TABLE OF CONTENTS  "Ask-Cherry" - When
do I start to collect my young horse?
Phases of Training
Collection***************************************** Happy
Spring to you all. If you are like me, grooming, conditioning
and riding are your top priorities right now. You might be starting a new horse
or bringing one of your riding horses back to work after a winter off. No matter
what type of horse you have or what style of riding you enjoy, the concept of
collection is something we all use - or should! That's why I've devoted this entire
newsletter to that topic. Have a great ride! ***************************************** When
do I start collection? Dear Cherry, I
have a 2 1/2 year old draft cross. When I bought him, he was very sluggish and
not wanting to move forward. If you leaned forward at all, he came to a dead stop.
Now that I have owned him for more than two months, I have been riding him for
about 20 minutes, every other day, and doing ground work on the off days. He
is moving forward very nicely at the walk and trot (I do not canter him yet),
and even gets energetic and bucky. He is hollow in the back about half the time.
I have just been focusing on getting him to move forward.
When should I try to bring him together and collect him a bit? Thanks
very much, Marianne K Dear Marianne, I
like that you say your horse is moving forward in your letter because it is so
important to get a horse to move actively forward before you attempt collection.
In fact there are many steps before you actually collect a horse. - Move
Forward
- Move in even Rhythm
- Move with a suppleness, looseness,
relaxation
- Accept contact from all the rider's aids (this includes all
bending, lateral work,
- transitions, half-halts)
- Show a strong,
connected impulsion from the hindquarters through the back to the
- forehand
- Travel straight
- THEN COLLECTION
Forward movement
is really is the key to collection because you need to have that active forward
movement before you can try to contain it into a lovely shape. The more you can
get your horse to reach forward with his hind legs as he walks and trots and the
more he reaches down and forward with his head and neck, the more his back will
come up (be less hollow) and the rounder his elongated topline will become. The
more energetically you can get your horse to strike off ( with a big push forward
not a popping up of the hind legs) from a walk to a trot, for example, and the
more energetically you can get him to trot, the better it will go when you finally
do introduce collection, which is still a way down the road of his training program.
If you try to collect prematurely, you could risk hollowing his back even more
as he resists the pressure from your legs and seat into the increased pressure
on the bit. You don't say how much you have worked on bending such as circles,
serpentines, corners, half turns, and change of rein. Bending is essential for
longitudinal balance (which leads to collection). You can work on longitudinal
balance now. It is the working relationship between the front portion of the horse
and the rear portion. In other words, you want your horse to start thinking about
carrying more weight on his hindquarters so he doesn't travel heavy on the forehand.
Since I can't see your horse, I don't know if this is a specific problem with
him but because he used to stop if you leaned forward in the saddle, I suspect
he was (is) heavy on the forehand. Almost all horses travel with more weight on
the forehand because it require less work UNTIL they are shown a different way
to carry themselves and are conditioned to do so. Carrying more weight on the
hindquarters is more work for your horse and requires that you strengthen your
horse's hind legs and back. You can do this with long trotting (post, don't sit)
and with circle work. You need to master circles, corners, serpentines,
and half turns with your horse. These exercises plus many "transition" exercises
are clearly explained in 101
Arena Exercises. Transitions are the shifting of gears between gaits and will
take you and your horse through that doorway into the very beginning stages of
longitudinal balance and start you on your way to collection. So those are some
of the things you can do when you ride. When you are doing your in-hand
work, include some backing which automatically rounds the horse's back and strengthens
the hind legs, both necessary for collection. Backing up (rein back) in hand should
be straight, steady, two beat in rhythm (not 4 beat) and with the horse's head
low and his neck rounding. You don't want steps back in poor form. No stiff neck,
locked shoulders, crookedness. That would not help you to your goal. CAUTION:
I'm not suggesting you start rein back work when you are riding as that is far
too advanced a maneuver for your young horse and could teach him to back away
from the bit. With an older, more experienced horse, the rein back is a valuable
exercise for developing the muscles and overall body form for collection. But
what I am suggesting here is backing in-hand. There are so many longeing
exercises that you can add to your horse's repertoire, that I will leave that
discussion for another time and refer you to 101
Longeing and Long Lining Exercises and Longeing
and Long Lining the English and Western Horse. Another tip: be sure
you are feeding your horse at ground level. The neck stretching associated with
eating at a natural level brings the back up and elongates the neck, both of which
you will need for collection. So you see, you can work on developing the
collection physique and mental attitude indirectly via circle work and transitions
while riding and during in-hand work and by using good feeding practices. I've
also included two articles. One explains how collection fits into the phases of
a horse's training and the other defines collection. I hope you have a
great time working with your young horse. "A young horse is like a fresh
piece of clay that you can mold and shape to become your fluid, light, and responsive
partner. From the beginning, keep him relaxed, attentive, willing and respectful
and you will enjoy many rides to come" from Making
Not Breaking. 
REFERENCES:
Making
Not Breaking
101
Arena Exercises
101
Longeing and Long Lining Exercises
Longeing
and Long Lining the English and Western Horse ***************************************** Phases
of TrainingA training program is an individualized calendar
of events that you have designed for your horse in order to accomplish various
subjective and objective goals. It can span weeks, months, or years, depending
on your goals. Subjective goals in horse training are those qualities that
cannot be "scientifically" measured and include such attributes as a willing attitude,
cooperation, trust, and respect. Objective goals usually involve performance
of specific maneuvers such as cantering on the correct lead, clearing a 4 foot
fence, or standing still when you mount. It is usually easy for you to see whether
your horse has or has not met an objective goal. Eventually the matter of form
or quality of performance of objective goals enters the picture and the quality
of performance becomes your life-long goal as a horse trainer. How you
design a training program will depend on the horse's conformation, age, prior
training and conditioning, and your (competition) goals and schedule. All training
programs tend to go through three phases............. To read the rest
of the article, go here: https://www.horsekeeping.com/horse_riding_and_mounted_training/phases_of_training.htm
***************************************** CollectionCollection
is a state of balanced energy. A horse that is collected will have a dropped croup,
engaged hindquarters, flexed abdominals, arched spine, and elevated head and heck,
and a flexed poll. When a horse works in collected gaits, he is working at the
same tempo as the working gait but he will have a shorter, more elevated stride
and will cover less ground than a working gait. After a year
or more under saddle, signs that it is time to work on collection will begin appearing.
There will be a marked differentiation of frame - just how marked will depend
on the intended use of your horse. If destined for dressage, the horse should
be encouraged to elevate the poll, drop the croup considerably and increase the
flexion of the joints of the legs. Because such a configuration
is not the goal for many pleasure horses or hunters, their goal would be for a
more level frame with moderate engagement. However, in any case, .................
To read the rest of the article, go here: https://www.horsekeeping.com/horse_riding_and_mounted_training/collection.htm
************** To submit an Ask
Cherry for May, go here: https://www.horsekeeping.com/ask_Cherry.htm
******************* That's
it for this month. Keep your mind in the middle and a leg on each side.
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