Brandon
That is a great observation with regards to how people think the are collecting their horse. One horse to look at and study is a good dressage horse. If you look at their head it is vertical or nearly so and their neck is arched but flexible. Basically the rider should be helping support the head rather than trying to keep the head vertical. I have seen a lot of Quarter horses in the show arena that look like crap (sorry but that is the only word I can think of) the head is vertical but held low sometimes looking like a bloodhound on a trail. Collection is not hard to achieve. It takes patience and soft hands. You achieve the flex and vertical head with training not force or bumping the horses mouth with the bit.
I would also like to see a leasson on collection and how it effects how a horse moves
Great suggestion

Cheers

Monty has videos on this subject.
Horse reining, dressage, and guests to show us what they do also to keep the horse soft and with very little effort.
Enjoy,
Ronda

I think the sad truth behind a lot of "hands-only" when it comes to collecting a horse lies in the human nature to be very preoccupied with what we can see and what we have in/can do with our hands.
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What you see is what you have in front of you = the horse's neck/head. Look at the number of riders who stare at the neck instead of the line they are riding!
(I had a trainer once who would sometimes stop a rider and say: "How many are there?" The confused rider's reply to this usually was: "Are what?" And he would smile and say: "Hairs on the neck. Looked to me like you've been counting them the entire lesson.")
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A frighteningly great mass of riders believe that collection *is* a bent neck and completely neglects that collection comes from the hind legs.
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As for hands, as primates we are natural "grippers". Even a new born baby has a reflex to grab and hold on, and whenever we loose balance, we will grab for something - in the rider's case it is almost always the reins.
Of course, a more competent rider doesn't balance herself with her hands, but the brain will still be concentrated on them, partly because they are what you see in front of you, and partly because it is part of our make up.
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IMO riders need to learn to ride with their "inner eyes and ears" so they can sense their bodies - and the horse's body/movements - better, in order to be aware on how their backs and legs influence that of the horse.
Sally Swift (Centered riding) has some wonderful examples on this!
Once you can ride your horse with your seat from the back/hind legs, and gently moderate/support with the hands, you will also achieve collection, as well as propulsion and forward thinking.

Kicki
Impulsion comes from the hind legs of the horse, which contribute to collection. In the case of gaited horses the from of the horse must be brought under control (collection) for the horse to properly gait. Collection almost feels like your horse is ready to spring, like when they are hyper alert. I sure agree with you about people hanging on to the reins and not looking between the ear of the horse. if you don't look in the direction of where you want to go, you will always be steering your horse to correct the line of travel.
On exercise that I have been doing lately is to drop the reins and at a walk ride my horse around the track that surrounds the ranch. As long as my butt stays in the center and my legs are in even contact with the horse, looking were I want to go just happens. Sometimes it feels like he reads my mind. It really is the position of the body. When you have collection it is so much easier to ride. You and the horse become one.
I am glad that someone like Sally Swift explains this concept to beginners. It took me a long time to really understand collection of the horse as well as the rider.

Cheers