the principles of an outline, especially if you think of the principles of dressage (flexibilty, lightness, and use of natural strength in body etc) will all be generated from the backend - i saw an advert once for a horse for sale, and the head had been tweaked and yanked onto an 'outline' yet the back end was trailing all over the place and it was evident the horse had been brought on from the front end, not the rear end - dont concentrate on where your horses head is at first, get the power going in the backend, which will propel the back and spine up into a lovely curve to allow the legs to step up and underneth the horses tummy and engage - this will allow the neck to relax and curve and the poll will naturally bcome the highest point and the horse will come into an outline; i dont suggest use of the hands more than the legs; by all means use your hand if your horse leans to give a squeeze along with power from your leg to get his head up, but it is a natural movement, not forced - generate power in haunches and it will eventually happen, but the strength has to be there. kirst x