By Jennifer Klitzke

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.

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!

Dressage benefits the majority of gaited horses 

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!

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.

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.

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

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

If you are on this gaited dressage journey, I’d love to hear from you. Please contact me, join the NaturallyGaited Facebook community, and subscribe to the NaturallyGaited YouTube channel.