# Training a gaited horse to trot



## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

I had a gaited-mix gelding who would either trot or do a standie-style pace under saddle. Pacing came much easier to him; it's my suspicion that the pacing was a corruption of a true gait. I did figure out his buttons well enough to get a trot out of him (the same trot you're describing, too, poetry to watch, but nearly impossible to sit :wink, but if he got fussy or nervous he would go right back to insistent pacing.

Ground poles are your friend. Since you're starting from scratch, my first instinct would be to put him over ground poles and say "trot" as he goes over and picks up the gait. Get him associating the diagonal gait with the word. I'd start on the lunge or in-hand, and move up to trotting under saddle. When my horse got into a "pacing spell," during which any capacity to trot seemed to vanish, I would cue him to trot as we crossed a pole.

My horse seemed to respond to different kinds of pressure. For trot, I had to sit lighter and give a "sharper" leg cue. Not kicking, but a firm "trot now" kind of squeeze. Do definitely post when he trots under saddle, and count the beats. He may need some help keeping that wierd 2 beat rhythm, and the posting and counting (I had an arsenal of tunes that had "trot beats" that I could hum as well) will help you and him. 

To get a pace, I would sit deeper, almost stiffen my seat, and "ease" him into gait with my legs. I didn't ask for a pace often, because he wasn't ever secure enough in trot to be "trusted" to not go into a pacing fit for a couple of weeks, and it was the trot that I wanted (we did some showing, and the pace was just bizzarre to sit).

This can be a tough nut to crack, and at the end of the day you may have to make the decision of "trot or gait" as far as a primary gait. It can be done; look at 5 gaited Saddlebreds, but with my horse the trot was always pretty weak as far as maintaining gait through corners or having slow/medium/fast trot. 

Hope that was helpful to you. Good luck!


----------



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

If you want to teach him to trot do not expect him to gait. They really can't do both well as it developes different muscles to trot. I had accidently been trotting my gaited horse when I was a newby and ruined his beautiful gait. It was a very expensive lesson. A gaited horse that trots is devalued.


----------



## Brokenheart (Oct 28, 2020)

Interesting thread. I would also recommend the use of cavaletti poles on the ground to teach a gaited horse to trot diagonally. It makes sense. Also, it would be interesting to see if anyone made videos of this on YouTube.


----------



## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

As someone e who has ridden Tennessee Walkers since 1990 and still owns two seniors who gait:

It is correct that trotting requires different muscle memory than any of the other intermediate gaits.

1. You should have bought a horse that mostly trots like a Saddlebred, if you like that “body style”

2. Go ahead and teach your horse to trot if you want to ruin the horse’s ability to gait and it’s resale value, as the odds of this being your “forever horse” is slim.

2.1. I wouldn’t care if your horse was the most perfectly put together specimen and the most drop dead gorgeous horse on the planet.

The moment you would happily announce you taught it to trot, I would be in my car, out the driveway, and not bother to thank you for wasting my time ———


----------



## animalemi (Nov 5, 2020)

I personally do not believe it is the trot that ruins the gait... my gaited horse trots ON command and it actually helps with the muscles and changes it up a bit rather than constantly doing a four beat gait. I would not stress about it, as long as you know you can switch back and forth from trot to gait then I would recommend to teach him. Naturally gaited horses have trouble cantering, trotting, etc like a TB or quarter horse would. 
I wouldn't stress it though, encourage the gait , if he paces from trying to teach the trot I would just STOP right there because pacing is what causes the gait to disappear, not the trot.
Hope this helps!

Best, 
Emily 🤠


----------

