half halts, roundness

[Horsekaren]

i have been reading up on half halts and i didn't realize there was so much to them! my naivety and lack of experience .

I found this in a H&H article and it really made me think. At the moment to try and get my horse round i use leg, and check check inside rein,then check the outside rein... and then we have no roundness lol so it is rather pointless lol

I have never thought of holding a check for three seconds- the below sounds very different to what i am doing and makes a lot of sense. Does this actually work for anyone?

10. How to ride the connecting half halt:

A. First, close both calves as if you’re squeezing toothpaste out of a tube to create that surge of power from behind. (You’ll only be using your legs as your driving aids at this point. I’m purposely leaving the seat out for now to keep things simple.)

B. Next, close your outside hand (rein of opposition) in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle the energy back to the hind legs.

C. Finally, give three little squeezes and releases on the inside rein to keep the neck straight. (If you don’t use your inside hand, your horse will bend his neck to the outside because your outside hand is closed in a fist for so long.)

D. After three seconds, soften everything . Go back to the light, maintenance pressure of legs and hands you had in the beginning before you gave the half halt.


Read more at https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/dressage/the-half-halt-10-top-tips-154238#G2Bga5bXK8yrHBoM.99


Can anyone recommend a website which actually lists types of half halts in this step by step way.

 

[Cortez]

Um, no. Because the half halt is MUCH more to do with your seat/weight/legs/position and FAR, FAR, FAR less to do with all that twiddling on the reins.

 

[milliepops]

Have to agree with Cortez here, i don't ride a half halt anything like that! If I held the outside rein in a tight fist for 3 seconds I'd expect my horses to stiffen against it, and if i then started wanging around on the inside rein they'd be bobbing their heads about thoroughly confused.

This really is something that is best taught in person, OP because a lot depends on the sensitivity of your horse, his overall way of going and your ability to use your aids independently. Reading around the subject is good, but that article is NOT helpful IMO.

 

[JFTDWS]

Um, no. Because the half halt is MUCH more to do with your seat/weight/legs/position and FAR, FAR, FAR less to do with all that twiddling on the reins.

Seconded. There's a reason why you see riders (particularly the Spanish and Portuguese riders) at GP, and high classical levels riding one handed and performing tempis and piris etc with out hand - because it demonstrates that there is no fiddling on the mouth involved. Their half halts (as should those of the rest of us) come from the seat and the legs.

If I held the right rein for 3 seconds and then started fiddling on the inside, Fergus would go into riding school pony mode and ignore me, thinking I'd been replaced by an idiot. Daemon would throw his face around in a massive Daemon-tantrum, and Skye would just have slammed the brakes on and be rolling back the other way

 

[Queenbee]

^^ what they said.

 

[Rowreach]

Lots of no, especially the use of the word "fist".

 

[ester]

Oh Glad it wasn't me, I was waiting for others to comment because that is nothing like the half halt I ride.

 

[Shay]

OP - it is really good that you are seeking to develop your riding and reading around the subject. Like a lot of things trying to describe in words what is essentially a feeling make things very complicated. The best way to learn to ride a half halt is to work on it with a good instructor. If neither you nor Ned really know what is happening go for a lesson on a dressage schoolmaster so you can learn what it feels like. To translate that feeling to your own horse ride try riding without reins on the lunge and work on transitions without rein or leg aids - seat only. When you can halt from your seat alone you can then half halt.

 

[Ceriann]

It’s a dark art!! I’ve searched countless sites for this and whilst I agree with what everyone has said there is some benefit to watching some of the YouTube videos out there. Clearly not as good as a lesson but I found some helpful. Emile Faurie or dressage masterclass do some half decent videos.

If it’s any help at all I tend to think almost out loud halt/hold when I do half halts - I find this translates to my seat and legs which for those few seconds hold/block the forward movement (explaining it is really difficult). Whilst I agree it’s not about fiddling with the mouth you do need to capture the energy created.

 

[Horsekaren]

interesting, when i read it i did think surely it cant be that simple and this works for every horse... i was thinking ooo is this the big secret half halt ive been missing out on lol

I know every horse and rider is different and its incredibly indervidual but how do you get your horse round? what are you half halts or ques?

At the moment im really focusing on getting him forward which i think he is but the connection at the front and over his back isnt happening... its getting better but still far to go.
My cue to ask for him to come into an outline is - Leg for forward, pulse pulse down the inside rein, pulse down the outside rein, soften if nothing, repeat, soften, if nothing repeat , soften... give up lol ... once i tried holding my reins with a bit of pressue, using a lot of leg and a quiet a few tickles with the crop and only softening once he dropped which did work... we did have a few tiny bucks in protest but i felt like this was really forcing him so i didnt try it again...


and how would you approach encouraging a horse to do this who is a typical pokey nosed cob that CAN do it, he isnt super sensitive just a nice average will do anything he can to avade cob

[video=youtube_share;4VPlvDXBG6c]https://youtu.be/4VPlvDXBG6c[/video]

 

[Damnation]

Half half is a feel - hence why some find it so hard to teach and others find even harder to learn.

As above, its less about reins and more about seat/weight/legs.

 

[milliepops]

the problem with the approach described above, of fiddling with the reins until he tucks his nose in, is that you end up with the horse behind the bit rather than actually accepting of the contact. The fiddling discourages him to take the contact forward - yes, you get the head down, but you still don't have that connection from the hindlegs over the back and neck into the rein, because to get his head down you've made the contact so unappealing that he wants to hide from it.

This really is something that you need to have good on-the-ground tuition with, OP, because your horse has a degree of education already so it's not like starting a baby horse off. He has his own ideas about how he should go already which may or may not be correct So any books or articles that describe how to start a young horse off will make you feel like you are failing - the theory might be correct but you have to re-educate him in a way that you wouldn't need with a blank canvass.

So I'd continue to work on a good rhythm, developing your seat, his suppleness and ability to bend and straighten him, that is all money in the bank, and you should find that as you are able to create a more *consistent* contact and he is able to use his body more correctly, that the roundness starts to develop by itself.

 

[JFTDWS]

Personally, I use a lot of lateral work, bend (and straightness) and small transitions within gaits to develop the horse to be able to hold, and understand, an outline. Getting a horse stepping through, under and across their rib cage is the key - once you have that, the head comes down and it all comes together. Gerd Heuschmann tends to show people, from the ground and while the horse is stationary, that application of the leg into the rib automatically brings the horse's head down (and, more importantly, the back up).

Getting the face in from the front does nothing but teach the horse to sit behind the contact and look "pretty" while the back end trails.

 

[Horsekaren]

the problem with the approach described above, of fiddling with the reins until he tucks his nose in, is that you end up with the horse behind the bit rather than actually accepting of the contact. The fiddling discourages him to take the contact forward - yes, you get the head down, but you still don't have that connection from the hindlegs over the back and neck into the rein, because to get his head down you've made the contact so unappealing that he wants to hide from it.

This really is something that you need to have good on-the-ground tuition with, OP, because your horse has a degree of education already so it's not like starting a baby horse off. He has his own ideas about how he should go already which may or may not be correct So any books or articles that describe how to start a young horse off will make you feel like you are failing - the theory might be correct but you have to re-educate him in a way that you wouldn't need with a blank canvass.

So I'd continue to work on a good rhythm, developing your seat, his suppleness and ability to bend and straighten him, that is all money in the bank, and you should find that as you are able to create a more *consistent* contact and he is able to use his body more correctly, that the roundness starts to develop by itself.

thats really lovely advice, i watch other people ride and think hfffttt why cant my horse do that... but he can im just trying to find out how he wants to be asked. I like your explanation of how forcing him will make him hide from it as when i was doing it i just thought this isn't what we want to go through every time and that was only 2 mins that i tried. I haven't read anything about starting a new horse off as i know im not trying to do that, its just a case of finding what works for him. We had a new horse arrived on the yard a few months ago being ridden with his nose in the air, my friend just put a few pulses down the reins and down he came, same person, same thing on mine and nothing.

As some of you have said its so incredibly hard to learn to feel if it doesn't come naturally... i guess lots more hours in the saddle and it will get better and better

 

[Leo Walker]

I only watched a little bit of the video but he is flat and on his forehand and out of balance. Hes not strong enough behind yet. Lots and lots and lots of transitions and bending. Never do a full circuit of the school without a shape or transition. But the very best thing you could do is hack out lots. Get him really powering from behind. Find as many hills as you can and work him up and down them. Work him on as much differing terrain as you can.

In a couple of months you will have a completely different horse on your hands, and you can start to work on refinement then. Theres no point fiddling with the front end when the back end isnt strong enough to support him.

Mines shorter and chunkier than yours and when I started getting him fit he ran along on his forehand in trot and couldnt maintain canter very well at all unless it was short bursts in a straight line. 3 months later and hes cantering 8 metre circles, changing legs and doing the same the other way without blinking. We did no schooling at all for the first 2 months, just endless hacking and as much hill work as I could find.

 

[Horsekaren]

I only watched a little bit of the video but he is flat and on his forehand and out of balance. Hes not strong enough behind yet. Lots and lots and lots of transitions and bending. Never do a full circuit of the school without a shape or transition. But the very best thing you could do is hack out lots. Get him really powering from behind. Find as many hills as you can and work him up and down them. Work him on as much differing terrain as you can.

In a couple of months you will have a completely different horse on your hands, and you can start to work on refinement then. Theres no point fiddling with the front end when the back end isnt strong enough to support him.

Mines shorter and chunkier than yours and when I started getting him fit he ran along on his forehand in trot and couldnt maintain canter very well at all unless it was short bursts in a straight line. 3 months later and hes cantering 8 metre circles, changing legs and doing the same the other way without blinking. We did no schooling at all for the first 2 months, just endless hacking and as much hill work as I could find.

how can i do this with out hills? its really flat where i am

 

[ester]

I think there's just too much pulsing going on, but then my own uses head swinging as a great evasion to make you look like you are doing it when you aren't- all down to lack of impulsion.

Inside leg to outside hand has always served me very well, they need a contact to go into. I also suspect that trying to think about all this pulsing is not going to be helping you think about carrying your hands.

You don't need hills, we were on the somerset levels for 10 years, they are helpful but not a pre requisite. I really do think you should get him out hacking over whatever you do have though.

 

[Surbie]

If it's any consolation at all I think I have a similar horse, Horsekaren, and I've been struggling with half halts too. Though mine is nearly a teenager, he has had very little to do for 5-6 years and is still very green. And a cob.

He runs on his forehand, has not much muscle behind and sticks his nose in the air all the time.

My instructor's advice has been a combination of milliepops and Leo's - particularly the last para of miliepops post and the first para of Leo's. We are doing a lot of trot work, and not thinking (much!) about cantering circles etc till he is more supple and we can both maintain a good rhythm.

I really like the point about not comparing with a blank canvass, as it doesn't fit with re-educating or reminding.

 

[ester]

Re the half halts, others might disagree but I'd think as things stand it might just confuse the issue trying to introduce them at the moment.

 

[daffy44]

Please, the best thing you can do is have really good help from someone knowledgable on the ground with you. MP has given you excellent advice and explanations, but nothing will beat good on the ground help. Just think about riding forward in rhythm into a soft, still hand so he can start to trust your contact, but feel free to ignore me, just get someone standing in the arena with you helping.

The half halt description is just bizarre, its so much more of a feeling than all the three seconds of this etc, and also it will differ between horses depandent on horses age, education, character etc.

 

[Rowreach]

The half halt description is just bizarre, its so much more of a feeling than all the three seconds of this etc, and also it will differ between horses depandent on horses age, education, character etc.

Exactly, there is a lot of overthinking going on here.

Eric Smiley describes the half halt as a "rebalance within the pace", and that is what it is. Your aids should be refined enough that it is simply a matter of sitting up a fraction to achieve that rebalance.

I would echo others that you need a good instructor to help you with all your questions, and you have said that you have one ....

I would also suggest that you are maybe confusing "forwardness" with what looks to be (as others have said) a rather rushed and unbalanced way of going in your video.

I would be taking the whole thing back to walk, and working on developing your seat and own self carriage.

Another piece of useful advice that I heard, this time from Tim Downes, is that before you get as far as rhythm, suppleness etc etc on the German training scale, you need "acceptance" - by the horse, of the rider. The Germans assume that before you start training the horse, you are at a certain level of expertise as a rider, ie in balance and in a place where the horse can easily carry you without any impediment to his way of going. It's like self carriage for the rider and self carriage for the horse.

Once you are really in balance, the horse is able to work from behind and all that roundness will come without any tweaking, twitching or pulsing!

 

[Leo Walker]

how can i do this with out hills? its really flat where i am

I'm in Northampton which is really flat as well. I've got a few small hills near me so I used them a lot. Raised trotting poles work pretty well with this sort of horse.

 

[TheMule]

I would take the time to invest in a short course of schoolmaster lessons and feel what it is you really want to achieve with your horse. It's almost impossible to get the right feel without that

 

[Theocat]

I agree with everyone else - get some lessons in.

However, I also think you need to divorce the idea of the half halt from the horse "going round". A half halt is a moment to rebalance, prepare, recalibrate, what have you - but if you assume that half halt = round, you'll end up maintaining it (nagging) for far too long waiting for the magic "round" moment, so it's no longer a half halt and it becomes an exercise in pulling the nose in by another name.

Don't draw out a half halt waiting for a reaction, or all you'll do is kill the back end. It isn't an end in itself, it is an aid in preparing for the next thing. Ride it, then forward on to the next thing, immediately.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Oh Glad it wasn't me, I was waiting for others to comment because that is nothing like the half halt I ride.

I saw OP just after it first was posted and thought 'no, no, no!' but hesitated to disagree with a 3 times Olympic rider. The description sounds very mechanical, whereas the rider should be reacting to the horse reacting to the aids. Horse and rider should be 'having a conversation', quite apart from the fact that I hate 'finger-fiddling'.

I was taught half-halts by the RI calling 'Steady' as I approached a corner, amongst other movements, that taught me to rebalance the horse in preparation for a change of direction or a transition.

 

[Withers]

I wonder if OP needs a different, more explicit approach?

There's often a lot of talk of "feel" but at the end of the day all of you experienced riders are using a combination of muscles at certain points in response to the horse/to change how the horse is going. It is specific even if you can't identify which muscles you're using or explain it yourself other than with the - and no offense intended but when you don't have it, it is! - mysterious "feel". Somehow, some naturally, some through long hours of trial and error, your minds and bodies learnt the necessary combinations, which you now identify as feel or other non-specific instructions.

OP, I think I understand that you like your instructor, but you may be the type of person who needs the explicit body instructions, in which case finding an instructor who does that would suit you, save wasted cash being confused and potentially confusing the horse in this quest for an outline when really you're trying to run before you can walk! I'm sure others know more, but one person who teaches more explicitly would be Mary Wanless. The article by the Olympic rider that everyone has disputed just shows that the best riders don't necessarily know precisely how they do it and therefore can't translate it to others.

 

[blitznbobs]

I use my back and seat to half halt never the reins ... imo it’s nowt to do with your reins indeed I can half halt whilst holding the buckle

Tbh to achieve a half halt you need to get your bottom deeper in the saddle - you look like you are perching a bit, get you weight centred in the saddle, rise more positively at the trot and you’ll begin to get your frame and leave the front end alone

 

[scats]

Not read all the replies, but that is not what I would call a half halt- sounds more like a fiddling nightmare.

I keep it simple, a half-halt is a momentary, split-second rebalancing of the pace. How I achieve it depends on the horse I am riding and where they are in their training. It’s something you learn by feel more than anything.

 

[Mule]

I've being playing around, trying different things lately. I was taught to fiddle to get the horse on the bit. It never felt right to me. It felt uncomfortable. I recently realised that I was getting him on the bit with pressure and release of the bit, rather than having *him* take the contact.

What I've started to do to encourage the horse to use his body without tension (which results in roundness) is get him nice and forward with my seat and light calf pressure. Then i half halt with my seat. I just softly squeeze with my thighs, in rhythm with his stride. Then I soften my elbows and he reaches forward into the contact. It's like a little forward stretch towards the bit. So he is actually reaching into the contact without any pressure from me. I believe this is how it is supposed to be. It feels nice and he seems happy with it.

I find the thing is to do as little as possible with the hands. Do your transitions from your seat. I know I'm making it sound formulaic but it is harder than the fiddling method because if the horse doesn't understand you or you get your timing wrong he doesn't respond.

I think it's very important to soften the contact so he is willing to take it forward. If he doesn't take it I still soften so I'm not forcing things. There are people on here a million times more experienced at this than I am who could give you lots of advice but this way of riding is working for me. It's like having a conversation rather than giving orders Mabey it's the illusive 'feel' people talk about

Also, do lots of transitions from your seat. Walk-halt ones are good at first. They get him off the forehand so he becomes balanced. Balance comes from half halts so it's good to use them, especially before and after any changes, like changes of gait or direction or approaching corners. I'm really enjoying trying different things and figuring things out. It makes it very interesting. Have fun with it.

 

[ester]

I would take the time to invest in a short course of schoolmaster lessons and feel what it is you really want to achieve with your horse. It's almost impossible to get the right feel without that

I did think this too, it made a huge difference to my own riding.