>>> Here's another picture of a horse that is round. His pelvis is engaged (his *hindquarters* are engaged). Both hind feet are under his mass. His croup is lower than his withers. His underline is shortened.
That picture clearly shows the croup being lower than the withers. I think it's important to remember, that many horses (most?) simply aren't built to achieve that degree of roundness. For instance, my stock-type QH are built downhill - and that was bred into them intentionally to affect the way the work as cow horses. Every horse isn't going to be good at every job. My old QH wasn't as croup-high as some are, but even he wasn't built to be a dressage horse, not to any high level. I still loved him and enjoyed working to get him off the forehand and driving from behind, which had a lot of benefits - his canter became much more rideable as he became less strung-out. He too was one of the "best horse in the universe" award winners. Karen Thomas, NC
