CLASSICAL DRESSAGE Foundations 04 of 10
- Isaac Ares
Why Collection Is Necessary.
Natural biomechanics vs trained biomechanics.
APPLIED BIOMECHANICS
After observing how a young or untrained horse organizes its balance naturally, an essential question arises:
Why do we need to change anything at all?
If the horse is naturally balanced, why talk about collection?
This is where an important distinction must be made.
Two different realities:
1) Natural biomechanics
A horse in nature is perfectly balanced for its own life.
Its center of gravity is naturally more forward.
Its spine is designed to transmit forces horizontally.
Its balance is optimal for walking, trotting, turning, fleeing, grazing, and interacting without carrying weight.
There is nothing wrong with this balance.
It is efficient, functional, and healthy for a horse without a rider.
2) Biomechanics under the rider.
The moment a human sits on the horse, the demands change fundamentally.
This is not a failure of nature, but a change of physical context.
Now the horse must:
Carry vertical weight, organize its body on small circles, regulate energy precisely, and maintain balance under asymmetrical load.
The natural balance that works perfectly in freedom is no longer sufficient by itself to protect the horse under these conditions.
This is where collection becomes necessary.
What collection really is (and what it is not)
Collection is not:
A posture, a head neck position, a figure such as shoulder in, or an aesthetic choice.
Collection is a functional reorganization of the horse’s body, achieved through progressive gymnastics, so that:
The hindquarters assume more load, the trunk elevates between the shoulders, the deep postural muscles support the spine, and the rider’s weight is carried by muscle, not by passive structures.
The key biomechanical reality:
Without collection, the rider ultimately sits directly on the horse’s vertebral column.
When the horse is not collected:
The back drops, the abdominal and deep stabilizing muscles disengage, the load is transmitted to joints, ligaments, and discs, and the horse compensates until pain or breakdown appears.
Collection exists to protect the horse, not to dominate it.
Why this requires training and time.
A horse does not naturally need to collect itself.
Therefore, it cannot be forced.
Collection must be taught progressively, respecting:
Physical maturation, coordination, mental calm, and biomechanical logic.
This is why intermediate balance strategies exist.
They are not mistakes.
They are necessary steps in the development of the horse’s body.
The responsibility of the rider:
Asking a horse to carry us is already unnatural.
Not preparing its body to do so safely is far more unnatural.
Classical dressage, at its core, exists for this reason:
To transform natural biomechanics without destroying them, so the horse can carry the rider in health, balance, and longevity.
This is the foundation.
More to come soon
Isaac Ares
