Dressage for the naturally gaited horse offers many benefits include improving the full range of motion.
Dressage for the naturally gaited horse introduces many unique exercises that offer many benefits include improving the full range of motion, helping the horse find balance over the body mass, developing engagement of the hindquarters, abdominal muscles and chest muscles, and improving symmetry.
One of the best benefits dressage exercises offer the gaited horse are that they diagonalize the footfalls to break up pace for a four-beat smooth gait and break up a lateral canter for a truer three-beat canter.
Each time I ride my naturally gaited horse; I think about an accordion player. To produce the full scale of notes, the accordion stretches out and then gathers together. Riding a naturally gaited horse using dressage is similar to develop the full range of motion. There are neck extensions that stretch the top line muscles and spine and improve stride length and over track. There are also exercises that stretch the horse’s muscles longitudinally and exercises that help the horse engage.
This post and the video below capture elements from one riding session. Me and my then 16-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse, Makana work through dressage exercises and the full range of motion to improve quality smooth gaits.
Watch: Improving Full Range of Motion for the Gaited Horse
Developing full range of motion with dressage exercises
Flechi droit is not taught in mainstream dressage. It was an exercise I learned when studying classical equitation. There are many benefits to learning this exercise. Beginning at a slow walk, the horse keeps its body straight and turns its neck and head 45 to 90-degrees. This helps the horse learn shoulder balance and also stretches the outside neck muscles.
Shoulder in is the next exercise I like to do with my naturally gaited horse at a low walk. It can be done on three or four tracks on a straight line or on a small circle shown here. It is a wonderful exercise for suppling, balancing and engaging the horse. In this exercise the inside hind leg steps under the body mass.
Haunches in: After the shoulder in, I transition to the haunches in which can be done on three or four tracks on a straight line or on a small circle shown here. It is a wonderful exercise for suppling, balancing and engaging the horse. In this exercise the outside hind leg steps under the body mass.
Shoulder fore: Any time my naturally gaited horse gets stiff in the flat walk, I like to place her on a 15–20-meter circle in a shoulder-fore position. This helps her find suppleness, balance and engagement in the smooth gait.
Counter bend neck rein turns: Another great exercise for the naturally gaited horse is counter bend neck rein turns. This exercise can be done at a slow walk or in a smooth gait as shown here and in the video. The rider positions the horse’s bend to see the outside eye. Then as the inside shoulder is about to move forward, the rider motions both reins from the outside to the inside. The outside rein touches against the outside neck. This indicates to the horse to transfer weight from the outside shoulder to the inside shoulder. This exercise has wonderful benefits for the naturally gaited horse in lightening the forehand.
Neck extension at a flat walk shows the horse stretching the head and neck forward and out to stretch the spine and top line muscles.
These exercises help the naturally gaited horse find balance over the body mass, lighten the forehand and shoulders, engage the hindquarters, abdominal muscles, and thoracic sling, and help the horse relax the mouth, lower jaw and poll, and stretch the top line and spine for full range of motion. Plus, these exercises break up pacey lateral movement for smooth natural gaits.
Rein backPiaffe
A slow and folding rein back to half steps and piaffe are also great exercises to improve engagement and lighten the forehand.
Lateral pace canterTrue canter
Dressage exercises such as the shoulder in and haunches in diagonalize the footfall sequence to break up a lateral canter for a truer three-beat canter.
WalkSaddle RackFlat WalkCanter
This post and video applying dressage exercises to develop the full range of motion in a variety of smooth gaits: walk, canter, fox trot, saddle rack, flat walk, and running walk.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
Does your gaited horse struggle with a flat four-beat canter or bumpy lateral canter? You’re not alone. I’ve learned a few ways to improve canter quality with my gaited horse.
Here’s my story…
How to improve canter with a gaited horse
By Jennifer Klitzke
Experiencing dressage with my naturally gaited horses proves that relaxation of the mind and body produce smoother gaits, including canter. This means less lateral canter and four beat canter.
“Don’t practice a poor-quality canter.”
I learned an important lesson from my gaited dressage mentor, Jennie Jackson. She says, “Don’t practice a poor-quality canter.” This means as soon as my horse begins to feel flat, hollow, bumpy, braced, or out of balance in the canter, I need to stop cantering and start over from relaxation. That’s when I transition from canter to a walk or halt, re-establish balance and relaxation and ask for a quality canter depart to quality canter steps.
This also means I need to recognize the feeling of a quality canter and a poor-quality canter so that I can ask for more of the former and reduce steps of the latter. If I continue riding a poor-quality canter, that’s what I teach my horse.
If I want a quality canter, I must know firsthand what a quality canter feels like and practice more of it. That’s why taking lessons from a qualified instructor is so important to me. Instruction provides me timely feedback so that I can learn the feeling of quality and the feeling of poor quality. This helps me train my horses with greater progress and success when I am riding on my own.
Helpful exercises to help break up a four-beat canter into a truer three-beat canter
Walk-canter-walk transitions
Rein back to canter
Practicing rein back with smaller steps that bend and fold the hind quarters of the gaited horse and helps improve canter quality.
One of my favorite exercises is establishing a soft and round rein back before a canter depart. When the rein back is soft, not forced, and not rushed, it encourages my horses to bend their hindquarter joints and engage their abdominal muscles which lifts their back. This puts them in a wonderful posture most conducive for a quality canter depart and canter steps.
Counter canter
Gymnastic jumping and ground rails
Showing stadium jumping over rails
While I will never become serious about show jumping my naturally gaited horses, I enjoy schooling them over ground rails and small fences for gymnastic purposes. It gives them variety in their training. I’ve noticed that when we ride over ground poles and small fences, it creates more lift to their canter and brings out a truer three-beat canter.
Video: Cantering a Gaited Horse over Obstacles
Video: Starting a Gaited Horse over Fences
Below is a cantering exercise over two ground rails in an L-shape. I begin by letting my horse walk over the rails before we cantered over them.
Video: Exercises to Break a Lateral or Four-Beat Canter
This is a super fun exercise for the rider and horse.
In addition to improving the quality of canter, you’ll also learn:
Balance of the horse
Rider balance on the horse
The horse’s rhythm
Keeping the horse forward yet relaxed
Looking ahead to plan the arc of a turn and line to a rail
Getting a feel for how many canter strides to a rail
The L-shape can also be used to school flying changes over the rail by alternating the direction over each pole.
Additional tips to introducing and improving canter quality
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts by sending a message.
Ever wonder how riding position and the communication system through the leg, seat, weight and hand aids affect the horse? How we ride our naturally gaited horse directly impacts smooth gaits for the better (or worse).
If you are searching for a more effective way to communicate with your naturally gaited horse into smooth gaits, read on…
Another way to ride to smooth gaits
By Jennifer Klitzke
I have been studying dressage for decades with non-gaited and gaited horses and have been introduced to a variety of rider positions and ways to effectively communicate with the horse through my leg, seat, rein and weight aids. Some methods are hard to understand and apply. Some methods are quite strenuous to apply and maintain. There are differing methods between German dressage and French dressage. Even within German dressage there are differences of application.
Then there is my riding recipe I have been refining from best practices of methods I have come across over the years, including the naturally gaited horse world. Yet, I know there are more applications I have not yet encountered.
Video: Rider position and effect on smooth gaits
Could there be yet another way to ride smooth gaits?
I wasn’t actually looking when I stumbled upon yet another way to ride my naturally gaited horses. In April, I was scouring Facebook for classical dressage groups. That’s when I discovered Heather Moffett is more than a fine saddle maker. I first learned of her name years ago after purchasing a secondhand Heather Moffett dressage saddle. Intrigued with her connection to classical riding, I had to learn more.
Enlightened Equitation
Turns out Heather Moffett is also a brilliant riding instructor and author. She’s been teaching her method for decades. Perhaps I had not learned of her since she is in the UK. In any case, I am thrilled how social media can connect us to people all over the world. After reviewing her website, I learned of her book, “Enlightened Equitation: Riding in True Harmony with your Horse” and her Online Classical Riding Academy. She offers a free 14-day trial (plus, it is highly affordable if I choose to join).
I gave the trial a go. Then I joined the academy because there are so many videos to learn. I also purchased her book. “Enlightened Equitation: Riding in True Harmony with your Horse” by Heather Moffett is a must-study for anyone desiring to learn a balanced riding position, what the hand, leg and seat aids are and how to effectively use and time of the aids. All of these elements directly impact the naturally gaited horse’s movement for the better. I haven’t come across a book that describes how to ride dressage with the horse in mind better than Heather’s book.
“Enlightened Equitation: Riding in True Harmony with your Horse,” by Heather Moffett
Through the video demonstrations and detailed book explanation, I am learning breakthrough applications about my riding position, effective use and timing of my leg, seat, rein and weight aids leading to quality smooth gaits. Plus, her method is rather easy to understand and apply.
I highly recommend this affordable academy and her book for anyone looking for encouraging and well-articulated demonstration videos in helping to develop an effective rider position and its effect on the horse.
I have been a student of dressage since 1988 and wish I had stumbled upon Heather Moffett’s teaching years ago. Her easy-to-understand methods have been helpful, insightful and my horses are moving better than ever in their senior years.
Makana, my 20-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse and Lady, my 20-something grade gaited horse are giving the Mullen mouth pelham bit a try―one of the ideas offered by Heather to help the horse relax the jaw.
While Makana is already relaxed in the jaw riding in a snaffle bit, the pelham has helped to improve her balance in walk, flat walk and canter, as well as leg yield, shoulder in, transitions, and rein back.
Flat walk in a shoulder fore position
Video: Following the belly sway to smooth gaits
Even more is the difference it is making with Lady who tends to hold tension in her mouth and jaw. The Mullen mouth pelham has helped her find relaxation in her mouth leading to her best quality smooth gaits.
June 2024: Riding Lady, my 20-something grade gaited horse in a Mullen mouth pelham in her smooth diagonal gait.
Video: Why follow the belly sway to a smooth gait
Ride along with us as I share thought about rider position and its effect on the naturally gaited horse.
Experience quality smooth gaits: flat walk, running walk, fox trot or saddle rack through dressage!
There’s smooth and then there’s QUALITY smooth gaits
It’s like waking up to a couple scoops of pre-ground canned coffee brewed in a drip coffee maker, and then there’s waking up to freshly ground coffee brewed French press style. Both coffees will jump start your day, but the latter is a memorable experience. Why go back to pre-ground canned coffee after that! Right?
To me there is no comparison to riding a naturally gaited horse trained using dressage. Why settle for an untrained gaited horse with random, undefined gaits when I’ve experienced dressage to develop quality smooth gaits on cue: flat walk, running walk, fox trot, saddle rack, and canter.
Makana at 17 ridden bareback and barefoot at a flat walk.
There’s no greater feeling than the connected power and well-oiled looseness of a naturally gaited horse performing a smooth-running walk or the collected happy dance of piaffe on cue!
Some naturally gaited horses, like the ones you see at breed shows, are blessed with astonishing movement, big strides, and huge head nods. Many say these horses are born to gait and easy to train the natural smooth quality gaits.
More common are naturally gaited horses that pace, have a hard, hollow trot, or not much overstride. Is there hope for horses like these? Will a pacey or trotty horse ever gait smoothly? Can a smooth gait improve in quality?
Dressage is for all riders and all horses, whether they trot or not!
Dressage teaches the rider to lead their horse into balance, relaxation of mind and body, rhythm, forward movement without rushing, connection, symmetry, and collection over time. The rider develops a balanced riding position and communicates with the horse through effective use and timing of leg, weight, seat and rein aids. This training develops a partnership of trust as well as the horse’s best possible quality smooth gaits and maximum range of motion.
Dressage develops quality smooth gaits, too!
At nine years old, my naturally gaited fox-trotting horse, Lady, came to my place. She had a dog walk on a loose rein and a hard, hollow trot when I took up contact with the snaffle bit. Lady has an inherent fox walk, fox trot, and flat walk, but it took time, patience, and consistent dressage to develop these smooth gaits on cue.
It also took time, patience, and consistent training to earn Lady’s trust with contact. I began with just an ounce of snaffle bit contact and increased the tempo of the dog walk to a fox walk. I focused on relaxation (of mind and body) and rhythm.
Once we established a consistent fox walk, I further increased the tempo just before she would trot to establish the fox trot. This process took several months of riding Lady 4-5 days a week for 45 minutes each time. We worked through issues that came up and finally experienced a natural smooth gait one step at a time.
Smooth gaits to quality smooth gaits
When Lady and I had established smooth gaits on cue, I further refined those smooth gaits to quality smooth gaits. We applied dressage exercises that produce balance, relaxation, rhythm, connection, engagement, symmetry, and collection. These exercises include circles, serpentines, figure eights, leg yield, pivot the fore, shoulder in, shoulder out, haunches in, rein back, transitions between walk and fox trot, transitions between the gait, and even teaching her a quality trot on cue!
Lady is being ridden in a Dr. Cook bitless bridle showing rein back on a loose rein. The rein back engages the hindquarters and lifts the back and wither.
I communicate with Lady through effective use and timing of my rein, leg, seat and weight aids as well as became aware of my riding position and its effect on her to develop more and more steps of “the feeling of right“.
Dressage will not transform Lady into astonishing rail class movement, but dressage will help Lady develop her best quality smooth gaits on cue. We are still working on more engagement, relaxation, and connection. I am thrilled with how smooth and fun Lady is to ride on the trail!
What about the bumpy lateral horse?
Unlike Lady’s diagonal, hollow trot, other naturally gaited horses have bumpy lateral gaits like pace, cross canter, and lateral canter. Don’t be discouraged if your horse has one or more of these. Smooth gaits are inherent. It takes consistent training, patience, and time to bring them out. Dressage is a lifelong journey and a partnership with your horse.
Trotting a gaited horse over ground rails helps break up pace.
Ground rails and teaching the lateral gaited horse how to develop a quality trot (on cue) are helpful ways to break up pace, cross canter and a lateral canter.
Video: Breaking Pace & Cross Canter Using Trot & Ground Rails
Over time dressage helps the naturally gaited horse develop its best quality smooth gaits and full range of motion. This means a deeper and longer stride length, breaking up pace with a smoother, more even four-beat gait, breaking cross canter to a truer three-beat canter, and breaking a hard, hollow trot to a smooth fox trot.
Beginnings of my dressage journey
In 1988, I was invited to watch my first dressage show at Brightonwood Farm where dressage trainer Kathy Theissen and her upper-level Morgan, Bullwinkle, danced to the rhythm of a musical freestyle. She led him through his full range of motion and gaits—collected to extended. I loved the partnership, harmony, connection, expression, joy, and beauty Kathy and Bullwinkle shared. This moving performance is one I will never forget. I came to the show unfamiliar with dressage and left deeply inspired to become a devoted dressage student.
Watching my first dressage show: Kathy Theissen riding Bullwinkle, 1988, inspired me to become a devoted dressage rider.
For 19 years I became an avid dressage student with trotting horses: riding 5-6 days a week year-round, taking regular lessons, attending clinics, reading books, and watching videos.
Then in 2007 my aging body desired a smooth gaited horse. That’s when I bought Makana, a three-year-old Tennessee walking horse. It didn’t take long to realize the smooth gaits would need to be developed through consistent training.
Fortunately, most of Makana’s gaits were smooth, except the stepping pace and lateral canter. Discerning which smooth gait was my biggest challenge. Then adding cues to each gait through effective use and timing of my reins, legs, seat and weight aids.
Smooth gaits and quality smooth
Work the shoulder in and haunches in at a slow balanced, collected walk. Don’t worry about depth of stride and head nod. There will be little to no head nod in the collected walk. Lateral exercises supple, strengthen and improve symmetry and the quality of natural smooth gaits.
After each smooth gait is established with a set of cues, I use dressage to improve the quality of her smooth gaits through exercises that help strengthen her body, like circles, leg yield, shoulder-in, haunches-in, pivot the fore, rein back, transitions between gaits and within gaits. These exercises help develop balance, relaxation, connection, engagement, straightness and collection which improve the quality of my naturally gaited horse’s smooth gaits.
Naturally Smooth Gaits» Today Makana is able to express the following natural smooth gaits on cue and in balance and self-carriage on a loose rein: free walk, medium walk, flat walk, running walk and canter.
Makana is also able to perform the following natural smooth gaits on cue, in balance and with acceptance of an even snaffle bit contact: medium walk, flat walk, running walk, saddle rack, fox trot, collected walk, counted walk, piaffe, canter, counter canter, collected canter, and medium canter.
Developing quality gaits on cue doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, consistency, and patience. Yet the time it takes develops a partnership. Every ride is a new conversation with my horse and every lesson, clinic, and dressage show is an opportunity to learn and grow. I can’t wait to experience what we will discover next!
Dressage begins with the rider learning a balanced riding position and communicating with the horse through effective use and timing of rein, leg, seat and weight aids to lead the horse into balance, relaxation of mind and body, rhythm, connection, forward movement without rushing, symmetry, and collection.
If you thinking about starting your dressage journey and need help, here are a few ideas:
Join a local dressage association to find local dressage instructors, clinics, and schooling shows open to gaited horses
Travel to a gaited dressage clinic
Host a gaited dressage clinic
Video: How Dressage Improves Movement in Naturally Gaited Horses
Jennifer Klitzke riding her naturally gaited mare Lady at a collected soft trot during a lesson with Jennie Jackson, pioneer of dressage en gaite.
By Jennifer Klitzke
Over the last 30 years I’ve ridden with lots of professional riding instructors—both local teachers and traveling clinicians—gaited and nongaited. No doubt, I wouldn’t be where I am today without quality instruction. My hope in attending each lesson and clinic is to learn new insights to help me become a better rider and communicate more effectively with my horses.
Gaited Dressage Legend Jennie Jackson is among my favorite instructors. She generously shares from her rich treasure chest of knowledge and decades of proven experience.
Since 2013, Jennie has imparted knowledge and pushed me beyond what I thought my horse(s) or I could do. She challenges us to the next level of difficulty—whether that is starting canter on a new horse, facing my fears, improving the quality of gait, or advancing to counter canter, simple changes, roll backs, and lateral exercises.
Lessons with Jennie have catapulted me and my horses to new heights quicker than any other dressage instructor (gaited and nongaited) I’ve ever ridden with in the 30 years I’ve been studying dressage.
Not only that, Jennie is a national gaited horse judge, and over the last four years she has helped me and my naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Gift of Freedom (Makana) develop and improve a head-shaking, deep-striding flat walk and running walk.
How it all began
In December 2012, I purchased Jennie Jackson’s DVD set with my Christmas money. Watching the DVDs, I was impressed to witness gaited horses moving in collection, engagement, and forwardness—working the lateral exercises in softness and suppleness. It amazed me that Jennie had trained her Tennessee walking horse stallion Champagne Watchout to the highest levels of dressage and performed before a live audience. These are two things that are extraordinarily difficult to do, and to date, Jennie is the only one in history to have accomplished both. Jennie Jackson is a Living Legend!
This year, Jennie happened to be traveling through Minnesota on her way between clinics and that’s how this year’s lessons took shape. I had contacted nearly a dozen gaited riders who live near me to see if they would be interested in lessons. That didn’t work out, but no worries, Jennie gave me and my two naturally gaited horses, Lady and Makana, an inspiring and challenging education.
Lessons with Lady
Lady has been at my place for three years, and as of April 2017, she became my newly acquired naturally gaited horse. I have been thrilled with Lady’s progress this spring and summer and astounded with where Jennie took us in our lessons—moving from kindergarten to high school through connection, softness, lightness, balance, lateral exercises—and even canter under saddle!
Lady is moving more consistent in a light contact. She is more supple in her bending and is moving with more engagement in her easy gait.
Lady performing a collected soft trot working on lateral exercises for softness and suppleness.
To establish bend, suppleness, softness, and connection from the inside leg to the outside rein, we worked on lots of true bend and counter bend at a walk and collected soft trot. The soft trot is not a true two-beat diagonal gait. It is an easy gait somewhere between the fox trot and hard trot—yet smooth to ride.
Trotting the gaited horse on cue has many benefits. For Lady, it develops rhythm, engagement, forwardness, and strengthens the top line muscles.
We also worked Lady in a 20-meter circle and along the rail in a forward hard trot between true and counter bend. This improved her engagement and straightness.
Jennie cantering Lady in her right lead.
Then we introduced canter under saddle. I had been working on canter with Lady in the round pen over rails to break the cross canter. During our lesson, Lady was taking her left lead clean, so we focused on her right lead. Instead of cross cantering, she kept choosing counter canter. With Jennie’s determination, coaching and perseverance, Lady began taking the right lead canter in all three lessons.
I am thrilled to have both of my gaited horses cantering now thanks to Jennie.
Lessons with Makana It’s been a few years since Jennie had last seen my naturally gaited walking horse Makana, and I was so happy that she confirmed the path we have been on in our flat walk. Not only that, but Jennie helped us increase the tempo while maintaining the reach and depth of stride.
How? Straight lines.
Me and Makana work the shoulder in and haunches in at a slow balanced, collected walk. It felt weird riding so slow without a head nod, but that’s normal for the collected walk. These exercises supple, strengthen, straighten, and balance the horse and will improve the flat walk.
There’s a place for dressage exercises on a circle with lateral movement and a place for straight lines to develop show gait. This was a light bulb moment for me.
We began our lessons with shoulder in, haunches in, true bend and counter bend on a 20-meter circle in a slow, short-strided, collected walk. Did you know that a collected walk is slower, has very little to no head nod, and the stride depth is shorter and more under the body? Yes, it’s true! If you are like me, and get used to flat walk with a head nod and deep stride, the collected walk feels very foreign, but there is a place for it in the lateral exercises and it will only improve the flat walk.
Circles and collected lateral exercises are wonderful for breaking up pace, suppling and softening the horse, and getting the horse to listen to the inside leg to the outside rein, but working on a circle limits the range of motion that only a straight line can offer.
Me and Makana enjoying the ultimate glide ride! Once a horse has an even four beat gait, rail class show gait is best developed on straight lines to put the horse in a position conducive for maximum depth of stride.
Once a horse has an even four beat gait, rail class show gait is best developed on straight lines for maximum depth of stride.
That’s when we moved to the rail and allowed Makana freedom of her head and neck in a medium walk with maximum depth of stride. As soon as she became even in her rhythm and timing of her head nod, we increased the tempo while maintaining the deep steps. Alternating a tickle with my heel as Makana’s hind foot stepped under her body helped deepen her stride. If she rushed off in short strides, I applied a half halt and I would start again.
When Makana found her rhythm and timing at a faster tempo with deeper strides, I just enjoyed the glide ride.
In addition to working on show gait, Jennie coached us on canter, halt, rein back, canter transitions and canter, counter-canter transitions. Riding the canter on a 20-meter circle in counter bend before executing the counter canter really helped hold her together through a full figure eight and back to the true canter lead.
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