hind quarters engaged while trotting

Question

hind quarters engaged   hello ma'am, would you say that this horse's hind quarters are engaged? this is a 2 year old racehorse trotted by a jockey.

Answer
Rohit,

No, not really.
His back is hollow. Note the shape of his back just behind the saddle.....it is dropped.
If his haunches were truly engaged, they would be more underneath him supporting his weight and the weight of his rider.

He would be "deeper",his back would be more like the shape of a rainbow, and he would be obviously tracking up, that is, the print left from his foreleg  hoof would be covered by the print of the hind leg foot as it came forward.

Engagement can happen when the horse is supple and muscled enough with correct training to be able to lower his haunches, use his abdominal muscles to lift his back, and to engage and lighten through his forehand.


Of course I am discussing engagement with a regularly ridden horse, not a racehorse. As they push off in a race they obviously have quite powerful pushing power from their hindquarters, but the definition is a bit different.

The horse in the picture, however, is not truly engaged.

Mitzi