The fox trot or any other gait that you want to perfect take time to develope the muscle memory.  The horse may have the conformation for a Foxtrot, but it will need to develop the muscles so that it is the horse's perfered gait. Preferred to a hard trot or other diagnal gait.

You need to take the horse out and work it at a walk,  You will increase the speed of walk , everytime the horse breaks into a hard trot, you need to stop and reset.   Over time the horse will develop the muscles that it needs to use for that gait. Just like you becoming physically fit, the horse will develop and be able to maintain that gait. This is not something that happens over night, unless the horse has already developed those muscles and it's already her prefered gait. As you move up from the walk into the Foxtrot, you will do the same push for faster speed and slow down when ever the  horse breaks into a rough trot.  Lots of wet saddle blankets at what you consider the preferred gaits are needed. If the horse has the breeding and confirmation, you shouldn't have to resort to un-natural means to get the gaits you want ( Chains, weighted shoes etc)

Unlike Quarter horses,  Foxtrotters need to move with their head up higher, you will push them into the bit. Hold your hands steady and let the horses head pivot on the bit as they shake their head in the gait.

Check out the http://www.gaitsofgold.com/ web site for some training articles.

PS didn't mean to sound negative about your young horse just now.Because it is a young horse,you will have to be patient in achieving the gait that you want.I think one of the main problems that occurs in young foxtrotters is: people want to push them for SPEED,and push them too soon.Start out at a good flat foot walk,and be sure your horse is set in that well before advancing.Some horses have to be actively "ridden" as opposed to riding on a loose rein,also.We have a very well bred foxtrotter,but,on the trail,he can't be just ridden casually as my foxtrotter mare on a loose rein.He has to be actively "ridden" if that makes any sense,which,it probably does not.

Lee Ziegler wrote an excellent book on gaited breeds including foxtrotters which she was a huge promoter of.You might want to check out some of her writings.

You will also need to work on vertical and horizontal flexion too. If she is riding with her head in the air and not broke at the pole, she is hollowing out her back and thus you will get a hard trot. Yes, MFTs travel with their head elevated, but not nosed out. She needs plenty of ground driving and basic ground manner excercises to strengthen muscles. Once she is able to give to the bit, you should see a noticable improvement in her gait. Also, make sure that her feet are trimmed/shod correctly. This can also affect her gait.

Congratulations on your MFT.

Classygirl,

I do have a Imus bit, But I'm not currently using it.  I am starting two young foxtroters, 4 year old filly & 5 year old gelding. So I am using a full check snaffle on both since I'm still pulling them around some working on softness, one rein stops etc. They are not ready for any kind of a shank bit or a fixed mouth piece.

I think when the horses get a little more mature I'll move them into a Gino Middleton curb bit vs the Imus.

http://gmstables.net/bits.htm

Just like any other young horse, your first bit that you use will be used to pull their head around. Plow rein.

Breaking a young horse is not the time for a curb bit.  Use a bosal, full check snaffle or something similar that allows you to pull the head around and teach laterial flexation. Once the horse is well under saddle you can advance them into a curb bit.  And yes foxtrotter owners seem to favor lightweight aluminum curb bits. And the show folks seem to like the longer shanks. You probably won't need them in a trail horse.

I just wanted to post and say these are all GREAT replies.  Too often a post about gaited horses has 50% misinformation! 

I got an RMH/Arab gelding when he was 6 and I had NO experience with gaited horses... which was supposed to be FINE because he was NOT gaited, he trotted.  This is the horse in my avatar.

But that first winter we just walked walked walked because of the deep snow... and also working on learning to walk FASTER... and all of a sudden VOILA, he was doing something awful smooth!  I checked with Liz Graves (well known gaited trainer, along the lines of Lee Ziegler) and now after two clinics with Liz and a lot of conditioning he has a pretty good foxtrot.

Everything posted above was, in my experience, completely true.  I will say too, though, that the bit Liz had us working in was a sweet iron eggbutt snaffle that had a roller that covered the single joint in the mouthpiece... haven't seen too many of them online but it worked great for that early gait work.  These days, because we use foxtrot as just "another gear" during our regular rides, I just use the same Jim Warner hackamore that I use for endurance riding.

Regarding posture and cues... I sit a little bit back on my pockets, keep my shoulders a little bit back, hold my hands higher than usual, and keep the reins shorter than usual.  In addition, for the cue I use steady pressure with both calves, and kiss to him.  These days all I need to do is "assume the position" and he just goes.  I did a little demo at a local Expo a couple weeks ago where I transitioned between trot and foxtrot just to show the crowd what a little change in posture would do.  They were very interested; it was a lot of fun.

Here's a video from our second Liz clinic.  At this stage he was "foxwalking".
http://www.zegifts.com/Design/Assets/images/Zephyr-Foxwalk.WMV

And here's the foxtrot, several years later.  Sorry about the Bear Bells, I didn't expect to be videoing.  Also please excuse my posture, he was being a bit of a butthead about staying in gait (wanted to canter) so I was exaggerating everything.  Finally, I KNOW this is not an acceptable "show" foxtrot because he doesn't really have a relaxed and shaky head/neck... but that's fine with me because it's SMOOTH and he likes it.  It's called a "trail foxtrot" according to one website I've found.
http://www.zegifts.com/Design/Assets/images/zephyrfoxtrot.wmv

Here's the website about the Trail Foxtrot:
http://www.foxtrotters.org/foxtrotting_horse_videos.htm

Yeah every time I post it I brace myself for comments like that, but I've sent the video to Liz Graves and she says it's a foxtrot.  She does know what she's talking about.  http://www.lizgraves.com/  Keep in mind this is being performed by a horse who is not a MFT, who learned to do this later in life, and who was fighting to canter that day.  Also, this is a very low-res video so it looks choppy anyway.

Here it is, slowed down:  http://www.zegifts.com/Design/Assets/images/zephyr-foxtrot-slow.wmv

Joanny,NEVER buy a horse that does not have a current negative Coggins test.Nor take one as a donation,either.Where we live,that can cause you all kinds of unwanted problems.

I could not get the link to copy/paste,either.