This article first appeared in the September 2022 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current issue, click here. 

Piaffe, the epitome of collection. Image: Dirk Caremans – Hippo Foto.

 

The language of dressage: Collection

By Michael Baker

Before we start analysing collection, I’d like to mention the FEI World Championships. If you are a keen dressage rider then like me, you were probably riveted to the TV and watching the dressage competition. What a fantastic competition and wasn’t it great to have crowds and very little impact from Covid? 
 
Another highlight of the competition for me was Carl Hester‘s commentary. To me, the thing that made Carl’s commentary so insightful was his incredible depth of knowledge. I sometimes found myself drawn to things I may not otherwise have noticed. His technical definitions made it easy to understand the marks riders achieved, or didn’t achieve. It does emphasise what a knowledge-based sport dressage is. Carl’s commentary demystified many seemingly complex moments. He really is an expert in the “language of dressage”!
 
Collection is both an element of the Training Program as well as the goal of the Training Program. If we think about collection in its most simplest terms, it is the transferring of some weight from the forehand and onto the hind legs of the horse. This transfer of weight onto the hind legs can even happen on a very young horse, to some degree. For instance, he will transfer some weight onto his hind legs when he initially pushes forward in an upwards transition. As a goal of the Training Program, eventually, with systematic training, the horse will be able to maintain a degree of collection, for example, when in a collected trot…

Click here to read the full article FREE in the September 2022 issue of Equestrian Life magazine.

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