Gaited Trail Horse or Gaited Dressage Horse—Why not Both

By Jennifer Klitzke

Whether you have a talented naturally gaited horse for the trail or dressage ring, versatility training helps them be smoother, safer, and sounder for longer.

I have two naturally gaited horses: Lady and Makana. Lady is a fox trotting grade, gaited horse who is phenomenal on the trail. Makana is a registered Tennessee walking horse who is gifted for gaited dressage. While each is wired for the trail or the gaited dressage show ring, I like to expand their worlds, and here’s why…

The Naturally Gaited Trail Horse

My naturally gaited fox trotting mare, Lady, was born for the trail. She is bold and smooth and loves exploring nature just as much as I do. She loves being ridden on a long, floppy rein without the constant dialogue of rein, leg, seat and weight aids. 

Is Lady gifted to be a gaited dressage show horse? I don’t think so. Her conformation provides challenges with a long, hollow back and shorter legs. She doesn’t have a natural over track (where the hind leg steps over the fore foot print). And Lady is built heavy on the forehand.

Can Lady learn dressage? Absolutely. But, if I’m not interested in showing Lady in gaited dressage, why would I teach her dressage?

Here are three great reasons why I teach dressage to my naturally, gaited trail horse:

1. Improving natural smooth gaits: Dressage helps Lady improve the quality of her natural smooth gaits through teaching her balance, relaxation, rhythm, engagement, connection, straightness, and collection. By improving the quality of Lady’s naturally smooth gaits, we can cover a lot of ground faster on the trail and my body won’t pay for it later.
2. Improving soundness: Dressage teaches Lady how to re-position her posture from hollow to neutral which can help Lady be sounder on the trail for many more years to come.
3. Improving balance: Dressage helps Lady re-distribute her weight from traveling on the forehand to developing balance to carry her weight on all four legs. This balanced posture will prolong Lady’s soundness on the trail. Plus, she won’t trip as much when she isn’t on the forehand, and that will keep me safer and more secure as a rider.

The Naturally Gaited Dressage Horse

Then there’s my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana. She is gifted with good conformation and naturally balanced gaits. Makana has a natural over track of three to four hoof prints. She enjoys the gaited dressage show ring and likes the two-way communication between us. Makana likes learning new exercises like leg yield, shoulder in, haunches in, rein back, roll backs, cantering rails and gymnastic jumping. She also enjoys a variety of smooth, easy gaits on cue: freewalk, medium walk, flat walk, running walk, fox trot, saddle rack, canter, counted walk, and piaffe. 

On the trail, Makana becomes overly reactive. She gets nervous and can spook without notice. Does that mean I should never ride Makana on the trail? I don’t think so. 

While on the trail, I converse with her through my rein, leg, seat and weight aids to help her relax and stay balanced. This way she is less spooky and settles into enjoying nature. I wear my helmet, ride with others, and we have a good ol’ time. (Plus, trail riding is one way to get my husband to join me.)

Since acclimating Makana to trails, we enjoy endurance riding as well.

Dressage helps the naturally gaited horse be more versatile

So to me, dressage is more than the show ring. Through dressage, naturally gaited trail horse can develop smoother natural gaits, become more balanced and trip less to keep the rider safer, and improve their posture and muscle development to keep stay sounder longer.

For the naturally gaited dressage horse, dressage helps them on the trail as well. Using dressage, the horse and rider can converse through two-way dialog, where the rider can lead the horse into relaxation and balance. As the reactive horse becomes more relaxed, it will be less spooky.

Naturally gaited trail horse or naturally gaited dressage horse? How about naturally gaited trail AND dressage horse.

If you are on this gaited dressage journey, I’d love to hear from you. Contact us»

Stay connected by subscribing to the Naturally Gaited youtube channel and join our community on facebook.com/naturallygaited.