By Jec A. Ballou

After many years as a dressage instructor and trainer, I received a phone call requesting help for an unlikely candidate — an Icelandic mare whose natural gait had disappeared, replaced by a shuffling amble-like movement. Little did I realize how many other gaited horses — from Foxtrotters to Tennessee Walkers — would soon follow. 

Dressage, as it turned out, helped these horses regain, or sometimes discover for the first time, the smoothness that had originally attracted their owners. Despite the potential for easy, fluid gaits, many had become jarring to ride or had lost the correct footfall defining their unique patterns. Instead of a tölt or foxtrot, they performed a pacing movement that created stiff backs, weak hindquarters, and tense bodies. In this state, many also became intermittently unsound or high-strung.

My first ride on the Icelandic mare felt disjointed and jostling, much rougher than most trotting horses. Yet within a few weeks of dressage basics, she began to find her four-beat tölt again, and I felt the exhilarating but comfortable movement for which the breed is sought after.

A Tennessee Walking Horse performs three distinct gaits: the flat walk, running walk, and canter. Shown is the flat walk, a brisk, long-reaching walk at from four to eight miles an hour, with each of the horse’s feet hitting the ground separately at regular intervals, and the horse nodding its head in rhythm with the cadence of its feet. Photo: Alamy/Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH TWH 

Why Dressage Works

From an exercise physiology standpoint, dressage improves the following qualities that determine how smoothly and correctly horses use their bodies, regardless of breed or discipline:

• Back function. Activating spinal stabilizers allows the horse to transmit power from the hindquarters more smoothly. At the same time, postural control improves as tension in the topline decreases when core muscles provide stability.

• Muscular symmetry and joint alignment. Minimizing one-sidedness evens stride length and stabilizes rhythm, especially in intermediate gaits. Balanced muscular development reduces overloading of individual limbs, a contributing factor to irregularity of the intermediate gaits.

Related: Sidepass and Backing Obstacles: Benefits Beyond the Show Ring

• Neuromotor patterns. Movements requiring fine motor control enhance the horse’s entire nervous system. The results are better foot placement, fewer stumbles, steadier rhythm, and improved posture under the rider.

A 13-year-old Rocky Mountain mare named Stella began stumbling so severely on the trail that her owner grew worried about her own safety. After committing to proprioceptive routines during her warm-ups for three weeks, Stella’s tripping diminished to only the rare and occasional toe-catch. Her owner later reported that if she skipped the warm-up routines for a few consecutive weeks, Stella began tripping regularly again.

Building the Benefits

Dressage does not require exclusive practice but does require consistency. Riders can still pursue trail rides, breed shows, or obstacle challenges, but two short dressage sessions per week will noticeably smooth out rough gaits. Strength adaptations, however, take time. Neural adaptations occur within two to four weeks, meaning muscles become more efficient at recruiting fibres. But visible strength — actual cross-sectional fibre enlargement — requires at least six weeks of consistent work. This is when riders begin to feel changes that are measurable and lasting.

Back Function

The following can be done at the walk and preferably using a snaffle-type bit.

1. Adjustability walks: Develop a purposeful walk on a large circle. Alternate 20 strides in a working frame with 20 strides on a loose rein; repeat. This teaches horses to manage their posture. Ideally, as reins lengthen, the horse relaxes its neck and stretches the topline outward. Frequent changes of frame while maintaining rhythm help release back tension.

2. Narrow ground poles: Place four to six poles, spaced about two inches shorter than your horse’s stride (typically 2.5–3 feet or .76-.91 metres apart). Asking the horse to shorten its step over the sequence encourages lifting the base of the neck and engaging core muscles.

Related: The Best Cavalletti Exercises for Walk, Trot, and Canter

I used the narrow ground poles exercise several times a week with Joe, a Foxtrotter. Quiet by nature, Joe lacked hind-limb engagement, and his intermediate gait was often unclear, or he preferred to trot. Walking the narrow ground poles helped him step more actively with his hind legs, which we eventually translated into his intermediate gait.

Muscular Symmetry

These exercises equalize hind-leg engagement and side-to-side balance. Focus on accuracy and patience; slower is better.

1. Turns on the forehand: Both hind legs should step equally across. From behind, the horse should form a clear “X” with its legs. Many horses step correctly in one direction but take short, non-crossing steps in the other. Keep the neck straight in front of the chest — excessive lateral bending negates the benefit.

Related: The Case for Lightness with Horses

2. Balanced figure-eights: Horses tend to push their hind legs out behind them during turns to evade bearing extra load. To counter this, ride calm, accurate figure-eights that encourage drawing the hind legs forward under the body. Initially, it might even help to stop the horse completely each time you reach the middle of your figure-eight. Prioritize geometry and rhythm.

Neuromotor Patterns

Hindquarter muscles need varied stimuli to develop both propulsion and load-carrying capacity. They must be strengthened with exercises that target each of these roles.

• Walk-to-gait transitions with poles: Set four poles in a box shape. Ride through it while transitioning between walk and intermediate gait every 15 strides. This pattern challenges locomotor muscles while preventing hypertension by keeping postural muscles activated (see Figure 1).

Arrange a box using four ground poles with the corners of the box lifted on risers. Now ride a variety of patterns over and through the box - cloverleaf, circle around each corner of the box, figure eight. Image: Courtesy of Jec A. Ballou

• Canter transitions: Even if the canter is imperfect, transitioning in and out repeatedly loosens the lower back, flexes the sacroiliac joint, and tones abdominal muscles that draw the hind limbs forward under the body. Time spent in canter greatly helps horses flex and carry weight on the hind limbs.

For gaited horses, dressage is not about changing identity but about restoring or preserving soundness, balance, and ease of movement. By targeting back function, symmetry, and neuromotor control, riders can help their horses carry themselves efficiently while producing the smooth, correct gaits their breeds are celebrated for. As of writing this article, I am working with a student whose Tennessee Walker took his first few canter steps in many years last week! His owner had given up, even though she knew he was plenty athletic. After using the exercises above to relax his back, he was able to find — at least momentarily — the mechanics of canter. As we build on this, he will continue to unlock smooth and agile movement in all his gaits.

Related: The Benefits of Cantering Your Horse

Related: Crossing Poles In Stride for English and Western Riders

More by Jec Ballou

Main Photo: An Icelandic Horse performing the gait the breed is best known for, the smooth four-beat lateral gait known as the tölt. The footfall pattern is the same as the walk (left hind, left front, right hind, right front), but the tölt can be performed at a range of speeds. Credit: Alamy/Manfred Grebler