July long weekend of 2021, Steeve and I hauled our two geldings way down to Southern Alberta to ride in a competitive trail ride. Not only was I new to the sport, but this was my very first full season with Magnus. He had been started under saddle the year prior when he was 9. He was going pretty well and had clocked a decent amount of miles under his girth. We still had some hiccups though.
With CTR, everything is timing. I knew I had to give myself lots of time to get Magnus saddled up and ready to ride out at our departure time. After brushing him quickly, I made sure to get the saddle pad and saddle on right away before doing anything else. I loosely did up the girth and while I did this, Magnus made a point to turn his head and watch (he always does, to make sure I don’t do it up to tight right away). With my saddle secured enough not to roll, I carried on getting my gear together. I periodically went back to tighten the cinch little by little.
Before I could get on him, I had to walk him around. Magnus has tells, like his tail stops switching, his eyes go soft, he will lick and chew. It’s like a whole picture that goes from tight to loose. I don’t know how else to explain it. This can take anywhere from a couple minutes to ten minutes, depending on his mood. Once I was sure he was ready for me, I finally mounted up. But even then, I wouldn’t dare ask him for a running start, lest we devolve into our best imitation of bucking stock. I had to walk him around slowly right until the timers called our numbers.
Since I was petrified of getting bucked off in front of all these new people, I had taken the time and due diligence to be rewarded with a graceful exit from camp. Magnus was in fine form and our ride had officially begun.
It was going to be a hot day and the ride had started very early. It was still cool out and the sky was stunning with the rising sun. As Steeve’s big gelding warmed up, his stride started to stretch out. Magnus had to walk a little faster, and then a little more. And then he started to trot.
This was the beginning of a very hard ride for me. I just hadn’t been successful with Magnus’s gait yet. I could canter him and get a decent flat walk, but there just wasn’t anything in between except a very rough trot. And I had it in my head that I wouldn’t post, I would sit the trot and try my best to get any semblance of gait out of Magnus.
Honestly, I couldn’t even enjoy riding through the badlands and coulees. I was so focused on being bounced around; I really wasn’t having fun.
And then the first P&R. Where I learned that Magnus panted and had an extremely high pulse and respiration. He was almost high enough for a 10-minute hold. The other riders were really supportive and coached me along on how to cool him off by taking the tack off, taking the bit out, where to sponge him with the water. I was so grateful, and it really seemed to help Magnus cool down.
I’ve learned since then that the most likely culprit is his micro curl coat. It is very dense with a high insulation factor. I’ve tried supplements and other protocols but none of them helped. A vet at a different ride suggested that we try clipping him, and that is the only thing that has ever made a difference in his pulse and respiration.
To say this day was a struggle, is incredibly accurate. After our final vet out was complete and Magnus was relaxing in his corral, I realized how bloody exhausted mentally and physically I really was.
I felt completely defeated regarding his gait. I was supposed to be the one that people paid to help get their horses to gait. And here I was, sore from top to bottom, because my gaited horse wouldn’t gait.
After my initial pity party, I did some research on our way home. There had to be something I was missing, there had to be a better way for me to show Magnus which gait I wanted him to do.
It had been a hot minute since I had searched out gait training methods. Most of the search results were ones I had seen before, like Brenda Imus for instance. Although I had used her tack, I had never really found her videos to be something I liked. There was a name though, that I had never heard before. Ivy Starnes. I found her personality a bit confronting, but after sticking through the preamble, it looked like she really knew what she was doing. She wasn’t using any tools or tricks either. And it was simple, something I have always felt very strongly about.
I’ve always thought that horse training shouldn’t be rocket science. It should be simple, straightforward, like a horse. We are the ones that make things complicated, not them. Listening to Ivy, I thought to myself, this makes sense AND I think I can do it. It was unlike anything I had ever tried before.
I watched her video for trotty horses and then went out to try it on Magnus.
If you aren’t familiar with Ivy’s method, one of the biggest components is to stop and praise when the horse offers a step or two of the correct gait. “Stop and praise” is exactly what it says it is. Stop what you’re doing and reward by taking a break. It seems counterintuitive, but trust me, it works. The horses learn, they relax, they gait. It’s magic. Well, it’s not magic. It takes some time and it takes really good feel. Ivy listens to the sound of the horse’s feet. I use my seat and feel every single foot fall. Eventually the amount of steps between “stop and praise” will snowball. But this really isn’t a how-to, if you want that, go watch her videos on YouTube.
This initial stage (at least in my experience) can be slow, because you’re hunting for just a step or two before stopping and rewarding. There’s a lot of standing around and not so much riding around. I was brought up to push for more, more, more and more. Train the body versus training the mind.
It seemed to me, that Ivy’s method was targeting the brain more than muscle memory. When you push a horse into gait, inevitably you must hold it there. By teaching the brain, showing the brain, theoretically a rider shouldn’t have to hold the horse in gait anymore because the horse will do it on their own. And they like it! These horses love to gait. It’s in their genes, their conformation, their purpose. They like the rhythm, just as much as you do.
For a week or so I would ask Magnus for some gait and then we would stop and hang out. Rinse and repeat. I didn’t particularly care what gait Magnus chose to do (flat walk, run walk, fox trot, etc.,) as long as it wasn’t a pace or a trot. The biggest change right off the bat was me. I wasn’t getting frustrated with myself or my horse. I was enjoying my time with Magnus, and he seemed to be enjoying his time with me. He started to really connect with me when I dismounted. He would follow me like we had just joined up in the round pen. Even Steeve noticed the change and he started calling me a horse whisperer.
After two weeks, Magnus and I were cruising around the arena in gait on a loose rein. I was over the moon. Steeve and I hauled out to some local trails for a day ride and I was really excited to try out our new trick. Well. It didn’t go as planned. Magnus immediately went into a trot and I really struggled to get any gait out of him.
Instead of throwing in the towel though, I went back to Ivy’s online library and rewatched the applicable videos. Still stumped, I posted in her members only page and asked one of the most important questions I have ever asked.
Why will my horse gait in the arena but not on the trail?
Ivy herself answered. She told me that I would have to train him to gait on the trail and explained how to do that.
I went out to my arena the next day with a game plan. I opened up the south gate in the arena so I could work in the arena and in the pasture. Then I did a few laps in the arena, making sure to stop and praise. I asked Magnus to go into gait one more time and then we gaited out of the arena and onto one of the beaten down horse trails. Stop and praise.
After a few minutes, I picked up my reins and asked him to gait. He went into a trot so I bumped his head up and he went into a couple steps of gait. Stop and praise.
I turned him back to the arena and we slowly walked back in before picking up a gait. Then I pointed him back out on the trail and after some nice steps of smooth gait, I stopped him again.
I did this for another week or so, always pushing him further down the trail and making sure to stop and reward. I also became better at correcting the trot so he would switch to an easy gait on the trail, and then I would stop and praise.
His big debut was at the Willy Bronze ride at the end of September in Donalda. I was so pleased with both of us. Sure he popped in and out of gait, but now we both had the tools to correct it! We were heading in a very pleasurable direction.
It has been four or five years now and let me tell you one more thing I’ve learned through all of this. Gait is a journey. Gait is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age (and practice, the body must be used!). Every year it felt like Magnus’s gait evolved with his body, both getting stronger and fitter.
I remember last winter we were riding on N.U.L road at Blackfoot, heading back to the staging area. Steeve was putting some miles on Freda for me after being weaned from her 2023 colt. I was riding Magnus. Freda was in a big rack and Magnus was keeping time with her by hitting a perfect run walk on a loose rein. His head nod was the envy of all Tennessee Walking Horse breeders, his teeth clacking, ears flopping, reins loose. His timing was perfect, and the speed was FAST. Probably one of the best examples of a true running walk that I have ever ridden.
That was when I really started to look back and see the evolution of his gait and his body. Keep in mind he was a stallion in a small dirt corral until he was 8 years old. He wasn’t started until he was 9 (another story for another time).
Why did I want to quit gait training after riding 25 miles on a bouncy horse? This is a great example of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I wanted to quit because the methods that I had been taught by clinicians, mentors and trainers didn’t hold up in the long term. These methods frustrated me and the horse. Using these methods didn’t work with Magnus and it made me feel like a failure. Some of these methods included using draw reins to hold the head a specific spot. Collection. I hate collection, always have. I like a natural headset, a soft headset. My coaches and trainers always were on my case about “holding the nose in”. The pushing with the legs, holding with the hands, riding that edge always wondering when you’re going to fall off. German martingales, tie downs, women’s running weights on certain legs. All of these things were just aids that when taken away, the effects faded. These horses were bred to gait, why did we need all these things? Why were the professionals pushing these things?
That’s why I wanted to quit, until I found a better way. Now, I love gait training. I love starting a young horse on their gait journey and seeing where it takes us. They are all individuals, and they all take different routes to get to the same place. I no longer need a barn full of tools and a hundred different bits.
I have never looked back, and there have been many horses since. Some required gait certifications for various registries and some for their awards within those registries. Those gaits are judged, putting my method to the test. I still get stumped, and when I do, I go back into my video library to find out what step I missed, what step I rushed. Because it’s always me, not the horse. They know how to gait, it’s up to me to show them which gait I want.
All I need is my simple snaffle bridle, my saddle and time.
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