The thinking behind leg yield in E57 & 59

Of course you have to have ' a degree' of collection to get decent medium trot, otherwise the horse just runs on to the forehand.
I don't suppose Simon is suggesting for one minute that in order to perform a few medium trot strides you should be able to piaffe and passage! He is simply stating that you should be able to have ' gears' within the pace to enable the horse to push off his hind leg and not pull himself along on his forehand.
Just riding a series of half halts is basic collection work. And anyone teaching the horse medium trot knows that you have to half halt before asking him to lengthen his stride.
I think that people think that when we talk about collection we are talking about the sort you see at advanced or above, which I'm sure isn't what Simon is suggesting, juts the ability to ask the horse to wait, activate the hind leg and push off from behind.
 
I like the way you word this Charlie76. If you asked someone who was just learning how to get a horse to try a few lengthened strides, they could understand it. If you asked them to collect the trot and then lengthen the strides, I'm sure they'd kill the impulsion by merely slowing down. That's why I don't like to use the word 'collection' until the rider is much further on.

Collection isn't something you can just ask for on a novice horse. It develops on its own through degrees with correct training
How can anyone understand how much or how soon until they have trained a few horses?
 
oldhag said:
Collection isn't something you can just ask for on a novice horse. It develops on its own through degrees with correct training
How can anyone understand how much or how soon until they have trained a few horses?
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Firstly that's where good training and instruction comes in to show the rider whats required, how to achieve it and the feel that they are looking for.

Second collection is a sliding scale; not a singular point that is one day reached. Collection is about the process of taking more weight behind and this starts with a well ridden trot to walk transition so is this doable on a Novice level horse? Of course it is. However this is not meaning that the horse should be asked for piaffe as that takes a lot more suppleness, straightness and strength training.
 
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