I like this photo because it highlights the difference between true impulsion and connection being used to help the horse achieve a correct frame versus the use of hands and corrective devices without the benefit of impulsion.
The horse in the foreground is softly rounding and stepping underneath himself to provide impulsion and a correct bend with good use of his hindquarters. You can see that he is in the working trot and is contentedly doing his work... the set of the tail, position of the ears which are listening to the rider, and the softness in his jaw are very good tells. The placement of the grey's head is also very good; he is correctly looking just slightly into the turn, and he is slightly in front of the vertical, but very much on the rider's aids. His neck is being lifted and stretched from the base, and have created a thicker profile with an even arch across the entire crest. The poll is the highest point of the horse's head and neck. Even in this still shot you get a sense of lightness, and the horse is carrying his back with his abdominal muscles. He even looks soft in his back and you can almost imagine it swinging . The slight arch at the base of the tail also tells us that the horse is really stepping under himself, and has "lifted" his back and really engaging himself. The rider is looking down, a habit that creeps in with Dressage riders, and has almost no bend in her elbows. He shoulders have rounded just slightly because she is looking down. Her back and seat look to be soft and following.
The second horse in the background was being pulled into the bit through the use of draw reins... at this moment he is on the vertical, but even at this distance, his neck looks compressed rather than stretched and correctly rounded. This horse will end up with a "broken neckline" because the highest point of the head and neck is about 1/3rd of the way down, also the neck does not form a smooth and even arch. At this moment, you can see that his steps are constricted with his hind feet at least a foot away from the prints of the forefeet. This horse is taking very small strides and almost looks like the frame for a piaffe. It is hard to tell at a distance, but this horse's back is hollowed, which is a definite sign of poor carriage. Looking at this horse, I get a sense of constriction and cramping, and indeed you can see that the horse is swishing and wringing his tail. You can't quite see it, but the trailing hind foot is not stretched, but actually almost flat footed on the ground. His hind end has good tone because of genetics, but it is obvious that it is not engaged well because his hind legs are trailing out behind him. If this was a "collected trot" which the compressed neck and frame indicate, this horse would be showing a higher degree of elevation in the legs as well as really tucked under haunches; this would give him an "uphill" outline. Instead this horse has a "downhill" slope to him. He is carrying most of his weight on the forehand.
This is a picture of a well schooled dressage horse in working trot:
The grey is as close as his body and skill level will allow... not far off at all!
This is a picture of a collected trot:
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