the free walk can be beneficial in developing more evenly timed steps for muscle memory and smooth gaits.
Video: Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Walk
Circles over straight lines
I incorporate 20-meter circles into our training sessions for several reasons. Not only does the bend a circle produces help develop strength in the inside hind leg as the horse steps under its belly, but the horse develops flexibility when stretching the outside body muscles. The latter benefit cannot be achieved riding a straight line.
Also, circles are particularly helpful for horses that tend to have a lateral pacey gait. For horses that are more square moving or tend to have a diagonal trotty gait, I ride my circles with a slight counter bend position to maintain an even four-step sequence.
Myth buster: There is a time for longer strides, but not always
Now having focused this entire post about developing longer strides. It is important to realize that the higher levels of collection require more carrying power vs pushing power. This carrying power shortens the stride length. Not permanently, though, only for as long as you are performing the carrying steps of collection. As soon as you release your gaited horse back to the pushing power, the length of stride returns. Examples of carrying power movements and gaits include: counted walk, half steps, piaffe, and collected walk. Examples of pushing power gaits are flat walk and running walk.
I mention this because for many years, I had been expecting my Tennessee walking horse to maintain the same length of stride in collection. This is not realistic nor biomechanically possible. Just look at the photo below.
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