>>> What I mean is: how does it affect the easy gaits? Does it change them, for better or for worse?
I'm not sure what you mean by "it" in this sentence...? Roundness/collection? Assuming that you mean roundness, does roundness help a horse gait better? Wouldn't that totally depend on where the horse is coming from in the beginning - what he's born with? If the horse is pacey and conformationally prone to hollowness, then yes, I feel sure you'd want to move him TOWARDS some "degree of roundness" or at least "lack of hollowness" if at all possible - as I gather you've done with Stormur. (Certainly not all the way to the roundness needed for piaffe, but just "towards" some degree of roundness...) But if the horse is born with ideal conformation to do an easy and natural gait like running walk or saddle rack, if you round him too much, then I think the soft gait will suffer. Does that mean you don't want to work this nicely-gaited horse towards more roundness? I guess that depends on the rider and the horse. I assume I'm probably not the only person who likes for their horses who can easily trot to do so, but there are pleasure riders who'd prefer that their horses never trot. I teach different cues for trot versus gait and try to use both - or "all" in the case of some of my multi-gaited horses. But, if a rider doesn't want to trot, they can certainly work the horse's back in other ways - with groundwork, lots of walking, doing a three-beat canter, getting him "long and low" for periods... I'm not sure that one way is right and the other wrong though, just two different ways to the same goal of a sound, healthy riding horse - one who's comfortable himself as well as for his rider. >>>> I agree. But Lee talks about pacey horses ALWAYS having hollow backs, not just hollow frames, so does it make sense to talk about whether the topline is round, neutral or hollow? I'm not sure what you mean. Lee's definitions of roundness, collection, etc. (pp 32-36 approximately in her book) are the same as I've read in classical dressage books - she talks about hollow backs as well as the other symptoms of a hollow frame, such as a rear end that doesn't lower. Here's something from the last paragraph on page 35 of Lee's book, which is the same as I've read in every good dressage book: "There are many degrees of collection, from the slightly raised back of a horse just beginning to come away from a neutral position to the completely rounded frame of a horse working in a good piaffe." Can you point to something else in the book to clarify what you mean? Karen Thomas, NC
