Collection

What is collection?

I often hear people give different opinions about the subject, the problem is that most of the so called experts are wrong. Yep. I said it they are mostly wrong. The reason I say this is simple, I hear things like, "a collected horse must bring his head down and his belly up." I also hear things like, "I like my horses to be collected before I ever get on them." Also I hear, "The collected horse is that which bends it's neck beautifully, and carries it that way." More sophisticated comments are, "the horse has to bring up his head and flex at the poll." or, "I like my horse to touch his nose on his chest and lower his haunches, to ensure he/she is soft." 

All of the latter comments hold some sort of truth, but they are all wrong. So here is my definition of the collected horse, and I hope it is of some help to those who are not sure what to believe.

Collection first of all requires time and work, lots of hard work and patience. We can not collect the horse if the horse cannot even balance himself under the weight of the rider. For this reason we must back the horse and allow time for him to find his balance with the weight of the rider. The best way to do this is going along the whole arena at the rising trot, changing rein through the diagonal line. Later simple school figures can be added. Fast forward, we finally arrive at the time when we want to introduce collection. But, how can we do this if we are not sure what collection is?

Collection means- The compacting or collecting of energy from the horse so that the rider can use it at any given moment that he wishes. Collection also means that the horse carries sixty percent of his body weight or more on his hind quarters, allowing the rider to move the horse in any given direction and at any given time with ease. The classical masters of the past referred to this as, turning the horse into a sphere or ball on a flat surface, it can go in any direction with no difficulty or extra effort at any moment. The horse that is collected will of nature raise it's front end flexing its poll, back, and the joints of the hind legs, by lowering the croup in a way that the natural carriage of the horse will become more beautiful without force.

A horse that raises his head and flexes at the poll without lowering his hind quarters or flexing it's back is not properly collected. In contrast, a horse who flexes its back and some what lowers his croup but drops his head is actually on the forehand and cannot possibly be collected since the hind legs are forced to far forward, forcing the horse to balance himself by dropping it's head. And, a horse who is flexing his neck to the point of touching his nose on his chest or close is over flexed and behind the bit, usually not collected.

Don't forget to visit my website http://classicalspanishequitation.weebly.com and let everyone know about it. And if you have Spanish speaking friends let them know about my book El Caballo de Baile, Formas de Entrenamiento Manejos y Aclaraciones.