Gelin, who is moving beautifully here, is not floating on a pink and blue magic carpet. The pink and blue represent the relationship with the ground that his leading hind leg is about to have. (leading= the one pointing forwards) Ideally, once that hoof lands and he uses his leg to draw him forward over the earth, the area in pink underneath his body is where the magic is going to happen. The horse both pulls itself forward and releases the body upwards at the same time- once the leg passes vertical and enters the blue area under the horses body the body is propelled forwards only. A horse on the forehand will have a hind leg that only functions in the blue area, a horse in piaffe only in the pink area. The ability to "party the pink" can be seen in even the young horse, it's just not as developed as in the older, more trained (or incredibly talented) horse. If a horse isn't moving in this manner, I don't see it as a horrible thing, it simply tells me that the gait needs work.
A good video example of a well functioning hind leg that lifts the body of a very talented horse:
http://youtu.be/_x6_9ccOqKw
But waitaminite. Gelin has a front half too? Yes, he does.
The front half of a well moving horse in a way moves similarly to the hind end. It's not propelling the horse, but it will show freedom towards the front and does not linger underneath the body of the horse.
So what does it look like when you're doing it wrong?
Although the legs might be thrown forward, look for the energy of the stride being shortened towards the front, and instead pushing out the rear propelling the horse downward into the ground.
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