Naturally Smooth Gaits by the Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse and Fox Trotting Horse

Below are videos showing evenly timed four beat smooth gaits of the Tennessee Walking Horse produced through dressage: flat-footed walk, flat walk, and running walk, plus the fox trot, saddle rack, canter, and more.

Naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horses can produce a variety of natural smooth gaits on cue

Dressage is my method of training which teaches the horse balance through the engagement of the chest, shoulders, abdominal muscles, and hindquarters; relaxation of mind and body; rhythm of tempo and even stride; forward movement without rushing; connection between horse and rider; symmetry to develop even flexibility and strength traveling right and left; and collection over time. These elements of dressage develop the horse’s full range of motion and quality smooth gaits on cue for long-term soundness. Horses are ridden in mild snaffle bits, without mechanical devices, and without shoes, chains and pads.

Among the natural smooth gaits of the Tennessee Walking Horse shown are the flat-footed walk, flat walk, running walk, fox trot, saddle rack, free walk, medium walk, counted walk, piaffe, canter, and counter canter.

Many videos are shown in regular and slow motion so you can see the sequence of foot falls.

A Collection of Natural Smooth Gaits of the Tennessee Walking Horse

This video shows a naturally gaited and barefoot Tennessee walking horse performing natural smooth gaits as the free walk, medium walk, flat walk and running walk in regular and slow motion. All four of these walks display a regular four-beat sequence with a head nod and over track. Over track refers to the hind hoof stepping in front of the fore hoof print. (If your Tennessee walking horse walk offers two feet of over track, give your horse a really big pat!)

Joy Ride: A Variety of Natural Smooth Gaits on Cue by a Tennessee Walking Horse

12 Steps: How many Naturally Smooth Gaits?

A full range of gaits in 12 steps from lateral to diagonal. Can you name them all?

Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Footed Walk

Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Footed Walk on a Loose Rein

Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Walk with Connection

Expressions of Flat Walk by a Tennessee Walking Horse

Flat walk on a long floppy rein to flat walk with contact and even piaffe showing the full range of motion of the Tennessee walking horse.

Tennessee Walking Horse Flat Walk on a Loose Rein

Many people believe that a Tennessee walking horse cannot perform a natural four-beat flat walk on a loose rein. I think my TWH prefers flat walking on a loose rein. What do you think?

Running Walk

The running walk can be ridden with contact or on a long floppy rein. Below is my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse at a running walk on a loose rein. After my horse has established balance through connection from back through the body to the bit, I will release my horse to a loose rein. This confirms self carriage and a balanced natural smooth, even four beat gait.

Running Walk by a Tennessee Walking Horse

Tennessee Walking Horse Running Walk

Running Walk on a Loose Rein with Imus Comfort Bit

Tennessee Walking Horse Saddle Rack

The saddle rack can be ridden with contact or on a long floppy rein. Below is my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse at a saddle rack on a floppy rein in excellent balance. This is her fastest naturally smooth gait.

Fox Trot

A fox trot is a broken trot. It is a naturally smooth gait that is on the diagonal gait spectrum versus the lateral gait spectrum like the flat walk or saddle rack. Lady is a naturally gaited grade horse. Our best guess is that she is a Tennessee walking horse and Morgan cross. Her smooth gait is a fox trot or soft trot. It isn’t a fancy, show-quality fox trot, but it is super fun to ride—especially on the trail. She covers a lot of ground efficiently without breaking a sweat and is very comfortable to ride.

Fox Trot by a Grade Tennessee Walking Horse Cross

Below is my naturally grade gaited Tennessee Walking Horse cross being ridden in moments of a collected, easy gait that is smooth and on the diagonal gait spectrum. The video is shown in regular and slow motion for you to see the diagonal foot falls. By collected, I mean that she is balanced, connected from back to front, light because she is rising up in the withers and carrying less of her weight on the forehand. I like her nose ahead of the vertical and I am gently following her head and neck motion with relaxed arms and hands.

Now that Lady has established a smooth easy gait, I have been working on improving the quality of her gaits using dressage exercises that help with balance, relaxation, connection, engagement, and collection.

Balance and Smooth Gait Quality

Tennessee Walking Horse Fox Trot

I began tinkering with my Tennessee walking horse’s fox trot on cue now that she has an established flat walk.

Tennessee Walking Horse Free Walk

The free walk on a long rein should allow the horse’s nose to poke ahead of the vertical and the rider maintain a light contact with the reins to the snaffle bit and allow the horse to walk in a long-stretched frame with an over track of the hind leg steps.

Shown below, I like the relaxed even steps and the balance in the chest and wither. Sometimes the free walk can get too low where they horse completely collapses chest posture and becomes very heavy on the forehand. Also notice the rider following the natural head and neck motion of the horse as well as the rider following the natural movement in the horse’s back with relaxed hips.

Tennessee Walking Horse Medium Walk

The video below shows me and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse Makana ridden barefoot and in a fulmer snaffle bit performing a balanced four-beat medium walk in regular and slow motion.

Things to notice in this medium walk video:

The horse’s head and neck nod in timing with the hind leg steps.
The rider’s relaxed elbows and hands following the natural head and neck motion of the horse while maintaining an even contact with the snaffle bit
The horse maintains a nod at or ahead of the vertical, not falling behind the vertical
The horse is evenly carrying its weight and is connected from back to front, engaging the abs to lift the back to a neutral position while lifting the shoulders, neck, and head. This back to front connection creates balance
The horse is relaxed and the steps are evenly timed with rhythm.
The horse steps deep under it’s body to create maximum length of stride and that the hind foot over tracks the fore hoof print. The rider’s hip joints are following, not driving, the natural motion of the horse’s back

One of the ways to know the difference between the naturally gaited medium walk and flat walk is that when the naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse moves from the medium walk to the flat walk, the rider will experience less motion to follow with the hip joints.

Tennessee Walking Horse Medium Walk

Tennessee Walking Horse Medium Walk or Flat Walk?

This video explains how I differentiate between the medium walk and flat walk.

Tennessee Walking Horse and the Counted Walk

I learned about the counted walk from Lisa Maxwell’s DVD “Getting Started in Lightness: The French Classical Dressage of Francois Baucher as taught by Jean Claude Racinet.” I LOVE the counted walk. It has improved balance, relaxation, connection from back to front, engagement, and softness in the naturally gaited horses I ride and from this balance, it has improved the natural four beat gaits and canter.

The counted walk is a super slow walk with small deliberate steps. It is more of an exercise that produces balance than it is a gait. Each time my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse or my fox trotting horse feels like they are on the forehand, feeling heavy in front or leaning on the bit, I ask for a few steps of the counted walk to get them engaged from behind, lighter in front, taller in the whither, softer in the jaw, and in balance before resuming the medium walk, flat walk or canter.

I have seen some videos demonstrate the counted walk as a mini piaffe which is a trot sequence of diagonal pairs instead of a walk sequence of four even steps. In either case, whether a counted walk, mini-piaffe or piaffe, all are all excellent exercises to improve balance and engagement in the naturally gaited horse.

Piaffe

Why teach piaffe to a naturally gaited horse?

Below is my 15-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse. We first began tinkering with the counted walk to improve balance, engagement, and relaxation. Then, I began slowing the counted walk to steps in place (piaffe) shown here. The ideal piaffe is a pure diagonal gait and we are not there yet. Many of her steps are more of a four-beat step in place, yet we do have some diagonal steps in place (piaffe).

In any case, the counted walk and steps in place are fun to dabble with. These exercises really improve balance, engagement and collection for the other smooth, natural gaits like flat walk, running walk, and especially the canter. This exercise engages the hindquarters to step under the body mass, engages the abdominal muscles to lift the back, engages the chest and shoulder muscles to lift the forelegs, wither, head and neck. All this lightens the forehand and brings the naturally gaited horse into better balance.

Think of piaffe as a strength training exercise. Only do a few steps as reps and then release to a long striding flat walk. This helps develop the naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse’s full range of motion for quality smooth gaits on cue.

Piaffe with a Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse

Trot

Granted, trot is not a smooth gait, but teaching the naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse a quality trot on cue offers many benefits that improves the smooth natural gaits and canter. A quality trot on cue improves rhythm of tempo and even strides, balance, engagement, strengthening the top line muscles, and connection with the rider.

Benefits of Trotting the Gaited Horse on Cue

Canter

Canter by a Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse

Counter Canter

Counter Canter by a Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse

Counter Canter Exercise by a Tennessee Walking Horse

A Collection of Smooth Gaits by a Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse

The following video shows a naturally gaited and barefoot Tennessee walking horse performing the free walk, medium walk, flat walk and running walk in regular and slow motion. All four of these walks display a regular four-beat sequence with a head nod and over track. Over track refers to the hind hoof stepping in front of the fore hoof print. (If you have one to two feet of over track in a Tennessee walking horse walk, give your horse a really big pat!)

A Collection of Gaits in Snow by a Naturally Gaited Tennessee Walking Horse

Be thankful if you don’t have up to six months of below freezing weather and no arena! This is how me and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse try to stay in shape during winter. Shown is medium walk, flat walk, running walk, trot, and canter on cue in the snow.