How Dressage Helps the Gaited Horse
All Around Midnight, WDAA World Champion
Article by Scot MacGregor
Dressage is the oldest time tested training method that has been around since Cavalry Commander Xenophon wrote about Simon’ s and his own training methods for training horses in 350 B. C. E. The idea to train the horse to be a riders partner shows up again in the writings of William Cavendish 1670 and Francois Robichon de La Gueriniere 1750 whom are noted as the fathers of modern dressage. My point is that this particular training method has been tested for 350 years in the hardest conditions possible to find the fastest way to completely train a war or show horse. When life depended on a horse, this training worked best and when showing off to royalty, this training presented the most natural glorious movement.
If we can acknowledge that dressage is the oldest and most tested method for training horses, what does it offer my gaited horse? It offers us a place to begin. It first outlines goals in the movement of your horse and the partnership built with your horse through the years of work together. Starting with the idea of balance, not just the horse’ s balance but your balance together, it builds beyond just sitting upon your horse and generally going forward. It gives you books to read and video to watch that describe how to just move forward so that obstacles don’ t get in the way.
Introductory Level is just that, it’ s the place to begin. It begins with the idea of tempo. Can I ride at a specific speed through some circles and lines all done at specific places and stand still for a few seconds in the middle? It sounds so easy until you try out the specific places thing! You quickly discover that you can’ t ride a circle, and riding a line is way harder than expected when just steering with your hands. Luckily, dressage gives you other aids. The rein aids are our first most obvious means to guide and control the horse. They work pretty well but my horse keeps tripping or he just won’ t turn and drifts over to the rail. Both of these situations are a loss of balance. You can’ t pull your way around your test or pull your way around your back yard effectively either. The horse trips because his balance with a rider on his back is compromised. The horse turned his head but not his body or he drifts sideways. Normal horse behavior as they learn to follow your guidance. You need another aid though to help the horse turn. Staying with the reins, you can also, push into the horse’ s neck with the outside rein to help in keeping the horse from drifting. Think of this outside rein as a wall or boundary. The lean stops here when the rein pushes against his neck. The rider can also use his outside leg as another boundary to help prevent the horse from drifting out like a teenager in a hot rod spinning around in a dirt parking lot!
Inside and Outside Aids
Introducing the idea that a rider’ s legs can help steer their horse is a fundamental difference than just pulling the horse in a new direction. I mentioned that a rider has an inside and outside rein aid. Inside the bend of a turn or outside the bend of a turn is the easiest way to
March 2026 | NWHA National News 19