Training a Young Gaited Horse
By Gaye DeRusso https://www.majesticrider.com/index.html Making a young horse into a great horse takes time. You cannot rush the process, each horse will take a different amount of time depending on how smart they are, their temperament and what stage of growing they are in. If you cut corners to get there quicker, you will find out that the corner cutting has left holes in your horses training and now you have to go back and fix those holes. If you had just taken the time and done it correctly and patiently, you won't have to go back. You will just keep moving forward. So, I am going to share what I do with my horses to help you get on track with your young horse. 1. Teach them the basic ground work, stay out of your space, back up with pressure and wiggle of rope, come forward with pressure on rope, standing tied patiently, ground tie, lunging, sending exercise, move hindquarters and shoulders, side pass in front of the fence and lateral flexion. 2. More Lunging. This is very important for vet visits and teaching the horse different things especially if pacey. So, I like to lunge them over poles and jumps to separate their legs but also make them more surefooted, increase their proprioception and make them think and be more agile. This will also help them with cantering if pacey and help them go over obstacles on the trail. 3. Desensitizing. Get them use to all different things moving around them and the horse staying calm and relaxed. All the ground work will also build trust and help you to communicate with your horse. 4. Under saddle work. I always run them around or lunge them first to warm them up and get their ya yas out. Then I teach them to stand at mounting block and get on and off over and over. So, they do not worry about the mounting block. I use all different things to get on and off, so they become more confinement. Once they understand I also teach them to sidle up to the mounting block and any object I am on. 5. Lateral flexion and vertical flexion. Teaches them how to give to the bit and be able to move their head but keep their legs in place. 6. Bending and walking circles. Very important for trail work such as going around trees and gates and not having your horse smash you into them. Teaches your horse how to balance underneath you and move off of your leg and follow your eyes. Very helpful if the horse is pacey as it separates their legs and helps them drive off of their backend which helps with engagement. 7. Serpentine - This is more suppling work to help the horse balance and follow where you ask. Will be very helpful once you get to trail riding. Prepares the horse for S curves on the trail, shoulder and hindquarter control. Will be helpful to use if your horse gets anxious or walks too fast. Also helps to separate legs if horse is pacey. 8. Leg yield- Teaches horse to move forward and sideways at the same time, very helpful in getting horses to gait better, as it separates their legs more. It will help your horse steer better and learn to work off of your seat and leg and not just your hands. Very helpful when you go to teach lead changes and canter departures and super helpful for trail riding. 9. Put on a good whoa. So many gaited horses don't know the word whoa or how to stop well. They are just stuck on go. Teaching your horse what whoa means to stop is so important. I practice going forward and then stopping over and over. Then we just stand and rest and do some more. I walk, sit back, take my legs off, deep breath in and out, I say whoa and then if the horse doesn't stop I pull them to a stop and stand. I repeat over and over until the horse understands the cues to stop and the word whoa to stop. I practice every ride, everywhere. Makes a huge difference in control with your horse. 10. Back up with energy. Backing up is a very helpful skill and can save you and get you out of situations if your horse does it well. I teach them to back up with some energy not to drag backwards like a slug. Teaches them to be guided by your hands but respond to your seat and legs. Helps the horse to engage and lighten its front end. I also teach them to back up in circles and patterns, so they get really good at backing. 11. Turn on the forehand - Teaches horse how to move their hindquarters off your leg and keeps the front end still. Very helpful in canter departures, will also take the power away from the horse’s hindquarters if it is acting up or trying to rear. Once you can control their backend, it also helps with gaiting and preventing horse from kicking out at other horses cars and even for opening gates. 12. Turn on hindquarters - Teaches horse how to move their shoulders and keep the hindquarters still. Helpful to block a horse that tries to spin, helps get a horse around S curves on the trail and to open gates. By having shoulder control, it can also help to separate the horse's legs if it gets pacey. 13. Flower pattern, and Figure 8 - Steering exercises which help teach your horse to follow where you are looking, not to drift and to bend their bodies. These are great suppling exercises and makes it easier to control your horse. It also can be used to teach your horse to neck rein. 14. Shoulder in and Haunches in - These are exercises where your horse is walking forward on one track, and you push their shoulders or hindquarters on another track. So, some call it 2 tracking. By doing these exercises you gain more control of your horse's body but also helps to separate their legs which helps with pacey horses. It also will help you to keep your horse in a straight line when needed. Because once they understand, then if they get crooked you just push that body part back over. 15. Side Pass - This is the movement when you just go sideways, no forward or backward motion. It is so helpful once your horse knows how to do it well. It will help you to open and close gates, pick up things off the fence, you can even open a car door on your horse. You can even do it when your horse will not stand still, it occupies their mind and disperses energy without going anywhere. So don't forget to teach them to side pass. 16. Walking over poles - I think every gaited horse should learn to go over poles. Some gaited horses have bad proprioception. They can do so many things with their feet, that some of them don't know how to control their own feet. They fumble and stumble and trip and fall. Poles are fantastic at teaching them to pick up their feet and pay attention. It is also great for strength training and improving the horses topline. And you also never know when you might have to step over something on trail or jump something. So, who doesn't want a horse that is more agile and has good proprioception to keep you safe. 17. Now you can start gaiting. Yes you should get all the above training done and going well before you start your gait, or you will always have to go back. If you have it done well then you can start your flat walk or first slower gait. Start with 3 minutes in each direction and in a couple weeks if riding 3- 5 times a week go up to 5 minutes and so on. Use all the things you have taught them to help stay in this gait at the same speed. After you have flat walked or done your slower gait for at least a month, but 3 months would be better, then you can move on. 18. Now you can start your intermediate gait. This maybe your running walk, saddle gait or fox trot. Always do your arena work listed above first and then your flat walk each direction first to be warmed up, then add more speed and go for your intermediate gait. Use the same cues every time. Start with 2 -3 minutes and work up over weeks to 5 minutes or more each direction. 19. Now you can add in your canter. Now that you have your gaits being set, you can start to canter as well. But with young horses learning to gait, it can be very tiring to gait and then also have to canter until they are conditioned, so I usually set the gaits then work on the canter. I usually do 3 circles in one direction and then the other, so they learn both canter leads, and I use poles if they are pacey to help them get the canter motion. 20. Last and not least, teach them to stand tied with patience. Tie them up after each ride. It helps to sink in the information you just taught them, teaches them not to rush through work to get back to their stall. It won't be easy; many have temper tantrums. But once they understand they need to stand every day after each workout, they will calm down and just go to sleep. It will help your farrier and help you to trailer your horse as they need to stand for long periods of time in the trailer. Then next you can teach them to get on and off the trailer and stand in the trailer patiently. Now you have a plan, but it’s up to you to follow this plan or make one of your own. Just know if the horse does not have a basic education, you will have many more issues. If you take the time and teach them well, it becomes easier every day. A well-trained balanced horse is not only safe, but so fun to ride. So make that young horse into the best gaited horse he or she can be.
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