ARTICLES BY DON WEST
RIDING BAREBACK
AFFECT ON GAIT
Dear
Mr. West,
I
just finished reading your trail riding book , a very good book . I have some
questions about your training techniques, Does riding bareback help a peruvian
gait better? I have a peruvian who was never trained properly and she trots
unless in sand at the beach then she gaits very mysterious. I was wondering if
you could expound on the idea behind training bareback, We have been ;in
training clinics for 1.5 yrs and still no lasting results. Also you will be
having a clinic in my neck of the woods in August at longbeach Wa, would you be
able to address this
problem
at your clinic? if not would you be willing to help me with some advice on what
to do here at home? The gear i use to ride in is. A wintec dressage saddle that
fits her perfectly, and a bosal. We don’t shoe our horses . also sometimes i
ride with my bareback pad. I really appreciate any help or advice you could give
me. if you could help us at your clinic i am willing to sign up for that as
well. Thanks much for your reply, Deborah Williams
Dear
Deborah,
Thanks
for the e-mail. Glad to hear you enjoyed my book Horse Handling-Horse Senseä,
A Practical Guide for Today’s Pleasure-Trail Riders (Especially Naturally
Gaited Horse Riders). To your first question, “Does riding bareback help a
Peruvian Paso gait better?” The answer is not a simple black and white, yes or
no. Comfort for your horse is the first and foremost most important criteria
when riding, training, and even when buying your saddle and tack.
Why? A comfortable horse is a happy horse, and a happy horse makes for a
happy rider. An uncomfortable horse will not be a happy horse for long and will
soon try to let you, the rider, know. Usually the message is sent in little,
subtle ways at first, but if you don’t listen and act, sometimes it gets
delivered in very unpleasant ways.
Frequently,
poor saddle fit affects the gait of a Paso (or gaited horse) negatively. If the
saddle makes the horse uncomfortable the horse will try to compensate by
changing its body shape, to alleviate the pressure points that cause the
discomfort. The most common saddle fit problem comes from a saddletree (the
frame the saddle is built on) that bridges in the mid-section, and makes
excessive contact on the four corners of the bars. This usually results in the
horse lifting its back up into the saddle to get the pressure off its shoulders
and/or loins – a problem caused by a saddletree that has bars that are too
straight and/or too long. With
it’s back lifted up into the saddle, the horse can’t get it’s head up in
it’s natural working position. And, consequently, the gait soon goes away.
Saddles
with bars that are too long also place the rider too far back on the horse’s
back, tipping the rider forward, and thus shifting the rider’s weight forward,
too. This makes the horse short step in the front. To bring out, polish, and
perfect the best lateral four beat gait in your Paso horse, you should sit-down
in your saddle, in the same spot that you would sit (naturally) riding bareback.
This is what I call the “sweet spot” on the horse’s back. The stirrups
should be free swinging and hung forward, letting your legs hang (naturally) in
the narrowest place on the sides of the horse – the “rider’s groove”. If
the stirrups are hung from the center of the tree (like they are in a walk,
trot, canter saddles) they will pull your legs backwards, and once again, tip
you forward, causing the horse to “go heavy” on the front end, and loose
it’s best gait.
Riding
bareback (obviously) eliminates the potential problems caused by poor saddle
fit, or incorrect rider position. Many times I hear from people that their
horses gait fine when ridden bareback, but lose their gait under saddle. In
these cases we can pretty well conclude that poor saddle fit is the culprit.
Riding bareback puts you closest to your horse (of course). It lets you apply
the aids of legs, balance, weight change, and seat most accurately and
effectively to your horse. That may help you fine-tune your horse’s gait, but
it does not guarantee that it will make the horse gait. My advice is, if you are
willing to take the additional risk and accept the responsibility involved in
riding bareback, do it. See how your horse responds. If its gait is immediately
better, you can almost surely look to saddle fit as the likely problem.
If the horse still doesn’t gait you’ll have to look to other
possibilities for the answer.
You
say that your horse trots most of the time, but mysteriously gaits when you ride
her in sand. You ask, “Why is that?” Well, I suspect that most of the time
your horse is going along too uncollected (stretched out), and consequently it
trots. When you get into sand she has to work harder, lift her feet higher, and
collect up. She is probably more excited, too, and reaches under herself
further with her back legs. In
doing so, she gaits! First, this tells you that your horse can do the paso llano
gait (a lateral four-beat gait with equal timing between the footfalls), when it
suits her. What you need to do is to ride the horse in such a way that she
collects and reaches under herself when it suits you. When you move beyond a walk, instead of letting her do what
is easier for her – the trot, make her collect up, and gait. In order to
accomplish this, you must ride with intent.
First,
learn to ride in four reins (as described in my book), and move her along in her
training, step by step, to where she can finally be ridden “straight up” in
a Peruvian Paso bit. If you are having trouble getting her to reach under
herself, carry a stiff bat with a noisy popper on the end, and whack her in the
butt when she drops out of gait and goes into a trot. She’s just being lazy,
and you need to remind her that you are in charge.
You’re (supposed to be) the brains.
She’s the brawn. The
relationship you are undoubtedly looking for is one in which you become the
benevolent master, and she is your willing servant.
To achieve that partnership you have to first be the master, and make her
be your servant. If you do things
right, over time you can become more benevolent as she becomes more willing. In short, make her work harder. The more you let her trot,
the more she will develop those trotting muscles, and that trotting mind set.
If
you really want her to gait you must first get the right saddle (one like my Don
West “Signature Series” Pleasure-Trails Saddles) and the right headgear
(like my Don West Comfort-Able Bosal and Reins, and a Don West Training-Trail
Headstall and Peruvian Paso bit). Then you must re-school the horse to gait…
instead of trot. At this point that will take determination and some real work
on your part. Peruvian Pasos are usually well-gaited horses. But, ridden
incorrectly, with the wrong equipment, over time, even they can be turned into
trotting horses. Understanding the paca paca gait, and then applying this
knowledge to your training, will lead to mastery. I wish you and your horse much
happiness. May you always ride a
good horse…and may you ride him well! Happy
trails, Don West
Copyright © 2004 by Donald Parker West
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