When thinking about training classical dressage at liberty, the first question that comes to mind will probably be if it is actually possible to teach a horse to collect himself at liberty. That question is logical - and so is the answer: yes, naturally!

In the answer the keyword isn’t ‘yes’, but ‘naturally’, because collection is just something very natural for horses. In fact, the entire classical dressage is based on the fact that horses collect themselves when playing, expressing themselves in the herd and during fights. Ask any dressage trainer if all that stuff between those little white fences isn’t very unnatural, and you’ll hear as response that every dressage movement, from lateral work right up until the Haute Ecole jumps, is based directly on the natural movements of horses in the wild. In fact, with that reply every dressage trainer will tell you that all horses know very well how to collect themselves, without the help of a human who holds his body with reins, whips or spurs in the right shape. And Natural Dressage is based exactly on that idea.

If as a human you can make your horse feel so proud, strong and energetic, then the physical collection almost feels like of secondary importance. Because what could be more beautiful than simply making your best friend feel so good?

• Collection in walk: collected to extended walk, two beat School walk, Spanish walk
• Collection in trot: collected to extended trot, piaffe, passage
• Collection in canter: collected to extended canter, four beat canter, terre a terre