Collection
Many riders — both Western and English — seem to think the way to get collection is to pull on their horse's head. They associate collection with a certain head position or feel they can shorten their horse's frame through pulling the head back. This obsession of pulling on the head has ruined innumerable horses and caused them to round their necks whenever pressure is placed on the reins.
True collection is a re–balancing brought about through a combination of shortening the horse's frame and bringing his hindquarters further beneath his body. A horse in nature carries approximately sixty percent of his weight on his forehand. This may be understood when you consider the head and neck extending beyond the front legs. Pulling on a horse's head may bring about a shortening of his frame through bringing the head closer to torso, but it does not relieve the front end of the weight.
In addition, pulling the head back generally causes the horse to tuck his chin making it harder to perform his movements. Consider how the performance of a dancer or basketball player would be hindered by having him tuck his chin to his chest.
In proper collection, a horse shortens his body by drawing his hindquarters forward and underneath his torso. In so doing, he raises his back to make room for his hind legs, arches his neck, and lowers his nose. The horse's head, however, should never come behind the vertical.
When a horse brings his hind legs beneath his torso, these legs begin to carry more of his overall weight. In contrast, if the horse lowers his head and brings it back towards his chest while rounding his neck, his center of gravity is actually drawn forward, and he must carry even more weight on his front end than he normally does.
The rider's cues for collection are to apply his legs near the girth to encourage the rear legs to step forward. The rider should also brace his back, tucking his hips more beneath his torso to encourage his horse to do the same. He should use the reins judiciously to indicate to the horse that he does not want him to increase his forward speed. The horse's nose will tuck, but his pole — the joints directly behind the skull — should be the highest point. If the horse tucks his head so that the nose comes behind the vertical and the highest point is somewhat further back on the neck, the movement is wrong and ineffective.
Collection is inherently connected with impulsion. Impulsion is the power felt when the rear end drives the horse forward. Impulsion, combined with collection, shifts the angle of the horse's energy. This may be felt or observed in a well–performed passage where the forward energy of the trot is re–directed upward, and the horse seems to almost float in the air as the period of suspension increases and the horse's legs take on a buoyant, springy feel.
True collection calls for great energy and should only be requested for short periods of time even with well–conditioned horses. This may be likened to a ballet dancer performing his most difficult movements.
Most horses are not capable of true collection without months of proper conditioning. This conditioning is designed to slowly build the strength and flexibility of the muscles of a horse's hindquarters to enable them to carry more of his weight. Lateral movements such as the shoulder–in, the haunches–in (travers), and the haunches–out (renvers) are used for this purpose. But to be truly effective, these movements must be done properly and developed slowly. You would not begin a conditioning program by doing 100 deep knee bends. Don't ask this of your horse.
(Top)