Team PracOvereager, energetic horses typically want to express themselves by putting all their power in the front end rather than offering power from behind. When we don’t have the whole musculature of a brilliant horse working together, then we stress certain joints more than others. Horses are bio-mechanically designed to carry 60 or 70 percent of their weight on the forehand, and in dressage we’re all about asking them to bear the load behind.
The rider wants her horse to be balanced toward the hindquarters. The rider who is able to shift the horse’s weight back in a way so that the whole muscle structure is involved—with each muscle doing its own part—doesn’t overload one structure, such as the hocks. You want the power equally distributed so the muscle tone from nose to tail is the same. When my horse is equally reaching and equally stretched through his body, he compresses and collects easily because my aids can sit him into the correct part of his body. The overall feeling is very fluid—as if everything is evenly distributed and all four legs feel the same.