| I often hear riders at the basic levels say that their | | | | forehead can be lighter and freer. |
| dressage horses are collected. I assume they're | | | | 3. When a horse is collected he bends the joints of his |
| confused and are actually talking about connection as | | | | hind legs. As a result, his croup lowers and his |
| opposed to collection. | | | | forehand elevates. Look at the top of his withers and |
| But since I run across this confusion a lot, I want to | | | | compare it to the top of his croup. In this balance, he'll |
| take some time to explain how to evaluate whether or | | | | have the silhouette or outline of an airplane taking off, |
| not a horse is collected. | | | | or a seesaw where one end is pushed down and the |
| Many people think that when a horse is collected, he | | | | other end goes up. |
| just takes shorter, slower steps. But you can shorten a | | | | It's very important you don't get fooled into thinking that |
| horse's strides without actually collecting him. | | | | a horse with a high head and neck carriage is |
| Think about three things in terms of collecting any gait. | | | | necessarily collected. That's because if the horse is |
| 1. The steps are shortened, but the rhythm and tempo | | | | "hand-ridden", the rider can lift his head and neck up. |
| stay the same as they were when the steps were | | | | But if the rider does this, the withers will stay low. And |
| longer. | | | | if the withers are low and the croup is high, there is no |
| 2. The center of gravity must shift back toward the | | | | collection. |
| hind legs. That is, there is a loading of the hind legs. In | | | | So when you evaluate whether or not a dressage |
| nature, a horse has approximately 60% of his weight | | | | horse is truly collected think about those three things--a |
| on his front legs and 40% on his hind legs. As you | | | | shortening of the frame, a loading of the hind legs, and |
| collect the horse, you gradually shift that center of | | | | the relative height of the top of the withers to the top |
| gravity back to the hind legs. As a result, the horse | | | | of the croup. |
| begins to take more weight on the hind legs so his | | | | |