​Mistakes With Gaited Horses - You Need To Read This!

​Mistakes With Gaited Horses - You Need To Read This!
By Gaye DeRusso
 
1. Most gaited horses are not trained well.
 
Before even trying to gait your horse, you should make sure your horse knows the basics. If it doesn’t know the basics, then you do not have the tools to adjust its movement if it does not gait well. 
 
These basics are - understands to give to pressure, gives to the bit, bends in a circle, backs up willingly, has a good stop, moves sideways easily with a cue, can move its shoulders and hindquarters independently of the rest of its body. 
 
In other words, it has a basic foundation to build on. If your horse doesn't know these things, there is no point in trying to gait, it is still in kindergarten. Even if it gaits well, you are going to have  problems with your horse, because you cannot communicate with it. 
 
2.  Most gaited riders are not trained  well. 
 
Before riding a gaited horse, you should know the basics of riding. That means concepts in riding but also physically ready to ride. You should know how to ride with a balanced seat - sit properly on the horse to  help the horse  be balanced.  Know how to cue  your horse to move forward, backwards and sideways with your legs. Know how to use your hands so the horse knows when you want to go forward or sideways. Be able to back your horse up with a light cue and be able to turn your horse with your legs and guide with your hands. Be able to stop your horse well. You should  know how to do a half halt.  Without knowing all these things and  doing them well, you will just confuse your horse. You also may get very hurt because you have no communication with your horse. 
 
Horses are dangerous because they are not machines, but even with machines someone teaches you how to use it. Remember somebody showed you how to turn a car on, and how to drive a car which seems so easy now. But without knowing how to do those things you would just be sitting in the car looking around being confused. 
 
But  someone did show you how to turn the car on and apply the gas and breaks before you went on the road. Then you practiced in a parking lot then a road before going on the highway.
 
 If you just got in and go it turned on and went on the highway, well you probably would not be reading this today. But that's what I think of when I see people who do not know how to ride, flying down the trail on their gaited horse. 
 
3. Horses that are not bred well do not gait well. 
 
All those cheap horses out there and all the ones that are cheaper on auction, usually do not have the talent to gait well unless, they have a knowledgeable rider to help them. If you do not have a clue, be careful of the cheap horses and careful of auctions in general, just be careful.  Those horses either do not gait well or just got out of prison for killing their previous owner. 
 
All gaited horses do not just gait. They have to have good breeding for them to gait easily. That takes a good breeder and breeding good horses cost the breeder a lot of money. So of course, these horses cost more, but they are usually much easier to train and ride. 
 
4. Young, gaited horse are not for inexperienced riders or people with poor horsemanship skills. 
 
To train a young horse, you need to have a plan, not wing it every day. You want to build a foundation and then build on that foundation you built. It is a slow steady process with many setbacks. Some days are great, and some days are horrible, you need to know that going into it. Even the best horses can act up, but a young horse has less tolerance and is more athletic, so many times when they do act up even if it is rarely, it is bigger and scarier. They are  faster, buck harder and rear higher because they can. So, make sure you have a plan to follow, a trainer to help you and you are up to the challenge of years in the making. A young horse will not care that you had a bad day at work. 
 
5.  The better the horse gaits and the more experienced the gaited horse is, in the job you want it to do, the more fun you will have. 
 
If you have no clue what you are doing, you need a baby sitter to start. It will keep you safe, build your confidence and show you the ropes. But this is the horse you need lessons on. So when it can no longer be ridden, you are more experienced and a better rider. Otherwise, you should always have a baby sitter horse because you will never progress from that stage. 
 
6. Gaited horses need to practice gaiting. 
 
If you only gait once in a while or you have trails you cannot gait on, well your horse even if it gaited well may lose its gaits. It needs to practice and stay in condition to gait well. The only way to do that, is to practice gaiting every time you ride it, and you should ride it at least a couple  times a week. 
 
If you do not, you will not be able to fix it once it loses its gaits, because it needs a knowledgeable gaited rider and to get in condition to get the gait back. So best to keep the gait and not  lose it. 
 
7. Horses that just gait, horses that gait but fall into a trot, horses that gait but fall into a pace and horse that gait but fall into a trot or pace are not the same. 
 
All these horses above, need different speeds and frames and different amounts of  collection and or inversion to keep them in gait. If you ride a pacing horse like one the falls into a trot, you are just making it worse not better. Same if you ride one that falls into a trot like a pacing horse. 
 
8. Collection affects your gaited horse, good and bad.
 
Most gaited horses need some kind of collection to gait well. They do not gait well in a strung-out frame. Too much collection and many do not gait well, too little and many will not gait well. It’s a fine line, because these are not regular trotting horses, so you do not ride them like they are. 
 
You do not drive a Porsche like you drive a truck.  The people who tell you all horses are the same, do not truly understand the gaited horse. 
 
9. Listening to  people who tell you your horse is lame. 
 
Gaited horses move differently, that's why they can gait. They move different under saddle but also when loose. Many swap their back lead when cantering if unbalanced, and or bunny hop, many have loose stifles and their stifles will lock up when not conditioned, many drag their front toes or their back toes.
 
 If not bred well many have crooked legs,  wringing hocks, sickle hocks, or cow hocked. Many toe out or toe in, tight rope walk, come down in their pasterns farther and yes, bob their head when gaiting. Some are hyper flexible and swing their hind legs out in turns when spun around in hand or park out or stand comfortably on 2 legs. They even stand with legs crossed or all legs pointed a different direction. Any horse when pacing hard, usually looks lame and abnormal. Many switch gaits so fast or do half canter half gait, so if it’s an odd step here and there, it’s usually not lame its just doing a gait a lope or a gaited thing. 
 
To know if it is lame, you must educate yourself and your vet and also your trainer about what is normal and abnormal for the gaited horse. 
 
10. They are bred calm, never forget that. 
 
The only reason so many beginners get these horses are because they are bred to be so calm and willing. Yet this is also the downfall for the gaited horse and rider. It is the reason so many of these horses are abused or have no training on them before they are sold. 
 
They are then sold to someone who does not know how to ride.  Learning to ride takes many lessons and many, many years to do it well and safely. This mistake will hurt you at some point. You still need to learn how to ride properly. 
 
This is the reason why so many people who should not have a young horse buy one. Because they are not knowledgeable enough, talented enough as a rider and do not have a trainer to fall back on. This mistake can  either ruin the  young horse or get the rider very hurt. Not many other riding disciplines have this option, because the horses would kill them on day one. 
 
Some  gaited horses are so calm, that it makes them not pay attention and makes them trip. Even when they trip, they don't care and some just fall down and lay there like what just happen?
 
You must keep them awake and engaged to keep you  safe if yours is extra calm. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing. 
 
You should read this article many times and share, as I hope it helps someone from making a horrible mistake. Gaited horses are still horses, but they are not the same as non-gaited horses.