Gaited horses can be very pleasurable to
ride. If they gait well, that is. Let’s face
it, gaited horses can be a lot of work,
especially if they don’t gait well. If a
gaited horse does not gait well, they can
become more of a chore than a pleasure. So,
you want to get the pleasure back in your
horse’s gait? Can you be the one to do it?
I am a proponent of people training their
own horses. I think for most general
training, owners can and should be doing it
themselves. Maybe you aren’t confident
enough to break or start your horse, but you
can certainly train it afterwards, right?
Well, in most cases I would say,
“Definitely!” Say you wanted to teach your
horse to stop better or break at the pole –
almost everyone is capable of doing that.
Above is a picture of my horse gaiting in a
collected dressage position.
Never the less, can you train your horse to
gait properly? For most people, they
probably should hire someone to do it. You
may be a very good trainer of non-gaited
horses, but when it comes to hearing and
feeling how a horse should gait properly,
that takes lots of experience, both in the
saddle and in watching them from the ground.
It is very unlikely that you can read a
book, then just go and get your horse to
gait, unless your horse has already been
trained to gait well.
It takes a keen ear and a learned instinct,
brought on by riding many different gaited
horses, to be able to know what you are
hearing and how it should feel when a horse
is gaiting correctly. It also takes a fair
amount of patience to stick with it and not
get really frustrated. It can take days,
weeks, or months to get a horse gaiting
well. It might take lots of time an effort
to finally get the horse going right, and
even then, his gait must be continually
maintained.
In short, unless you have a lot of
experience with different gaited horses, you
probably should seek expert help. Search
locally for a gaited horse trainer. Even a
breeder can probably help you or they may
know someone who trains gaited horses. While
it may seem better to save money and do it
yourself, when it comes to gaiting horses,
seeking a professional is probably the best
choice.
