Collection,
What is it and why do we need it?
By Todd Martin
Simply
put, collection is when a horse is encouraged to elevate his back
and drive with impulsion from his hind quarters. Normally the only
time that a horse does this naturally or on his own accord is when
he is gaining speed or launching himself in one direction So how is
it that we can ask for our horses to work collected? Well first I
want the horse soft on the bit and giving at the pole. More importantly
is that they are understanding leg pressure. I want my horses to understand
that the leg pressure means something beside go. I will start my horses
by teaching them that my legs have a pace or cadence and that they
need to match that cadence. This way I can ask for not only a walk
but a slow or fast walk with out having to give speed control by pulling
on the reins. From there I will teach it at a trot and then a lope
so that eventually they are comfortable enough with my legs that when
I drive up for speed that they will lower their head and respond to
the bit because I am driving them to the bit rather than trying to
bump their head back to me. Pulling or bumping their head, without
using your legs for impulsion causes the opposite reaction than what
I am trying to obtain.
Let me explain that more with an example of teaching a horse to not
lean or drop a shoulder. Rather than concern myself with the dropped
shoulder I will concentrate more on the collection and impulsion.
If I continually work on lifting the shoulder by turning his head
in and using my inside leg to lift the shoulder up I am not teaching
the horse how to lope properly rather I am just temporarily moving
him over. If I drive the horses rear end underneath his body causing
him to collect and elevate his back, his shoulders will level out
and he will lope without leaning. By doing this you will have taught
your horse to lope correct with his body centered.
Collection
is needed also when teaching your horse to spin and stop. If my horse
does not spin collected he will get sluggish on his front feet and
eventually fall out of his spins. The reason why is that a horse carries
around 60 percent of his weight on his front end. When you collect
your horse and teach him to utilize his rear end more you transfer
more of his weight onto his hind quarters which makes his front end
lighter and easier to maneuver. That is also the reason that most
reiners stop on the rear and stay free on the front end. They are
collected at a stop and not pulled to a stop.
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