Collecting the Different Horse Gaits

"Next we're going to work on collecting the length of the gait. So, the opposite of lengthening, we're now going to work on shortening the length of your horse's gait. And this can be done at the walk, trot, and canter as well. We'll first demonstrate it at the trot and I'm going to choose to do a trot sitting. It's a little bit easier, depending on you and your horse to collect at a sitting trot. So I'm really going to sit heavy. Your seat can help to communicate with your horse. And a little outside rein to help collect. Your outside rein is always your controlling rein. And as you can see, we have a tiny, little trot step. And now we're going to try it in the canter. The same thing, I'm going to use my seat to really sit heavy. There's a lot of work for your horse so you'll also have to have your leg on, otherwise he'll stop."