> I think we're using the wrong word in this case. I think "contain" is a > better word. > > Gaited horse trainers incorrectly use the word "collect", but they mean > "gather up" the horse for the frame that is necessary for the gait. > > They are speaking from a position of *riding the horse's face*, pulling the > head and neck to make a change in that area, not collection which starts > from the hindquarters. > > Collection is not present in the easy gaits. Collection has an upward > vector, and the easy gaits have an earth-bound vector... opposite, and > that's what makes them "easy" gaits :-). If we collect them, they'll be > trotting!
Thank you, Judy - this is the biggest part of the confusion with gaited horses and "collection" -- Laree in NC Doppa & Mura Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang) "Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." - William Farley
