Quiet Riding

"The well-collected horse is handsome, but he does not cover much ground."

"When the hind legs are well under the body, the croup is low, and consequently the forehand is high."

"Finally, the horse comes up again on the hand when the impulsion communicated by the legs brings the hocks strongly under the animal's body and sends him freely on the bit, which is possible only when the horse is in hand to a maximum extent, which form of control is the rassembler."

"The school horse should be completely enclosed between the hands and legs...."

"Every horse is not capable of being perfectly raseemble'd, which is the extreme limit of being in hand; but every horse ought to be trained to get into hand with good equilibrium, no matter what may be the work for which he is required."

"We must not think that the horse should be always kept in hand....We should know how to be able to get the horse in hand whenever we with to do so, and at all paces; but only from time to time, and when occasion demands."

"...all horses can be got into hand, but only some are sufficiently well shaped to be rassemble'd."

"The rassembler ... is the perfect form of collecting the well-suppled horse. In it the loins, hindquarters and hocks are flexible; the hocks stoutly press the mass forward; the shoulders are free and movable; the neck is high and the jaw readily obeys the feeling of the rider's hands on the reins, and all the parts of the horse being in action and equally enterprising, combine to form an energetic, harmonious and light whole."

"If we have well understood the action of collecting a horse, and the coming and going of the forces of the legs to the hands, and of the hands to the legs, we will remember that the hands allow the amount of impulsion necessary to the forward progress of the mass to pass, and throw back towards the hind quarters only the amount of impulsion required to preserve balance. This is obtained by the delicate and constant play of the fingers, which may be compared to the fingering of a piano as regards delicacy and speed."

"The continual rassembler, not only in side movements and turning, but in all movements, whatever may be their combinations, is the supreme refinement of riding — the full possession of the ideal. Thus the two organisms are so combined that the man is one with his horse, the former perceives the efforts of the latter so directly and rapidly that each action of the man responds so surely and rapidly to a corresponding action of the horse, that the animal expects it, and lends himself to it instantaneously. Then the horse has only reflex actions. The only brain he has is that of his rider. I am right in saying that it is the ideal of which we dream."

"The correct lowering of the haunches will provoke the elevation of the forehand, never the contrary."

"Collection helps the endurance horse to lighten his forehand so there are fewer front-end injuries caused by pounding along the miles; it helps the jumper to turn handily and to rock back on his hocks so he can propel himself over fences; it enables the dressage horse to become more beautiful and expressive in his movement; and lets the pleasure horse carry himself so that the contact with the rider's hand is light and pleasant."

"Collected riding on a loose rein means to work a horse in such a way that he finds and maintains his equilibrium on his own."

"We show them [horses] that it is much more comfortable and less stressful to their bodies to carry their weight on the hindquarters. Once the horses understand this, it is no longer necessary to continually remind them."

"To put a horse together (rassembler) is to shorten his gait or air in order to put him on his haunches. It is done by holding the forehand gently with the bridle hand and driving the haunches underneath the horse with the calves."

"One refers to a horse as being on his haunches when he lowers his haunches and brings them underneath himself, while moving the back hooves and hocks forward under the belly."

"Improvement in the ability to stretch is essential for the development of the musculature, especially in the transition from pushing power to carrying power, necessary for collection."

"A horse that can push powerfully with a steady rhythm can later be collected."

"Collection is the process of shifting the weight to the rear, which takes the horse out of horizontal balance. But the horse must achieve horizontal balance before this next step can occur."

"A horse can only be collected when he moves in a relaxed and regular rhythm, in good contact, with impulsive, energetic steps and strides while being straight."

"The term 'bending of the haunches' is regularly used as a synonym for the term 'collection.'"

"...it is clear that without well-developed pushing power — that is, true Impulsion — there is no Collection."

"It is biomechanically impossible to collect a horse correctly that has a tight back doing 'hover' steps with the hind legs sprawled out behind."

"The topline of a horse changes with increasing collection. First the neck lifts and appears to shorten due to the increasing arch of the neck, but without actually shortening. Second, the region of the back in front of the lumbo-sacral joint lifts slightly and arches. Third, the outline of the croup tilts down and back from its highest point at the lumbo-sacral joint."

"Before collection, it is necessary to develop pushing power!"

"Collection results not just from the development of strength, but equally importantly it results from growing elasticity and throughness."

"A horse with a tense back cannot go forward actively and dynamically, nor can he be correctly collected."

"A horse with a tense back cannot go forward actively and dynamically, nor can he be correctly collected."

"In correct collection the horse takes shorter strides in the same rhythm as his regular gait with at least the same amount of energy, therefore he lifts himself higher."

"In order to collect well a horse must go forward willingly and accept the bit willingly."

"In order to collect and still keep the same rhythm, the horse not only must shorten his stride but he must push upward more."

"The short side [of the arena] is a mental stimulus for collection just as the long side or the diagonal is a mental stimulus for extension."

"There is no magic formula to achieving a desirable end, like perfect collection. You have to learn and go on learning from your experience."