Gaited Horsemanship
by Gaye DeRusso
What is horsemanship?
It is the art of communication between a horse and a human, based on trust and respect. It includes basic handling, training, and riding.
It is called an art because it takes many years to perfect. Those of us who are good at it, are always trying to learn and improve our communication with the horse because we enjoy it.
Years ago, humans would just try to overpower horses and make them do what we wanted. This made a lot of unpredictable and fearful horses. When we put them under saddle it was called saddle breaking because many times it broke their spirit in the process.
Then natural horsemanship came along. We learned how horses behaved with other horses and reacted as prey animals, then used that information to help us communicate with the horse. So, it became more of a communication between the horse and human, vs humans overpowering them.
Good horsemanship means that we teach the horse and the rider how to communicate and help one another. It is a team effort. Again, I cannot say this enough, it is based on trust and respect for each other.
So, what is gaited horsemanship?
It means that we communicate with the horse, so we can handle them safely on the ground and they understand how to behave for us. It means we train them to understand signals, movements, speed control from the ground and under saddle. It also means we show them how to gait and hold the gait we want. But is it by communicating that information to the horse, through time, patience and repetition until the horse understands.
Not by using force, heavy shoes, or long feet to acquire the gait. It also means that the rider must be able to help the horse gait, by being a balanced rider and having good feel and timing to communicate to the horse that they are doing the gait correctly.
Sound easy?
Of course not, anything worthwhile, will not be easy. Their gaits are easy on our back and joints but getting your horse to understand what gait to do and at what speed is not always an easy task.
First you must teach the horse the basics, so they understand what you want. That means before you even start to work on gait, they must stand for mounting, have a good stop, backup, steer well, bend, move forward off your leg, but also sideways off your leg when asked. To be able to turn and make patterns. The horse needs to understand when you ask them to stop, they need to stay there and not move. When you ask them to go forward, they need to go the speed you set them at and not keep changing speeds. The horse needs to understand the concept of pressure and release, that when you put pressure on them, you are asking them to do something and when you take pressure off, that means they did the correct thing for you. If they do not understand all of the above, then getting the correct gait is very hard to communicate to the horse, because they do not have a basic education to build on.
Then as a rider, you must balance yourself, to help the horse gait. You must have the feel of the gait so you can tell them when they are doing it right. You must have good timing so when they do it right, you immediately tell them. Yes, that's it Midnight!! Good Boy!!
But since they cannot talk you must tell them by releasing pressure on them or positive reinforcement. By practicing over and over, your communication becomes clearer to the horse. Until you can almost magically tell them what to do, what speed to go and they understand so well, they try to do whatever you ask them to do with very light aides (seat, legs, hand) from the rider.
When a rider can communicate so well to a horse that you see nothing except a beautiful picture of a rider and horse, moving in sync together, you know why riding is called an art. It is beautiful to watch a magnificent creature, do movements for us and work so hard for us, just because they want to.
So, it is the same when asking them to gait, we must be a balanced rider, we must communicate clearly to the horse, we must do it without force but with trust and respect. It will look so easy to others when it is done correctly. The horse and the rider become one. And that is what I call Gaited Horsemanship. The art of a balanced horse and rider gaiting effortlessly.
Just Beautiful!
Gaited Books
Easy Gaited Horses By Lee Ziegler https://amzn.to/3vFuk8w
The Gaited Horse Bible by Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3It0Imf
Gaits of Gold by Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3jGXam0
Heavenly Gaits By Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3ieKGBP
Training the Gaited Horse By Gary Lane https://amzn.to/3jPcAVq
DISCLAIMER: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission if you buy something. This helps support the website. Thank you for the support!
by Gaye DeRusso
What is horsemanship?
It is the art of communication between a horse and a human, based on trust and respect. It includes basic handling, training, and riding.
It is called an art because it takes many years to perfect. Those of us who are good at it, are always trying to learn and improve our communication with the horse because we enjoy it.
Years ago, humans would just try to overpower horses and make them do what we wanted. This made a lot of unpredictable and fearful horses. When we put them under saddle it was called saddle breaking because many times it broke their spirit in the process.
Then natural horsemanship came along. We learned how horses behaved with other horses and reacted as prey animals, then used that information to help us communicate with the horse. So, it became more of a communication between the horse and human, vs humans overpowering them.
Good horsemanship means that we teach the horse and the rider how to communicate and help one another. It is a team effort. Again, I cannot say this enough, it is based on trust and respect for each other.
So, what is gaited horsemanship?
It means that we communicate with the horse, so we can handle them safely on the ground and they understand how to behave for us. It means we train them to understand signals, movements, speed control from the ground and under saddle. It also means we show them how to gait and hold the gait we want. But is it by communicating that information to the horse, through time, patience and repetition until the horse understands.
Not by using force, heavy shoes, or long feet to acquire the gait. It also means that the rider must be able to help the horse gait, by being a balanced rider and having good feel and timing to communicate to the horse that they are doing the gait correctly.
Sound easy?
Of course not, anything worthwhile, will not be easy. Their gaits are easy on our back and joints but getting your horse to understand what gait to do and at what speed is not always an easy task.
First you must teach the horse the basics, so they understand what you want. That means before you even start to work on gait, they must stand for mounting, have a good stop, backup, steer well, bend, move forward off your leg, but also sideways off your leg when asked. To be able to turn and make patterns. The horse needs to understand when you ask them to stop, they need to stay there and not move. When you ask them to go forward, they need to go the speed you set them at and not keep changing speeds. The horse needs to understand the concept of pressure and release, that when you put pressure on them, you are asking them to do something and when you take pressure off, that means they did the correct thing for you. If they do not understand all of the above, then getting the correct gait is very hard to communicate to the horse, because they do not have a basic education to build on.
Then as a rider, you must balance yourself, to help the horse gait. You must have the feel of the gait so you can tell them when they are doing it right. You must have good timing so when they do it right, you immediately tell them. Yes, that's it Midnight!! Good Boy!!
But since they cannot talk you must tell them by releasing pressure on them or positive reinforcement. By practicing over and over, your communication becomes clearer to the horse. Until you can almost magically tell them what to do, what speed to go and they understand so well, they try to do whatever you ask them to do with very light aides (seat, legs, hand) from the rider.
When a rider can communicate so well to a horse that you see nothing except a beautiful picture of a rider and horse, moving in sync together, you know why riding is called an art. It is beautiful to watch a magnificent creature, do movements for us and work so hard for us, just because they want to.
So, it is the same when asking them to gait, we must be a balanced rider, we must communicate clearly to the horse, we must do it without force but with trust and respect. It will look so easy to others when it is done correctly. The horse and the rider become one. And that is what I call Gaited Horsemanship. The art of a balanced horse and rider gaiting effortlessly.
Just Beautiful!
Gaited Books
Easy Gaited Horses By Lee Ziegler https://amzn.to/3vFuk8w
The Gaited Horse Bible by Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3It0Imf
Gaits of Gold by Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3jGXam0
Heavenly Gaits By Brenda Imus https://amzn.to/3ieKGBP
Training the Gaited Horse By Gary Lane https://amzn.to/3jPcAVq
DISCLAIMER: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission if you buy something. This helps support the website. Thank you for the support!