Conveying the idea of collection to a horse can be likened to pulling back a bow. It can be followed by the bow breaking under the pressure of an unskilled hand, losing your grip and everything flying out of control, or.... the executing of the most elegant and powerful display of dangerous beauty. Your timing of pressure and release is everything. When I start young horses, I teach them from the beginning about simultaneously accepting contact with the bit and pressure to go forward. In dressage, which is my area of expertise, we expect young horses to show in a frame that has the hind legs well under the body and pushing into a steady contact with the bit, via a soft topline. I have to est
