Submitted by our Sharon; everyone reading this should jump at this opportunity!!
"Jennifer Bauer has ask me to send a note out to FoxTROT members. She
is going to do a monthly newsletter on gaited horse issues and she
will email to interested people. Please send your email address and
name to Sharon Lesner at lesners@gmail.com and she will forward them
to Jennifer. She is also going to put training videos out on YouTube
so when Sharon gets the information on that, she will let you all know."
As published in the "SouthEastern Equine" magazine:
Helping the Missouri Foxtrotter Gait- Tips from Jennifer Bauer
By Sharon Lesner
Going to a clinic and coming away with some workable, simple solutions to improve you
and your horse is terrific. After several clinic experiences with other clinicians, I risked
trying one more clinic. A clinic with Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer.
In 2005, my husband Michael and I went to the Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio. This
particular year, there was a clinician named Larry Whitesell whose specialty was gaited
horses. Being Missouri Foxtrotter owners and trainers, we attended Larry’s presentation.
My husband was hooked. In a short time, Larry clearly outlined simple training or
equitation techniques that the average gaited horse owner could use to help their gaited
horse become more supple and responsive. We signed up for his clinics in 2007 after our
move to Tennessee. There we met Jennifer Bauer, Larry’s Whitesell’s partner. Jennifer
agreed to start several of our young horses and we were so pleased with the results. We
also took some private riding lessons from Jennifer. The one thing that stands out about
Jennifer is… that girl can ride! Her equitation is amazing.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Equine. She
apprenticed with Larry Whitesell for several years working predominately with Paso
Finos. She remains at the Whitesell Gaited Horsemanship facility. Her business, Bauer
Classic Horsemanship focuses on training the gaited horse, equitation for the rider and
international clinic presentations.
Jennifer and Larry’s approaches are similar, particularly in training the gaited horse to
achieve lightness, softness and balance. It is a combination of natural horsemanship
concepts combined with classical dressage work. Jennifer relates that both teach
horsemanship but Larry’s focus is more the horse and it’s issues and her focus is the rider
and improving equitation. Jennifer makes suggestions to a rider that is clear and easy and
there is noticeable improvement quickly in both the rider and the horse.
At my clinic, there was another woman with a foxtrotter and I took my eight-year-old
foxtrotter mare that I recently purchased. She was a stop, go, turn left, right and back up
horse and that was about it. While at the clinic, Jennifer came out early in the morning
and did a private lesson for the other woman and I would hang around. One morning I
joined them. Jennifer made it seem easy and soon Delight, my mare was turning on the
forehand, the haunches, doing slow rollbacks and side passing.
She had a Missouri Foxtrotter mare in from Canada for some refinement and training. We
had time to talking about foxtrotters and her experience with them. I ask Jennifer what
she liked about Missouri Foxtrotters and the one thing she noted was their versatility and
endurance on the trail. She said, “Generally speaking, I have found them to have a
wonderful disposition and that they are intelligent and easy going”.
The mare she had in for training was in for gaiting and relaxation issues. Jennifer related
the mare was a smart mare. Her problem was she did not know where her feet were. She
had been to several trainers and her issues had not been corrected. Through groundwork
with Jennifer, she learned how to control her feet instead of tripping over herself. She
worked on suppleling and balance by taking her rear end around, crossing and then
engaging her hindquarters. Next they worked on bringing her front end through and
asking her front feet to crossover. “The mare eventually learned to move in balance with
her feet underneath her, not strung out behind her which created softness” Bauer related.
“It was calming for her and it reinforced that I could direct her feet to move anywhere I
wanted her to go” With the mare’s saddle work, Jennifer focused on suppleling and
improving her flexibility throughout her whole body, moving her rib cage and
hindquarters, not just her head and neck.
Bauer relates, “ Through that work, we brought all the pieces together, helping her
become soft, supple and in balance. This enabled her to engage her hindquarters, lift her
chest up and get off her front end, allowing her to get in a rounded frame.”
A rounded frame is desirable in the foxtrotter and that can be said also for any other
gaited breed. This frame can be accomplished with appropriate exercises in saddle and on
the ground and with good equitation. All goes hand in hand and when you learn to put it
all together, the results are amazing. Jennifer will be releasing a video in spring of 2008.
The content will include proper exercises and how to do them , lunging techniques that
teaches the horse to travel with the shoulder moving away but forward on the circle and
equitation suggestions. She discusses how all this affects the gait and why.
Often Missouri Foxtrotter owners focus on how to get their horse to gait if they are
having problems. Jennifer’s belief is a horse needs to learn how to become soft and
supple, leading to engagement and the gait will naturally follow ”Gait follows rhythm,
timing and balance. We have found this to be true in our experience with foxtrotters. First
they need to learn to be a horse, next learn how to travel correctly, move forward with
collection and the gait naturally follows. The horse is only half the equation though. By
working on classical or correct position, a balanced, soft rider allows the back of the
horse to round up, engage and gait. Jennifer’s focus in her clinics is more on the rider and
how their body position affects the horse. I found this refreshing. I learned that when
done correctly my body and energy messages to my horse made a world of difference in
how my foxtrotter moved. I am much more conscience of how my riding and balance
affects my horse. I also have learned how to talk to my horse through the bridle and my
leg cues. It has made a big difference in how I relate to my horse.
Jennifer has several clinics scheduled in 2008 and will be participating in some equine
related expos and events. She also takes in a few horses for training. To get more
information on Jennifer Bauer, please go to nfo@gaitedhorsemanship.com or visit her
website at www.gaitedhorsemanship.com.
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