>From a dressage forum: The hand certainly does have an impact on suspension. A NEGATIVE one. You cannot obtain good gaits of any form from the hand. It must come from the hind legs up. The hand plays a tremendous influence on the refinement and shaping of a gait, but never is the source or creating it, just channeling what the hind legs give you, and priority still must go to the back for permitting the rear legs' power / effect to come through. The hand's influence must be characterized by its restraint of use, not restraint of the horse. The hand is more impactful for the damage it can cause wrongly applied, than the improvement it can cause.
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