There are many great exercises for gaited horses. Below are some of my favorites. Among them are lateral exercises that help break up the pace and step pace into a more even four beat smooth gait.

Exercises for the Gaited Horse to Improve Smooth Gaits and Full Range of Motion

Below are a collection of videos showing exercises that improve balance, suppleness, strength, flexibility, and symmetry. These exercises have helped my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horses and grade gaited fox trotting horse develop quality smooth gaits and full range of motion for long term soundness.

Exercises include cantering over ground rails to break up a pace canter or a four beat canter; rein back to engage and fold the hindquarter joints and help with collection; transitions between gaits to improve balance; circles and serpentines to improve bending and stretching the outside body muscles as well as strengthen the inside hind leg as it steps under the body mass; and lateral exercises to break up pace and step pace for a more even four beat smooth gait like flat walk, running walk and fox trot.

These exercises also help improve communication, connection and harmony between horse and rider through the leg, seat, and rein aids. This in turn has improved our dressage test scores in both western dressage and english dressage with my naturally gaited horses over the years.

Lateral Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Shoulder-In

Shoulder-in on a circle and shoulder-in at a slow walk and then at a smooth gait have improved balance, softness, connection, and engagement. The shoulder-in is a great way to break up a pacey footfall sequence and develop a more even four beat smooth gait.

In these videos my horse is crossing with the legs nicely, however, she needs to be straighter with less bend in the head and neck.

Learn more: How Shoulder-in Breaks Up Pace

Haunches In

The haunches in or travere is an excellent exercise for the gaited horse to help develop balance, strength and flexibility. Since the haunches in has a diagonal foot fall sequence, it helps break up the lateral footfall sequence of the pace for a four-beat smooth gait.

Learn more: Haunches In for the Gaited Horse

Leg Yield

Leg yield at a flat walk is a required movement introduced in First Level dressage tests. Leg yield is also a terrific exercise to teach the naturally gaited horse at a slow and big striding walk as well as in the easy gait once the horse understands the exercise. The leg yield can be taught to the horse along the fence, from the quarter line to the fence, from the rail to the center line, from the centerline to the rail, and as a zig zag from the rail to the centerline and back.

The goal is to keep the horse straight while riding the leg yield and not let the horse overbend in the head and neck or jack knife in outside the shoulder.

Learn more: Leg Yield for the Gaited Horse

The leg yield along the fence is a great way to begin since the fence helps to guide the horse and prevents the horse from walking forward. Introduce a couple steps and stop to give your horse a pat.

The next progression of the leg yield is from the quarter line to the fence and then the centerline to the fence.

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.

Pivot the Fore

This is a great exercise to teach the rider the application of aids: use of the inside calf in conjunction with the horse’s inside hind leg to the outside indirect rein and the inside softening rein. In this video Lady is crossing her legs nicely, I just need to remember to keep her straighter in the head and neck and not so over bent.

Walk Pirouette

It is important that the horse continues to step through the exercise with the hind legs and not pivot around a foot.

Trotting Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Why trot the gaited horse? Don’t we want to develop a smooth gait? Lots of gaited horse riders freak when they hear about teaching trot on cue. Yet there is a big difference between letting the gaited horse hard trot when they want to and teaching a gaited horse quality trot on cue.

Trot on cue isn’t meant to replace smooth gait but bring about quality smooth gait. Trot isn’t for everyone or every gaited horse, yet it offers wonderful benefits to the gaited horse in establishing rhythm, breaking pace, breaking cross canter, and developing engagement and top line muscles. Trot on cue is best learned under good dressage instruction.

Learn more: Benefits of Trotting the Gaited Horse on Cue

Bending Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Counter Bend Turns

Counter bends are a fantastic way to straighten the shoulders and help the gaited horse find balance.

Learn more: Counter Bends for the Gaited Horse

Circles

Circles are a great way to stretch the outside body muscles as well as strengthen the inside hind leg as it steps under the body mass. Fifteen and twenty-meter circles at a flat walk have really improved the connection, balance, and quality of my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse’s flat walk.

Ten-meter circles at a slow relaxed and balanced walk are also helpful in organizing the horse in a more collected posture.

Serpentines

Serpentines can be ridden on a counter bend or true bend at a walk or smooth gait. The video below shows a one loop serpentine in a true bend at a flat walk which is a required first level dressage test movement.

Canter Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Canter can be challenging for many naturally gaited horses. Some are challenged with a pace canter, others have a cross canter where the front legs are on the correct canter lead and the hind legs are on the counter canter lead. While still others have a four-beat canter which is smooth, but not a true three beat canter with a moment of suspension. Below are a few exercises that help the naturally gaited horse overcome these issues.

Ground Rails at a Canter

There are many fun canter exercises and ground rail patterns to ride the naturally gaited horse over—from starting from simple to break the lateral and four beat canter to a course of rails.

The video below shows how I introduce a ground rail to help my grade fox trotting horse overcome her cross canter. This exercise is also helpful for horses that pace.

Learn more: Breaking Pace and Cross Canter Using Trot & Ground Rails

Cantering over ground rails force the gaited horse to have a moment of suspension over each rail.

If you find cantering over rails to be a fun activity, many schooling shows offer a course of ground rails as a class entry. Below is me and my TWH. It was a lot of fun. In addition to this entry, we also entered in a couple of dressage tests using the flat walk in place of trot.

The video below shows fun exercise over an L-shape beginning with a walk over the rails to introduce the pattern before cantering.

Learn more: Improve Canter with a Gaited Horse

Rollbacks

Rollbacks are another terrific exercise to help my naturally gaited TWH engage more from the hindquarters. Makana really like this exercise, too. Anytime I feel like our canter is getting flat, the rollbacks are a great exercise.

Learn more: Rollbacks and the Gaited Horse

Video: Rollbacks for the Gaited Horse

Transition Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Walk-Canter-Walk Transitions

After my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, Makana and I have established a canter, we dabble with walk-canter-walk transitions to improve balance. A few things of importance:

1. I maintain a still position without falling forward with my upper body as that would encourage her to lose balance and fall on the forehand.
2.  I work Makana into a balanced walk before I ask for a balanced canter depart and then into a balanced canter.
3. I transition back to walk after a few quality steps of canter. My naturally gaited dressage teacher Jennie Jackson always says, “Don’t practice a poor-quality canter. Always practice good quality transitions and good quality canter steps.”

Learn more: Collected Walk-Canter-Walk Transitions for the Gaited Horse

Canter-Halt-Rein Back-Canter Transitions

I love this exercise because it helps my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse engage more from behind. My TWH loves to stop from the lightest of cues, however, we are working on halting from the hindquarters sitting instead of stopping with her front feet.

Halt

Here’s how to get high scores on your center line halt and salute. This video shares tips I’ve learned to help my naturally gaited horses develop a softer, rounder, and more balanced halt without the use of force, a harsh bit or spurs. It is important to become aware of the horse’s footfalls in order to cue at the right time.

Learn more: Cues to a Softer Halt

Rein Back

A quality rein back is an engaged and soft motion backwards where the horse steps under its body by folding and bending its hindquarter joints, engaging its abdominal muscles to lift its back and lighten its forehand by growing taller in the wither.

The aids are a closing of the hand (not pulling back) to signal stop moving forward, the heels are drawn back behind the girth, and my pelvis draws forward to signal the rein back.

Learn more: Rein Back to Smooth Gait

Classical Dressage Exercises for the Gaited Horse

Fléchi droit

This video shows a naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse in a Fléchi droit. An exercise I learned from Ecole de Légèreté. This is not a mainstream dressage exercise. Rather it is a classical French dressage exercise. Its purpose is to stretch the outside neck muscles, help the horse find balance equally on both shoulders before performing a circle. Often when a horse learns circles, it over weights the inside shoulder which is out of balance. The Fléchi droit helps the horse find balance equally in both shoulders thus making circles more in balance.

The horse is prepared by relaxing the mouth, lower jaw and poll and follows the rider’s ask to turn its head and neck to the side 45 to 90 degrees at a halt and then a slow walk on a straight line. Or in this case, the horse is traveling with its body bent along on a 20-meter circle and the head and neck are bent inward 45 to 90 degrees. It is important that the ears remain level.

Jambette and Spanish Walk

Two more of my favorite exercises for gaited horses are jambette and Spanish walk. These are classical French dressage exercises that are not part of mainstream dressage. I only learned of these exercises when I began studying French dressage. The jambette teach the horse to raise a front leg on cue. Then the horse learns to talk a walk step between each front leg lift to preform the Spanish Walk. Both are a great exercises for strengthening the shoulder muscles and thoracic sling.

Learn More: How My Tennessee Walking Horse Learned the Jambette and Spanish Walk

Counted Walk

The counted walk is not a mainstream dressage gait or exercise. I had been riding dressage for decades before ever stumbling upon it. I learn of it from the late classical French dressage Master Jean Claude Racinet and his student, Lisa Maxwell who produced a video called: Getting Started in Lightness. It is one of the best videos in my library and I watch it over and over again.

The counted walk has improved our balance, engagement, collection, and softness. It has been a great preparation to improve my naturally gaited TWH’s flat walk and canter because of the balance it creates. Any time I feel my horse lose balance and feel heavy on the bit or forehand, I transition to steps of counted walk to re-establish balance and then continue with what we were doing.

Learn more: Counted Walk and the Gaited Horse

Piaffe

I had always dreamed of learning piaffe, but I grew up believing only talented horses can learn piaffe, like the ones in the Olympics. These horses were way out of my budget. Then I began studying classical French dressage where the late Master François Baucher believed any horse can learn these moves, not just the talented ones. Granted, the talented ones can preform the piaffe with greater brilliance, however the piaffe offers terrific benefits to the gaited horse as an exercise. The piaffe helps the horse find balance, collection, engagement, and it diagonalizes the foot falls. The piaffe is also a great precursor to canter transitions.

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

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