THE ISAAC ARES CLASSICAL MANIFESTO:
- Isaac Ares
- Philosophy & Ethics of Dressage
WHERE IS THE COLLECTION?
Hola everyone
A call to restore soul and function to the art of classical dressage
THE FOUNDATION
The anatomy of the horse leaves no room for debate.
In its natural stance, a horse distributes approximately 60% of its weight on the forehand, and 40% on the hindquarters.
This asymmetry is not a flaw it’s a structural reality: a long neck that acts as a counterweight, a ribcage suspended by muscular slings, and hind limbs designed to propel, not support.
Classical dressage was never meant to beautify that truth but to transform it.
Through rigorous gymnastic development, the horse learns to carry more weight behind, free the shoulders, lift the base of the neck, and reorganize its centre of gravity.
Collection is not about shortening it is about redistributing gravity in favour of balance, lightness, and longevity.
THE DISTORTION
Today, we increasingly observe horses that, after years of formal training, remain trapped in their original mechanics:
collapsed in the shoulders, the base of the neck sunken, hind legs pushing without supporting, and a disconnected back.
Collection is absent.
The base of the neck doesn’t rise it drops.
The back doesn’t act as a bridge it caves in.
Impulsion doesn’t elevate it bounces without purpose.
The piaffe loses its pelvic origin, the passage loses lumbar cadence, and the canter folds into itself.
What once revealed the horse’s biomechanical truth now too often rewards its aesthetic denial.
This is not a matter of blame it is a matter of lost direction.
THE FUNCTIONAL TRUTH
A trained eye needs no stopwatch or scorecard.
Just watch how the neck breathes and you will know whether the horse is truly working or merely compensating.
A descending base of neck restricts scapular freedom and breaks rhythm.
A collapsed thoracic sling increases forehand loading and strains joints.
A disconnected topline block the energy transfer from hind to fore.
A retracted hind leg without pelvic flexion creates motion without true collection.
When the structure fails, no amount of expression can replace function.
THE OBSERVATION
In the walk the most sincere of all gaits two oscillations tell the truth:
Axial movement: the longitudinal expansion and contraction of the topline the rhythm of breath, elasticity, and connection.
Appendicular movement: the lateral sway that accompanies shoulder alternation when exaggerated, it often compensates for an inactive core and false collection.
Where the neck ceases to breathe, the back collapses.
Where motion becomes decorative, mechanics degrade.
And where there is rigidity, there is no art only artifice.
THE DECLARATION
We call for a new biomechanical literacy.
We call for a return to dressage that educates the body and liberates the spirit of the horse.
We demand that form follows function, not disguises it.
We stand for trainers who look beyond the trophy, and riders who listen with their bodies, not their timers.
Because dressage is or should be rehabilitation elevated to art.
And when the art stops serving the horse, it stops being art.
Isaac Ares
Classical trainer. Independent observer. Critical voice.
For the horse. For the truth. For the art.
Legal Disclaimer
This manifesto expresses an independent professional opinion for educational and ethical purposes, promoting biomechanically sound equestrian practice. It refers to no specific rider, horse, competition, or governing body.