Training Tip: The Importance of Collection

Collection is important in order for your horse to do any sort of maneuver well. True collection—not forcing a horse’s body into a specific frame—begins with a horse’s hindquarters. In order for a horse to collect, he has to have impulsion, meaning that he’s working off his hindquarters. When a horse moves with impulsion, he pushes himself forward with his hindquarters and he is light. A horse that lacks impulsion pulls himself forward and is stiff and heavy. Once a horse is moving with impulsion, then getting him to collect is straightforward—you drive the energy from his back end to his front end. When a horse collects, he rounds his topline, his hindquarters come up underneath him and his shoulders elevate. The horse moves in a collected frame and optimizes all of his power.