Teaching Collection by the Wall vs. on the Longe

Why I like to teach collection on the longe

It’s actually quite simple: The horse can say “no”.
– “No” if it doesn’t understand
– “No” if it is not able to
– “No” if it feels overwhelmed

Let’s look at how collection on the ground is often taught:
The horse is placed by the wall, the the human in front, often in a bridle, sometimes with side reins, and there is a whip involved. Sometimes, there is a second person standing by the hindquarter holding another whip.

Now let’s look at this from the horse’s perspective, as in the example I drew:
It can’t go the right, because there is the wall.
It can’t go forward, because there is the human.
It can’t go to the left, because there is the whip.
It could go backwards, but then the human will probably use the whip to drive forward, and if there is a second human involved, that way is also closed.

I don’t want to say that this always involves stress for the horse. Because if we are kind and don’t use the whip forcefully, and teach everything in little steps so that the horse understands vs. “making” it step on the place, it shouldn’t be a problem. And there are many trainers who can do this with feel and good timing. And yet, we see it misused a lot, because the basic setup doesn’t leave the horse a way out. It’s not a criticism, just something to think about.

What if we taught collection in a setup that leaves more choice?

Then let’s look at teaching collection on the longe:
The horse can go forward any time.
The horse can drift over the outside shoulder and away from us.
It can say “no”.

And we can always return to forward, to avoid “getting stuck”.
It’s not so easy to work horses with less talent beyond their limits.

BUT…

Because the horse can say “no”, we have to explain well and take it step by step! We have to be a good pedagogue.

I’m glad that in the Academic Art of Riding, we have a very far developed system of longe work, without side reins, in which we can teach all exercises from basic to high school. It’s a wonderful tool to have, and the horse’s enjoy it!

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