Did you buy a gaited horse and wonder why it paces, has a hard trot or doesn’t stay in a smooth gait consistently? I did.
Here’s my story…
I bought a gaited horse, why doesn’t it have a smooth gait?
By Jennifer Klitzke
Does a gaited horse need special shoes or does a farrier need to trim a gaited horse at special hoof angles for a smooth gait? Do you need a certain bit or a gaited saddle? Does a gaited horse a professional trainer to make the horse smooth?
Smooth gaits are genetic to gaited horse breeds, such as the Tennessee walking horse, Foxtrotter, Paso Fino, Rocky Mountain, Icelandic, among others. Each gaited horse breed has a unique set of natural smooth gaits as the flat walk, running walk, fox walk, fox trot, largo, saddle rack, tolt, to name a few.
I watched people riding these smooth breeds. They aren’t bouncing. They are smiling at the end of a trail ride. Their bodies aren’t paying for it later. Ecstatic, I exclaim, “I gotta get myself one of those smooth gaited horses!” What say you?
Here’s my story to a smooth gait
Me, I had thirty years dressage riding and training the walk-trot-canter horses. Smooth gaits like flat walk, running walk, fox trot, tolt and saddle rack were just as foreign to me as head nodding, ear flopping, and teeth clicking.
All I knew is my youthful mind grew into a grandma body. I didn’t want to give up riding. I just I wanted a smoother horse to ride.
How to train a naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse
Makana, my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse filly.
In 2007 I acquired my first smooth gaited filly, a three-year-old, naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse with 20 rides on her when she became mine.
Dressage had been the only form of riding I knew. Yet, the competition world told me dressage is ONLY for horses that trot. Gaited horse owners said dressage would MAKE my gaited horse trot. Others said dressage would RUIN my horse’s natural smooth gaits.
Okay, so how do I train my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse?
I looked for books and scoured YouTube for videos about training Tennessee Walking Horses. Then I came across videos showing the horses moving in exaggerated and unnatural ways. Wondering why, I noticed the horses’ long toes strapped with thick pads and big shoes. Chains clanging around their ankles. The riders sat back on the horses’ loins and hunched forward. They wore long spurs and drove their horses forward into two-handed contact with big shank bits. The horses’ expressions looked tense and distressed.
This wasn’t the training I grew up with. If this is how Tennessee Walking Horses are trained, I would have NO part of it! Dressage is all my barefoot Tennessee Walking Horse would know.
That’s when I set out to discover “dressage is more than trot.”
If this is how Tennessee Walking Horses are trained, I would have NO part of it! Dressage is all my barefoot Tennessee Walking Horse would know.
That’s when I set out to discover “dressage is more than trot.”
Dressage is humane. (At least the dressage I have been taught). Dressage instructs the rider into a balanced position over the horse’s center of gravity. The rider learns how to communicate with the horse by effective use and timing of rein, leg, seat and weight aids. The rider learns how to teach the horse how to accept and follow contact with a mild snaffle bit.
Decades of dressage lessons, study and application had taught me the benefits dressage brings the non-horse. No unnatural hoof angles, long toes, big shoes, thick pads or ankle chains are ever worn. Riders never wear long spurs or harsh bits.
Dressage teaches the rider how to lead the horse into mental and physical relaxation, balance, rhythm (even tempo and strides), forward movement without rushing, connection, symmetry (even flexibility), and collection (engagement). Through kind and humane training over time, dressage develops the horse’s full range of motion for quality gaits, long-term soundness, and a partnership of harmony between the horse and rider.
Just because my Tennessee Walking Horse doesn’t naturally trot, why couldn’t we glean the benefits of dressage to develop her smooth gaits?
We set out on a mission to find out.
How to train smooth gaits on cue
It didn’t take long to realize my young gaited horse had ALL of the gears: walk, trot, canter, flat walk, pace, step pace, saddle rack, and fox trot. If I would be training her, it was my job to discover what each gait felt and sounded like and put cues to the ones I desire.
Easy? No, but the journey has been rewarding!
Watch: How dressage improves smooth gait
This video captures our first few years of training.
Our process to quality smooth gaits
Since my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse was only three years old, we walked a lot for the first summer season. If she had been older than three, I may have introduced brief transitions to a smooth gait sooner.
We began at a free walk on a long rein (with a light contact). This began a good pattern of developing an even four-beat muscle memory. I was fortunate Makana had a natural four beat walk. Many Tennessee Walking Horses don’t. Instead, they pace instead of walk. If that had been the case, we would have introduced walking over rails and working in hand exercises at a shoulder in to diagonalize the step sequence.
At the free walk, I encouraged mental and physical relaxation and forward moving steps without rushing. This encouraged L-O-N-G, ground-covering steps. Rushing the tempo only shortens the steps and tends to create tension in the horse. I encouraged her to take the bit down and forward in a neutral position. This helped stretch her top line muscles which is especially important for long-term soundness.
2007: Here’s my three-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse. We began our training with a relaxed and forward moving free walk on a long rein. This quality walk helps develop an even four-beat muscle memory and longer strides.
I rode Makana five-six days a week for 30 minutes each time. Three days of riding in a row followed by a day off helped her progress in her training and strength.
Video: Tips to Longer Strides and Smoother Gaits
My naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse at 19 years old.
The aids of communication
Dressage teaches the rider how to communicate with the horse through leg, seat, weight and rein aids. Coming from the dressage world, snaffle bits are all I know to develop a means of communicating with the horse’s mouth, lower jaw, and poll. It is important to develop a positive relationship with my hands and the horse’s mouth so the horse learns bit acceptance and a willingness to follow the contact with a relaxed mouth, jaw and poll.
If the horse becomes defensive in the mouth from a harsh bit or rough hands, the horse learns self-protective measures and bit avoidance. This leads to tension and stiff pacey movement for the naturally gaited horse.
Gaited horses are often ridden in curb bits with two-handed contact and a low, fixed hand position. Many look stiff and tense and are pacing or step pacing. Early on, we gave rail class a try, and that’s what we experienced riding two-handed with a curb (as pictured). I wonder if gaited horses develop a habit of pacing when trained this way.
I wonder if gaited horses develop a habit of pacing when ridden in curb bits with two-handed contact and a low fixed hand position.
If riding with two-handed curb bit contact creates tension, it makes it difficult to teach the horse bit acceptance and relaxation. When horses are not comfortable with the bit or low, fixed hands, they find ways to avoid the contact: drawing their nose behind or above the vertical, fighting the bit, running away, flipping their tongue over the bit, and locking their jaw. Any of these pain reactions create tension through the horse’s body leading to pacing (as seen in the photo above).
Video: Rider Position and Effect on Smooth Gait
Relaxation is key to developing smooth gaits
Relaxation doesn’t mean sleepy and dull. Relaxation means the absence of body tension and pain and freedom of mental anxiety. Relaxation is key to developing smooth gaits.
Mental and physical relaxation is key. Relaxation doesn’t mean boring our horses with monotony. Relaxation means the absence of body pain and tension and freedom of mental anxiety. Relaxation is key to developing smooth gaits.
Since we were not producing smooth gaits in a state of tension, I stopped riding in a curb bit with two-handed contact and returned to a mild snaffle bit.
I began teaching Makana how to accept a light, gentle contact with a mild snaffle bit. At the same time, I needed to follow her natural head and neck motion with relaxed arms, hands, and fingers. My hands are an important part of dressage communication and trust. If I hold tension in my shoulders, with locked elbows and fists, it will communicate tension to my horse.
My naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse became more teachable when her mind was free from anxiety. She paid more attention to me and less attention to the distractions around her. Then her body began to relax. When my gaited horse found mental and physical relaxation, smoother gaits started to form, and she became more comfortable to ride.
Cues to the free walk
A split second before I request my horse to move from a halt to a walk, I draw both hands forward slightly to allow space for my horse to move forward into without feeling boxed in by the bit
A split second later, say the word, “walk” and I make a “cluck” sound
If there is no response to a walk, I squeeze and release my lower calves at the girth while urging my seat forward
If still no response, I follow it up with a light tap of the whip behind the girth and a “cluck” sound
When my horse steps forward into the walk, then I reconnect my following contact with my reins
I also notice the side-to-side belly sway and follow (not drive) this motion with each hip joint and my lower back
Leg yield exercises
Leg yields are a great exercise to teach at a walk. This exercise helps the rider coordinate the use and timing of rein, seat and leg aids as the horse moves and it teaches the horse to move away from the rider’s leg pressure while remaining straight in the body by the reins.
Leg yields can be applied along the fence, from the quarter line or center line to the fence or zig zag from quarter line to quarter line.
Leg yields from the quarter line to the fence:
I positioned my horse straight at the quarter line of the arena
encouraged her forward with both calves and release
Then I applied my inside calf at the girth as my horse’s hind leg is about to leave the ground to urge her to step that hind leg under her belly and move forward and slightly at an angle toward the fence
Video: Leg Yield Exercise
Introducing steps of smooth gait
When I began to transition my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse from a relaxed free walk into a few consecutive steps of flat walk, sometimes we had a couple steps of a variety of gaits: flat walk, step pace, pace, saddle rack, fox trot, and a mystery gait with quick small smooth scampering steps.
We’d slow down to a relaxed walk, and I’d ask for a flat walk again. As soon as she took three or four consecutive steps, it was important to stop and reward her before she switched to another gait. Over time, she gained more strength and balance to maintain more consecutive steps of flat walk.
My filly broke into another gait because she lacked the strength or fell out of balance.
When I rode non-gaited horses, there was a clear difference between a walk, trot and canter. The hardest part was discerning the level of quality within each gait.
The hardest part about riding a young, green Tennessee Walking Horse is discerning one smooth gait from another. Smooth feels smooth. How do I decipher one smooth gait from another? This takes time to develop through what I feel, hear and notice. Some smooth gaits have an up and down head nod like the flat walk, running walk, and fox trot.
Some smooth gaits do not have a head nod like the saddle rack. Some smooth gaits like the rack, the head moves side to side instead of up and down.
Adding to this, the flat-footed walk has an up and down head and neck nod that appears much like a flat walk, but this gait is not smooth. There is a lot of motion for the rider to follow with their lower back and hip joints. The flat walk is smooth with no motion for the rider to follow with their lower back and hip joints.
Another smooth gait with an up and down head and neck nod is the canter. Faults to the canter are the four-beat canter which is smooth, the cross canter (hind legs on the opposite lead from the front legs) and pace (lateral) canter. Both the cross canter and pace canter are not smooth. Other jarring gaits I encountered during our training include the hard trot and hard pace. Neither have a head nod.
Rewarding every few steps of smooth gait
For those of us DIY riders, it takes patience, understanding, time, and consistency to train a young, green naturally gaited horse to develop smooth gaits. Discovering how many consecutive steps of smooth flat walk my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse was capable of before losing balance or strength became helpful. Then I would stop to reward her before she broke into another gait. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.
Over time, with patience, my smooth gaited Tennessee Walking Horse took more and more consecutive steps of flat walk as she grew stronger.
Once my Tennessee Walking Horse developed the strength and balance to maintain more consecutive steps in the flat walk, I asked for more ground covering strides and tempo to develop the running walk. Then I asked for transitions from flat walk into a few steps of running walk on a straight line.
Canter improves smooth gait
At the end of the second summer, Makana was four years old. By this time we had developed flat walk and running walk on cue. Now it was time to introduce canter on cue.
Canter became my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse’s most challenging gait to develop. I’ve learned this is common among gaited horses. We wrestled with a lateral pace canter, a four-beat canter, a cross canter, and the wrong lead altogether, before we finally achieved a three-beat canter. This took time and practice. Makana’s left lead canter was easier to than her right lead. Most horses are asymmetrical, so one lead is normally easier than the other.
Mental and physical relaxation are important for canter. Many times canter excites the horse which can rattle a nervous rider. Using ground rails are helpful for the horse to take the correct lead.
Once Makana understood the canter cues, I used transitions from halt, rein back, and walk to canter on a large circle. Anytime the canter felt four-beat, we would ride canter along the rail of the arena and increased the tempo to achieve a three-beat canter.
2010: Riding at our first dressage show on a horse that didn’t trot.
When Makana was reliably taking either canter lead on cue, I began our riding sessions with canter, because it improved the quality of her flat walk. Canter was a great stretching and warm up exercise for her.
Improving smooth gait quality on cue
When my Tennessee Walking Horse turned five years old, we began to develop quality smooth gaits on cue. Quality smooth gaits include relaxation of mind and body, a consistent rhythm in foot falls, a head nod in timing with the hind leg steps, evenness of strides traveling both directions, forward movement without rushing, and developing maximum depth of stride in flat walk and running walk.
Developing quality smooth gaits on cue is a journey of consistent training and progress over time.
2015: Showing dressage with my Tennessee walking horse, Makana.
2021: My naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse, Makana. We are riding bareback in her smooth gait, an even four-beat flat walk riding on a loose rein in balance and self-carriage.
In 2021, Makana turned 17. My naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse is well established in each quality smooth gait on cue: flat walk, running walk, flat-footed walk, saddle rack, and canter. Natural Smooth Gaits
Six helpful resources to develop a consistent smooth gait
1. Study books and videos demonstrating and explaining a natural smooth gait
Today, there are more resources available in training naturally gaited horses. One of my favorite books in learning smooth gaits as flat walk, fox trot, running walk, and saddle rack is, “Easy-Gaited Horses” by the late Lee Ziegler. This book describes how the smooth gaits sound and feel.
Some gaited horses are born more on the lateral side and pace can be their go-to gait. The best way to help a pacey gaited horse find a smooth gait is to help them find relaxation in mind and body, teach them bit acceptance and exercises that diagonalize the foot falls.
Here are a few great articles to break pace and develop a smooth gait:
3. Get good coaching from gaited dressage and gaited horsemanship instructors to develop smooth gait
I’ve been fortunately to get great coaching from gaited dressage instructors Jennie Jackson, Jennifer Bauer, and Larry Whitesell who traveled to my region. Jennie Jackson’s gaited dressage coaching has helped me establish connection and forwardness to improve quality smooth gaits on cue. Lessons with Jennie have helped me develop the feeling of right to better discern the quality of each smooth gait.
Riding at a Jennie Jackson Dressage as Applied to the Gaited Horse Clinic.
Jennifer Bauer and Larry Whitesell have helped me learn a natural and humane training philosophy which is based on classical French dressage. This method has helped me become a trusted leader in my partnership with my Tennessee Walking Horse and lead Makana into relaxation and balance.
Larry Whitesell demonstrating and explaining shoulder-in with me and Makana.
4. Professional training for the horse (and rider) for a smooth gait
Some people send their gaited horse to a professional trainer to develop a smooth gait. Then the horse comes home, and they wonder why the horse offers a smooth gait for the trainer and not for them.
Professional training is a great investment, as long as you learn how to ride your gaited horse in the same manner it was trained to achieve the same results. This way you and your smooth gaited horse will speak the same smooth gaiting language. Learning to ride well takes time to develop—especially if dressage is your language of choice.
It is the rider’s sense of feel, balanced riding position, and use and timing of aids (leg, weight, seat and rein aids) that communicate with the horse and indicate which smooth gait to perform. This is why it is important for the rider to develop the same skillset from the trainer who taught the horse to gait.
5. Record your riding to confirm your smooth gait
I like to capture video when I ride my gaited horse. Videos help me see what I felt from the saddle during my ride. There are a few affordable robotic cameras on the market, such as Pivo a that work with smart phones. Otherwise, you can set your Smart phone or video camera on a tripod to capture glimpses of your ride. (Unless you are fortunate to have a willing friend to record your rides.)
Throughout my ride, I like to comment about how moments feel on the video. This helps me confirm whether or not what I watch matches what I felt at that moment. I’ve uploaded hundreds of my videos on the Naturally Gaited You Tube channel. If you like what you see, please subscribing to the channel. Then you’ll be prompted for the next video when it is uploaded.
How dressage improves quality smooth gait over time. (Makana age 19.)
6. Enter your gaited horse in schooling dressage shows
Aside from lessons and clinics, my next favorite way to get feedback from a professional, is by entering my naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse in schooling dressage shows. These friendly and casual shows are a great way to get written feedback on the qualities of our training: relaxation, balance, rhythm, connection, forward movement without rushing, quality gaits, execution of the test requirements, my riding position, and the use and timing of my aids. The judge will provide comments on the score sheet. This helps me know what to work on when we get home. I find this feedback priceless.
When I learn of a schooling dressage show in my area, I contact the show manager and ask if I can enter my gaited horse using a National Walking Horse of America (NWHA) or Friends of Sound Horses (FOSH) gaited dressage test. Then I send my tests with the entry form.
Dressage is more than trot
Since 2007, I have learned from personal experience, trot is not required to gain the benefits of dressage. Dressage does not MAKE the smooth gaited horse trot. Dressage does not ruin the natural smooth gaits. In fact, dressage actually improves the quality of smooth gaits on cue. Indeed, dressage is more than trot!
My naturally gaited Tennessee Walking Horse at 20 years old at a piaffe.
If your gaited horse doesn’t have a smooth gait, now you have a few new ideas to try and reclaim your SMOOTH! None of them require a special bit or saddle, special shoes or hoof angles.
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