30/10/2026
Stop Chasing the Gait: A Stiff Horse Can’t Dance
By Gaye DeRusso
MajesticRider.com
Yesterday, I was riding an older, stubborn mare who had very little basic training. She didn’t know how to bend or perform lateral movements such as a leg yield or shoulder-in. Patterns were also a mystery to her. Ask her to move her shoulders and she looked at me like I had requested her tax returns.
So I have been teaching her at the walk. There was no reason to go faster when she didn’t understand the basics. Speeding up confusion does not create understanding. It just gives you confusion at a higher rate of speed.
People kept asking, “When will you gait her? When are you going to work on that?” I wanted to say, “I am working on it. You just don’t understand what you’re looking at.” Everyone wants the gait. They want speed, animation, and that beautiful movement right now. But you cannot move forward until all the missing pieces have been assembled. Otherwise, the whole thing falls apart like cheap patio furniture with three screws left over.
So yes, I walked circles. Then figure eights. Then more circles. We bent a little, bent some more, and then bent a lot. We practiced leg yields, backing, moving the shoulders, moving the hindquarters, straightening, and repeating. It may not have looked exciting, but I was working on the gait the entire time.
A horse needs to be supple before you can help them find and maintain their gait. They need to understand your cues, give to pressure, and learn how to carry their body in the frame and form you are asking for. You cannot expect a horse to perform a beautiful gait when they are moving around like a two-by-four with legs. Today, after walking, flat walking, and doing our suppling exercises, I finally asked her to speed up to a saddle gait. She stepped into a pace instead.
As soon as she did, I bent her and pushed her body over with my leg. Suddenly, there was the gait. She step-paced again, so I repeated the correction. There was the gait again. We practiced it over and over, asking for only a few good steps at a time. Then I stopped and let her rest. This was the beginning of her understanding what I wanted. I wasn’t trying to drill her until her legs filed a formal complaint. I simply wanted her to discover the answer.
She had a habit of leaning inward. Each time she leaned, I bent her, pushed her belly over, and encouraged her to become soft and giving through her body. The problem was never really in her mouth. The mouth is often where we finally feel the problem, but the stiffness usually begins somewhere else in the body. Once I showed her how to move her body and give to my leg, the gait appeared.
Each horse is different, but they all need two important things: suppleness and straightness. A horse must understand how to bend when asked and also travel straight when asked. Without both, you will eventually have problems. It is like holding the car keys but having no idea where you parked the car. Technically, you have everything you need, but you are still standing in the parking lot looking confused.
Remember, when your horse will not gait, the horse may not be refusing. They may simply be missing the knowledge needed to do the job. Until you install those basics, you will keep chasing the gait around the arena like someone trying to catch a loose chicken in their slippers.
This older mare was dismissed by many people as nothing special, but she is very special. Even at her age, she is learning. Yes, she put up a fight in the beginning. Her attitude was firmly planted somewhere between “No way in hell” and “You have clearly lost your mind.”
But now her attitude is changing. She is beginning to say, “I think I understand what you want. Sure, I’ll give it a try.” Every time I tell her, “Good girl,” I can see her face melt. Her eyes soften, she licks her lips, and the tension leaves her body. It is almost as if she is thinking, “Finally, someone who speaks horse.”
She spent so many years fighting, but she never truly wanted to fight. She simply didn’t understand.
Sometimes the horse everyone calls stubborn is really just confused. When we slow down, teach the missing pieces, and communicate in a way the horse understands, resistance can become willingness.
And the horse who was once considered nothing special may finally get the chance to show everyone just how special they have been all along.
