How to Help Your Horse Gait
By Gaye DeRusso
So, you got a gaited horse. Now you can't figure out what cues to give him to get him to gait. Does he have a special cue that makes him gait? No, usually not. You just have to put him in the correct frame to have him do a certain gait, ride with the correct amount of contact for that horse, use the correct amount of leg to get him into the speed of the gait you want and use your half halts and your seat and weight to help him stay in it. It's that easy.
Or should I say it’s that hard. It’s very hard when you have not ridden gaited horses before or you have ridden a different breed of gaited horse, because when you’re trying to get a certain gait, getting them to frame their body in a specific way will help you get the gait.
For the first gait, which no one ever thinks is a gait, is usually your flat walk. To get a horse in a flat walk, you want their head usually about the height of your horn, but it can be a little higher or lower depending on your horse’s conformation. You want to have some arch in their neck with their nose straight toward the ground (on the bit) or with their nose slightly poked out. Their head should not be sky high or too close to the ground. You want your reins short enough that your hands are about 4 inches in front of the saddle horn. You want a light contact on the rein that you can feel your horse’s mouth against the bit, but you are not pulling just holding. Then you will use your calves to push your horse forward into a walk, but a faster walk then a trail walk. Think 3- 5 mph. Most people can walk 3 mph. So, enough leg that they have an energetic walk. Now once you get him up to speed you have to keep it. If he slows down you press with your leg (calf) again, if he speeds up you give a half halt (see my half halt article) so squeeze and relax on rein to tell him, hey stay this speed, but at the same time you squeeze with your calves lightly, so he knows to keep going and not stop. You may have to half halt every step or every couple steps or only once in a while, depending on your horse’s talent, breeding, and training. But you need to figure that out. If he keeps speeding up, half halt every step and less leg or no leg. If he gets heavy on his front end or carries his head too low, you may have to half halt every step to get him to engage his backend and lighten his front end.
Now with your weight, if he gaits well, you just sit straight up, if he is pacey tilt slightly forward from your pelvis and if he is trotty, shift slightly back into more of a chair seat (see article on riding positions). If the horse knows how to gait, this is about all you need to do, but you will have to keep asking him to stay in the speed by your leg, seat, and hands. As he flat walks, you should feel yourself shift slightly forward and back in the saddle and the horse's head will move up and down. Practice staying in this gait anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes. You need to condition them to gait well, so they need to get stronger. Make sure you can do this well before going to the next gait.
For the running walk, you will do the exact same thing except you will add more leg, so you get an even faster walk. It should feel similar in the saddle except the horse’s head will not go up and down as far, but it still shakes. In the saddle there is usually less back and forth motion or you may be pretty still in the saddle. If your horse breaks into a trot or a pace, then you are going too fast. The running walk is usually 5-7 mph, but some are faster. Drive that speed in your car, or on your bike, it is not very fast. If your horse is not shaking its head, you are going too fast. If your horse has a great flat walk but no running walk, then at this point in his conditioning, you are not flat walking, that is his running walk, not his flat walk, and his flat walk is slower than that gait.
So anytime your horse paces or trots, the first thing you need to do is half halt and slow down, then if pacey try to round the horse out, and if trotty try to bring his head up and invert him some. If he cannot gait well, then anytime you get a couple good steps, stop immediately, tell your horse they are good and give them rest and a nice scratch, so they understand this is what you want. Then every day, try and get a couple more steps before you stop and reward them. Once they get it, then practice your running walk for 5 - 10 minutes then give your horse a break as a reward. Remember you need to practice long enough for them to get stronger and smoother.
If you’re trying to get a saddle gait/slow rack/ single foot and there are more names for this gait, but a 4-beat lateral gait that’s not a running walk or fox trot. Just know some horses will just naturally go into it next and do it on a loose rein, but many will not. So, what you will do is warm your horse up first at its flat walk, then try this gait. Speed your horse up but still keep the light contact on the rein, you should feel either just smooth or a jiggle in the saddle. You will do the same thing, half halt to keep the speed and use your leg (calf) so your horse knows to keep going. The head of the horse may shake a little but not much compared to the flat walk, if the horse swings its head side to side, apply more pressure with your rein to help him understand to hold it straight. The horse's head can be neutral or slightly up or down, but not down past its chest or it will get heavy on its front end.
If trotty you bring the horse's head up and invert its back, if pacey round it out and try lateral movements such as bending, serpentine or put it in a circle as you gait. If its trotty tilt your pelvis backward and if pacey tilt your pelvis forward. Keep enough contact on rein and short enough that if the horse starts to change gait you can half halt fast enough that the horse feels it immediately not 10 seconds later because the reins are too long. Remember if your horse cannot do this well, as soon as you get a couple steps, stop and tell the horse they did a good job, rest and scratch them. Repeat every time you ride them and try to get more steps each time before you rest and reward them. Then once you get the gait, practice it at least 5-10 min a day so they get stronger and better at it.
If you want a fox trot, you usually need to keep in a rounder frame. So, keep his head on the bit as you ask for more speed, if he gets pacey you round him out more and use your heel or spur on his belly behind the girth to ask him to use his abdominal muscles more. His head can be neutral or a little low if good or pacey but if trotty bring the head higher. You will do the same thing with your body tilt forward if pacey and tilt back if trotty. Half halt every step if they are getting trotty or pacey, keep trying to rebalance them into the gait. You should see a head shake and feel a soft bounce in the saddle. As above rest and reward when they give you a couple good steps and work up to getting more steps and then gaiting longer to build up their strength.
The rack is usually an inverted frame. So, you bring the horses head up and invert its back. You sit more in a chair seat. You should go from the flat walk into a slow rack make sure you have the foot fall then speed the horse up into a fast rack. Half halt every time he is starting to feel bouncy, the sooner you do it the better you will keep him in it. Use lateral movements like bending or shoulder in to help stay out of the pace. You should feel smooth or a side-to-side wiggle in the saddle. Do not try to get in a circle you need a long flat road to do it on or a large arena if going for a fast rack. If trotty try using slight declines to get your horse to be more lateral, or tilting its head slightly to the side can make some more lateral.
Try never to stop and rest when the horse is trotting or pacing as your horse will think this is the right answer. Only rest when the gait is pretty good. This is very important as many people get frustrated when the horse is trotty or pacey and that’s when they stop, then the horse paces or trots more, thinking it’s the right answer.
It takes time and patience to get them to gait correctly and of course it is harder if you are new to gaited horses. Just like anything new, it will be hard in the beginning and then get easier over time. Don't give up, just try harder and practice more.
Remember I have lots of videos on trotty and pacey horses, with me riding them as well as lessons with clients. Now go get your gait!
By Gaye DeRusso
So, you got a gaited horse. Now you can't figure out what cues to give him to get him to gait. Does he have a special cue that makes him gait? No, usually not. You just have to put him in the correct frame to have him do a certain gait, ride with the correct amount of contact for that horse, use the correct amount of leg to get him into the speed of the gait you want and use your half halts and your seat and weight to help him stay in it. It's that easy.
Or should I say it’s that hard. It’s very hard when you have not ridden gaited horses before or you have ridden a different breed of gaited horse, because when you’re trying to get a certain gait, getting them to frame their body in a specific way will help you get the gait.
For the first gait, which no one ever thinks is a gait, is usually your flat walk. To get a horse in a flat walk, you want their head usually about the height of your horn, but it can be a little higher or lower depending on your horse’s conformation. You want to have some arch in their neck with their nose straight toward the ground (on the bit) or with their nose slightly poked out. Their head should not be sky high or too close to the ground. You want your reins short enough that your hands are about 4 inches in front of the saddle horn. You want a light contact on the rein that you can feel your horse’s mouth against the bit, but you are not pulling just holding. Then you will use your calves to push your horse forward into a walk, but a faster walk then a trail walk. Think 3- 5 mph. Most people can walk 3 mph. So, enough leg that they have an energetic walk. Now once you get him up to speed you have to keep it. If he slows down you press with your leg (calf) again, if he speeds up you give a half halt (see my half halt article) so squeeze and relax on rein to tell him, hey stay this speed, but at the same time you squeeze with your calves lightly, so he knows to keep going and not stop. You may have to half halt every step or every couple steps or only once in a while, depending on your horse’s talent, breeding, and training. But you need to figure that out. If he keeps speeding up, half halt every step and less leg or no leg. If he gets heavy on his front end or carries his head too low, you may have to half halt every step to get him to engage his backend and lighten his front end.
Now with your weight, if he gaits well, you just sit straight up, if he is pacey tilt slightly forward from your pelvis and if he is trotty, shift slightly back into more of a chair seat (see article on riding positions). If the horse knows how to gait, this is about all you need to do, but you will have to keep asking him to stay in the speed by your leg, seat, and hands. As he flat walks, you should feel yourself shift slightly forward and back in the saddle and the horse's head will move up and down. Practice staying in this gait anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes. You need to condition them to gait well, so they need to get stronger. Make sure you can do this well before going to the next gait.
For the running walk, you will do the exact same thing except you will add more leg, so you get an even faster walk. It should feel similar in the saddle except the horse’s head will not go up and down as far, but it still shakes. In the saddle there is usually less back and forth motion or you may be pretty still in the saddle. If your horse breaks into a trot or a pace, then you are going too fast. The running walk is usually 5-7 mph, but some are faster. Drive that speed in your car, or on your bike, it is not very fast. If your horse is not shaking its head, you are going too fast. If your horse has a great flat walk but no running walk, then at this point in his conditioning, you are not flat walking, that is his running walk, not his flat walk, and his flat walk is slower than that gait.
So anytime your horse paces or trots, the first thing you need to do is half halt and slow down, then if pacey try to round the horse out, and if trotty try to bring his head up and invert him some. If he cannot gait well, then anytime you get a couple good steps, stop immediately, tell your horse they are good and give them rest and a nice scratch, so they understand this is what you want. Then every day, try and get a couple more steps before you stop and reward them. Once they get it, then practice your running walk for 5 - 10 minutes then give your horse a break as a reward. Remember you need to practice long enough for them to get stronger and smoother.
If you’re trying to get a saddle gait/slow rack/ single foot and there are more names for this gait, but a 4-beat lateral gait that’s not a running walk or fox trot. Just know some horses will just naturally go into it next and do it on a loose rein, but many will not. So, what you will do is warm your horse up first at its flat walk, then try this gait. Speed your horse up but still keep the light contact on the rein, you should feel either just smooth or a jiggle in the saddle. You will do the same thing, half halt to keep the speed and use your leg (calf) so your horse knows to keep going. The head of the horse may shake a little but not much compared to the flat walk, if the horse swings its head side to side, apply more pressure with your rein to help him understand to hold it straight. The horse's head can be neutral or slightly up or down, but not down past its chest or it will get heavy on its front end.
If trotty you bring the horse's head up and invert its back, if pacey round it out and try lateral movements such as bending, serpentine or put it in a circle as you gait. If its trotty tilt your pelvis backward and if pacey tilt your pelvis forward. Keep enough contact on rein and short enough that if the horse starts to change gait you can half halt fast enough that the horse feels it immediately not 10 seconds later because the reins are too long. Remember if your horse cannot do this well, as soon as you get a couple steps, stop and tell the horse they did a good job, rest and scratch them. Repeat every time you ride them and try to get more steps each time before you rest and reward them. Then once you get the gait, practice it at least 5-10 min a day so they get stronger and better at it.
If you want a fox trot, you usually need to keep in a rounder frame. So, keep his head on the bit as you ask for more speed, if he gets pacey you round him out more and use your heel or spur on his belly behind the girth to ask him to use his abdominal muscles more. His head can be neutral or a little low if good or pacey but if trotty bring the head higher. You will do the same thing with your body tilt forward if pacey and tilt back if trotty. Half halt every step if they are getting trotty or pacey, keep trying to rebalance them into the gait. You should see a head shake and feel a soft bounce in the saddle. As above rest and reward when they give you a couple good steps and work up to getting more steps and then gaiting longer to build up their strength.
The rack is usually an inverted frame. So, you bring the horses head up and invert its back. You sit more in a chair seat. You should go from the flat walk into a slow rack make sure you have the foot fall then speed the horse up into a fast rack. Half halt every time he is starting to feel bouncy, the sooner you do it the better you will keep him in it. Use lateral movements like bending or shoulder in to help stay out of the pace. You should feel smooth or a side-to-side wiggle in the saddle. Do not try to get in a circle you need a long flat road to do it on or a large arena if going for a fast rack. If trotty try using slight declines to get your horse to be more lateral, or tilting its head slightly to the side can make some more lateral.
Try never to stop and rest when the horse is trotting or pacing as your horse will think this is the right answer. Only rest when the gait is pretty good. This is very important as many people get frustrated when the horse is trotty or pacey and that’s when they stop, then the horse paces or trots more, thinking it’s the right answer.
It takes time and patience to get them to gait correctly and of course it is harder if you are new to gaited horses. Just like anything new, it will be hard in the beginning and then get easier over time. Don't give up, just try harder and practice more.
Remember I have lots of videos on trotty and pacey horses, with me riding them as well as lessons with clients. Now go get your gait!