"By the end of the day we had every one of those horses gaiting," he said proudly. As we discussed this further, I realized that the primary objective of the clinic had been to get horses bitted in such a way, and then driven into those bits in such a way, that the horses all would be gaiting. This man was no doubt exceptionally well intentioned. Nevertheless, I winced inside as I imagined the all-too-common picture of these horses rushing around with their backs hollowed out, their noses either exaggeratedly tucked in, or pointed skyward, and their hocks all strung out behind..

Another rider at a Gaits of Gold clinic had a horse whose front feet were so long that he was displaying significant lameness through the shoulders. She and her farrier had determined that the poor boy wouldn’t gait unless he was ‘properly’ trimmed and shod. She was convinced that the stilted front action contributed to the gait.

Note that I said proper collection. We’re not talking about the kind of collection that is obtained by highly trained dressage horses, here. Nor am I referring to the false collection obtained when the rider pushes the horse too severely into the bit, before its body has been conditioned to soften, round out and flex. Quite the contrary. What we are striving for is an animal that will produce a consistently fast, loose, swinging walk with plenty of impulsion from the back end. As the horse gains strength, consistency and speed at that walk, the rider begins to request more speed, and increased collection through the reins. Gradually–without the horse ever losing the overall swinging action natural to the four-beat walk–he is ridden strongly up into the bridle. Yes, strongly! A gaited horse needs to work off the bit.

This sounds much more difficult than it actually is. The most important thing a rider of any kind of gaited horse can do is ride their horse at a fast, consistent and swinging walk. What I mean by swinging is that there is action through the loins, back, and neck. In fact, the head should never lose the head and neck action produced by an active walk. The second that happens–even if it seems as though the horse has kicked things up a notch right into a smooth saddle gait–you can be certain your mount has stiffened up his entire body. And why not? Once the horse has been ridden near his fastest walk speed (what I call the ‘breaking point,’) it’s much easier for him to stiffen up and churn his legs than it is to engage his entire body in the very real work of producing a faster walk in good form. Like people, horses tend to be lazy–especially when not well conditioned to a job.

I’ve been accused of teaching only the running walk using this riding technique. Not true. This method of gait training will work to develop your horse’s very best innate gait regardless of what that gait may be. This is because all saddle gaits are a variation of the walk. As the animal gains condition and speed at the walk, the timing will tend to change in accord with his natural conformation and ability. When the work is done properly, it’s nearly impossible to tell when the horse has ‘shifted gears’ from fast walk to his best natural gait. (The Spanish say that a horse with such smooth gait transitions has ‘good thread.’) One of our clinic riders demonstrated this before a large group of auditors recently. It’s fair to say that everyone was amazed when it was pointed out that her fast walking horse had actually slipped into a remarkably smooth, correct fox trot. Once people have the opportunity to observe horses performing their gaits correctly, they realize that anything less is just a poor imitation of what gaited riding should be. Even fairly average looking horses are beautiful when moving with animation and good form. This particular rider received a wide round of applause–which is not uncommon!

The damage to such a horse’s psyche is equally bad. A very well known clinician once told me that the worst clinic he ever conducted was one he had promoted for gaited horse owners. "The horses were all ill mannered and disrespectful," he said. "They were exploding all over the place. It must be something in the breeding." I informed him that he had probably been working in an arena full of horses who had been coping with pain and discomfort most of their lives. How would he expect such animals to behave? I think it is a testament to our horses that so many of them do manage to remain kind, respectful, and docile, even under the very worst of circumstances.

Now doesn’t all that make you want to take your horse out for a nice, active walk?