By Jennifer Klitzke

Why show gaited dressage? What motivates us to show? Is it all about blue ribbons and bragging rights? Read on and you’ll discover even better reasons for showing your naturally gaited horse in dressage.

Why Show Gaited Dressage?

Granted, showing gaited dressage is not a requirement for becoming a student of dressage with your naturally gaited horse (or for riders of the hard trotting variety for that matter).

I roll my eyes and gasp when I think back to my first years showing dressage with my Trakhner/Thoroughbred gelding SeilTanzer (Seili). Yes, he was one of those hard trotting varieties, and dang, was his trot hard to sit!

I had saved my money to buy the best trot I could afford, because back in the day, that’s what you looked for when considering a dressage prospect.

At first, my primary motivations were to take Seili to the top levels of dressage. Why? Because I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to be recognized. I wanted to be accepted among my peers.

It didn’t take long to realize that these were really bad reasons to show dressage.

If you were at my first recognized show in 1992, you’ll likely remember it to this day. I know I will never forget it.

Seili and I were practiced and prepared: I ate, breathed, and slept with dressage on my brain. I rode Seili six days a week at a deluxe dressage facility, took regular dressage lessons by a winning instructor, read books by the dressage masters, watched videos of how to become a better dressage rider, recorded and analyzed my rides, attended dressage clinics, and journaled my every ride.

So what happened?

Getting to the show grounds that day, my calm and relaxed gelding transformed into a creature I no longer recognized. Snorting and saucer-eyed, Seili darted around the bleachers, crowds, and announcer booth like a meth addict. He didn’t even know I was there for the ride. Nothing seemed to get his attention. Feeling out of control launched a full-blown panic attack.

I did my best to courageously negotiate Seili through the movements of Training Level Test One. After the final halt and salute, I released Seili to a free walk on a long rein. The judge stopped me on our way out of the arena (which is very uncharacteristic at a recognized show).

The judge said, “You have a wonderful horse who can go very far in dressage.”

Flattered, I proudly remarked, “Thank you.”

The judge replied, “But YOU, your riding will NEVER take him there. Can I buy your horse from you?”

My motivations for showing collided head on with the judge’s harsh and inappropriate words, and my disappointment that I couldn’t bring out Seili’s best. Stunned, I left the arena blinded by my tears.

Devastated, I faced a cross roads: Either change my motivation for showing dressage or give it up. If showing isn’t fun or educational, it isn’t worth the effort.

Changing my motivation for showing is what I did. Seili and I continued to show for the next few years. We even received a Central States Dressage and Eventing Association award for Second Level Amateur of the Year in 1995. Then our show career ended in 1996 when Seili developed chronic laminitis.

Fifteen years passed.

Yes, I admit, I rode those bumpy, trotting horses for decades until my body longed for smooth. That’s when I set out to find my first naturally gaited horse.

In 2007, my search for SMOOTH led me to a barefoot and sound, just turning three-year-old naturally gaited Tennessee walking horse filly.  Her name was Gift of Freedom, a.k.a. Makana, which is Hawaiian for “gift.”

Makana became my first naturally gaited horse. She had a lot of handling and 20 rides on her when she arrived, yet dressage was the only form of riding and training I knew.

Then I began to wonder, “Can I train a naturally gaited horse with dressage?” The competition dressage world I came from said dressage was only for horses that trot. Gaited horse owners said that dressage would make their horse trot. Others said that dressage would ruin their horse’s smooth natural gaits.

So I put that aside and set out on a mission to discover for myself that dressage is more than trot.

In 2010, I learned of a schooling dressage show only 10 miles away at Walker’s Triple R Ranch, so I entered my Tennessee walking horse, Gift of Freedom (Makana). We were the only gaited horse on the show grounds and rode Training Level Tests One in the same class as the trotting horses.

I never imagined that I would return to dressage competition on a horse that didn’t trot!

Since 2010 Makana and I have shown gaited dressage at dozens of open schooling dressage shows (Intro through First Level). My motivation for showing is about getting feedback from a qualified judge on where we are at as it relates to rhythm, relaxation, connection, engagement, straightness, and collection; my riding position; and the use and timing of my rein, leg, seat and weight aids. The judge’s written feedback on my test sheet gives us something to practice until the next time we show. (And yes, it does feel good to get a blue ribbon, even if I am the only gaited dressage rider in my level! At least I put in the effort.)

Committing to a dressage test forces me and my naturally gaited horse to work on transitions more precisely in both directions, develop the full range of gaits and movements the dressage level requires, and face the test requirements I would otherwise avoid. Things like developing the counter canter, shoulder-in at a flatwalk, and showing a noticeable difference between a medium walk, flat walk, and running walk.

Plus, showing gaited dressage lets others see that naturally gaited horses can be trained using the humane training methods of dressage. After all, dressage is more than trot!

As long as I check my motivations at the gate, and as long as my barefoot naturally gaited walking horse enjoys traveling to gaited dressage competitions, then we will give this gaited dressage show thing a try.

P.S. Seili is lived to be 34 years old. His laminitis had been managed with natural barefoot trimming and a low carb diet. I enjoyed riding him until he was 29 years old. (Yes, he was still very bouncy!)
Naturally Gaited

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