Category Archives: Rider Position for Gaited Horses

Dressage for the Gaited Horse, Rider Position for Gaited Horses

Gaited Dressage: Feel and Release

Gaited horse cantering

By Jennifer Klitzke

There are so many riding methods out there. Just how do you know which one (or ones) to take into your riding and training foundation? Since 1988 I’ve been acquainted with many expressions of dressage: German, French, Western and gaited dressage. All of which offer methods, tips and tools in producing the results of relaxation, harmony, balance, impulsion, softness, suppleness, and engagement.

For me, I focus more on reaching these results versus sticking to any one method or teaching philosophy. If a method works, I keep using it. If a method isn’t working, I search for another approach. One approach may work best for a particular horse, on a particular day, in a particular situation, and at a particular level of its training. Another approach may work best for another horse or the same horse in a different situation or down the road at the next level of training.

My gaited dressage horse Makana and I had gotten into a rut. When she didn’t want to go forward, I would keep clucking, squeezing and tapping my whip to prompt her forward—practically with every step. So I’ve been on a quest to find a more effective approach.

Days after I had returned home from the Whitesell clinic with a load of new ideas, my friend Hannah stopped by for a visit. She is an avid horsewoman and Makana’s previous owner. She introduced me to a unique approach called “feel and release” that she had learned after spending a summer at Karen Mussen’s training barn.

Feel and release is the exact opposite of how I had been prompting Makana forward. Instead of using pressure by squeezing my legs and using my whip to encourage Makana forward, it begins with a light touch followed by an enthusiastic release which sends the horse moving freely into lightness and forwardness—both mentally and physically. Since softness, lightness, forwardness, and impulsion are results that I have been searching for, I’ve been giving it a try. It sure beats the constant nagging with my legs, voice and whip, and my horse seems lighter, softer, happier, and more up in the shoulders.

If softness and lightness are elements you’d like more of with your horse, visit Hannah’s blog Cambria Horsemanship and  Karen’s website TheArtofRiding.com.

Dressage for the Gaited Horse, Gaited Dressage Clinics, Rider Position for Gaited Horses

Gaited Dressage: Form and function

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gaited dressage form and function

By Jennifer Klitzke

I took an arsenal of questions with me to a recent gaited dressage clinic with Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer. Questions like how do I ride a head-shaking horse on-the-bit, how do I get my horse more forward, and how do I unlock my horse’s stiff back. My first question led to an interesting discussion about head nod. And little did I know that my questions all relate to form and function.

Larry explained that the mechanics of overstride with swinging straight legs and an exaggerated head nod stem from a stiff back. It is why horses shown this way are trained on straight lines versus circles, serpentines, and lateral movements. The mechanics of dressage require lengthened topline muscles, a round and relaxed back, and bending hock and haunch joints. The result is a different expression of movement.

This led to an eye-opening realization: I had been expecting the same movement of my Tennessee walking horse at dressage shows as at Tennessee walking horse rail classes. Gaited dressage and show ring gaited classes are not ridden and measured the same way. Its like riding in an english pleasure class with western attire and in western form. If dressage is the way I intend to ride and train my gaited horse, I need to adjust my form and function to that of gaited dressage mechanics and stop fixating on exaggerated head nod and maximum overtrack.

As the clinic progressed I discovered that a stiff back is also why my horse hasn’t been moving forward with impulsion and engagement, and why her canter has been flat. Larry and Jennifer taught us several exercises to unlock a horse’s braced back such as reinback, turn on the forehand, and shoulder in. These exercises teach a horse to bend and round through the back and step deeper under its belly. We also worked on upward transitions between gaits and within gaits to improve impulsion and downward transitions to soften our horses.

Riding my Walking horse in correct dressage form will likely minimize her head nod and overtrack, but Larry promised that correct dressage training methods will purify her four-beat gait and make it smoother than ever!

Photo gallery with commentary>

For more about Larry Whitesell, his training DVDs and clinic schedule, visit www.WhitesellGaitedHorsemanship.com.
For more about Jennifer Bauer, visit www.gaitedhorsemanship.com

Dressage for the Gaited Horse, Rider Position for Gaited Horses

Gaited Dressage: Rider’s seat and direction

Gaited Dressage: A Rider's Seat

By Jennifer Klitzke

As I explore this rider’s seat concept of “knee to knee and everything in between,” I’m discovering the effectiveness my thighs play in directing the horse through circles, lateral movements, canter, forwardness in flat walk, and straightening the horse when popping the outside shoulder.

In regards to rider’s position, what do you think of when you hear the dressage term “inside leg to outside rein”? For decades I had applied this term by using my inside calf as my leg; my thigh had never played a part of this equation. Consequently, I had developed a bad habit of riding with my thighs and knees off contact with the saddle and my calves on contact with the horse’s sides.

This bad habit of “calves on” and “knees and thighs off” has several consequences. First of all, it places the brunt of my weight poking into my horse’s back with my seat bones as three pressure points. To remedy this discomfort, I had added back pads. It had never occurred to me until now (thanks to Mary Wanless and Larry Whitesell) that my thighs and knees play a huge supportive role in distributing my weight along my horse’s back. This repositioning of my seat as “knee to knee and everything in between” has made my horse more comfortable, rounder through the back, and naturally more forward.

Secondly, riding “calves on” and “knees and thighs off” has desensitized my horse from responding to my calves in lateral work and as a gas pedal because I had always ridden with it pushed to the floor!

Thirdly, riding “calves on” and “knees and thighs off” has made me rely too much on my reins for steering my horse. I’m now discovering the effectiveness my thighs play in directing the horse through circles, lateral movements, canter, and forwardness in flat walk (thanks to Jennifer Bauer). My reins play a supportive role instead of being the only means of directing my horse.

The thigh connection to the saddle is also helping in the instances where my horse pops the outside shoulder. How many times have I tried to correct this crookedness by pulling on the inside rein? Too many to count. And it never worked! My horse only became more jack knifed. Now when I apply inside leg to outside rein in efforts to bend my horse and the horse evades by popping the outside shoulder, I apply more outside thigh to straighten my horse along with turning my shoulders into the direction I want the horse to travel and a slight lifting of the outside rein. At the same time, I slightly open my contact of my inside thigh and inside rein to give my horse a place to go.

Next time you ride, think of steering your horse from the withers instead of the mouth and apply the thighs as part of the bending and directing equation.

For videos, books and more, visit: mary-wanless.com, whitesellgaitedhorsemanship.com and gaitedhorsemanship.com

 

Dressage for the Gaited Horse, Rider Position for Gaited Horses

The Rider’s Seat: From Knee to Knee and Everything in Between

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The Rider's Seat: From Knee to Knee and Everything in Between

Did you know that the rider’s seat is from knee to knee and everything in between? Read this post and then think about how this riding position might improve your horse’s smooth gait.

The Rider’s Seat: From Knee to Knee and Everything in Between

By Jennifer Klitzke

I’ve been an avid dressage student for over half my life. Within the details of a rider’s position is the rider’s seat. For decades I understood this as the three seat bones that come in contact with the saddle. Well, I’ve come to know it’s more than that. The rider’s seat is from knee to knee and everything in between.

An important function that is not often talked about is the importance of using the inner thighs to help distribute the rider’s weight along the horse’s long back muscles. Perhaps this has been briefly taught over the years, but it hadn’t clicked until now.

To Grip or Not to Grip; that is the Question

This knee-to-knee concept reminds me of when I first began riding. I gripped my knees and thighs together against the saddle in self-preservation to stay on while the horse trotted off. (I also hung onto the saddle horn, too.)

A few years later, when I acquired my first horse, I began taking dressage lessons. This is when gripping with the knees was replaced with balancing on my seat bones and moving in a relaxed fashion with my horse’s motion.

Back then, the rider’s seat didn’t include my knees and thighs, because I believed that any connection of these parts to the saddle meant “tension.” So, for decades I flopped around loosely at a sitting trot on a bouncy horse thinking I was the queen. My non-gaited horse didn’t have a head nod, but I sure did. And I was proud of it!

Stillness and Tension are Not the Same

Paradigms collided when I rode in a Mary Wanless Rider’s Biomechanics clinic. She explained in detail about riding with stillness achieved through core tone and a snug knee and thigh connection with the saddle.

Jennifer Klitzke riding at a Mary Wanless Clinic
Jennifer Klitzke riding her Spanish Mustang at a Mary Wanless Clinic and getting established in the A,B,Cs of riding biomechanics.

Stillness and tension are not the same thing, just as flopping around loosely on the saddle and relaxation are not the same thing.

It takes great isokinetic effort to ride a moving horse with stillness—especially at the sitting trot. Yet it is possible to ride both relaxed (as long as you remember to breathe) and with high muscle tone.

Confirmation from a Gaited Dressage Duo

Soon after auditing Mary’s clinic, this knee-to-knee-and-everything-in-between rider’s seat concept was further confirmed when I rode in a clinic with gaited dressage duo, Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer.

Larry explained the rider’s seat and its effect on the horse. The rider’s seat includes the three seat bones and the use of the inside thighs along the saddle. This distributes the rider’s weight comfortably along the horse’s long back muscles. This helps the horse lift its back and offer a smoother gait. A hollow back is less comfortable and not as prone to offer a smooth gait.

Without knee and thigh support, the rider’s weight becomes three heavy pressure points on the horse’s spine. This encourages hollowness and discomfort to the horse which hinders the ability for quality smooth gait.

Jennifer Klitzke riding at a Larry Whitesell gaited horsemanship clinic
Larry Whitesell demonstrating and explaining shoulder-in in-hand as I rode my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse.

Each time I ride my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana with this knee-to-knee-and-everything-in-between riding position, I feel a distinct improvement in the quality of her flat walk. When I remember to use my core tone and inner thighs along the saddle to distribute my weight, she feels more powerful from behind. She lifts her back and grows taller in the wither and shoulders. She moves naturally more forward with less prodding on my part.

And above all, she is smooth. She nods her head with each step, not me!

Enjoy the journey to longer strides and smoother gaits! Give it a try and let me know how it works with your naturally gaited horse.

For more about Mary Wanless and her biomechanics of riding, visit mary-wanless.com and for more about gaited dressage with Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer, visit whitesellgaitedhorsemanship.com.

Let me know your thoughts. Sending me a message. Stay connected by subscribing to the Naturally Gaited youtube channel and “like” us on facebook.com/naturallygaitedhorse.

Dressage for the Gaited Horse, Rider Position for Gaited Horses

Rider Position and its Effect on Forwardness

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riders hands

Rider Position and its Effect on Forwardness

By Jennifer Klitzke

While auditing a gaited dressage clinic with Larry Whitesell, demonstrated three ways how rider position can effect the horse. The position of the rider’s hands, head, and arms can encourage the horse onto the forehand. And of coarse, I’m mortified that I’ve been guilty on all counts.

In Larry’s first demonstration, a woman volunteered to be the horse. She closed her eyes and held the bit in her hands while Larry held the reins. Larry repositioned his hand position from thumbs on top to a horizontal position (aka, puppy paws, piano hands). Without pulling on the reins, he asked her if she noticed a change and if so, what did it feel like.

The volunteer said, “It feels heavy.”

I was amazed how just turning the wrists from vertical to horizontal without pulling back on the reins could actually be felt as heavy through the reins! Larry said if hand position feels heavy to the horse, it can put the horse on the forehand.

In Larry’s second demonstration he changed his head position from looking ahead to looking down at the horse’s head. The volunteer had her eyes closed as she held the reins. Larry asked her if she noticed a difference and she said, “It feels heavy.” Again, I was amazed that the position of one’s head makes a difference to the horse through a loose rein contact.

Larry added that if you ride with straight arms, it also feels heavy to a horse and places them on the forehand. Wow, I’m guilty on all accounts and all at the same time! It’s no wonder my horse travels on the forehand.

Now that I’ve become aware of riding positions that are counterproductive to what I aim to achieve, I can become more intentional about riding with my thumbs up, arms at my sides with a bend at the elbow, and my head positioned up and looking ahead of where we are going.

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

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For more about Larry Whitesell and his gaited dressage training methods, visit: whitesellgaitedhorsemanship.com.