Half halts

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Rachel93

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My lovely mare unfortunately is a bit long in the back and quite croup high, so she struggles to engage and will get long and low, in walk and trot she's fine and half halts fine and is easy to keep engaged and off the fore hand, but in canter if I try and half halt she instantly falls back to trot even if I'm quick with legs, the only way I keep her from falling back to trot is to flick her with the whip as soon as i half halt, which isn't really helpful in a dressage test, plus it can rattle her a little bit and then I've got to get her concentrated again, so does anyone have any tips on how to get more engaged and of the forehand in canter? She really does try but her shape and conformation do make it hard for her, and it is quite scary in canter when you're jumping and she's almost got her nose on the floor!
 
It sounds to me as if your half-halt is a bit fierce in canter. My 1st RI taught me to half halt by saying 'steady', perhaps you should think that to yourself, or say it to the horse, as you ahlf-halt. I don't think I'd be jumping her until she can canter with her nose off the floor. Lots of work on transitions and pole work should help.
 
How exactly are you asking for the half halt in canter? For whatever reason it sounds like you are over doing it.
 
When I half halt I literally just breath out and deepen my seat and she thinks woah, sometimes I tend to get a little fixed with my hands cos she leans quite a bit, come to think of it I should really do a bit more giving and retaking in canter, she is quite sensitive which is great but it's a bit too dramatic in canter, I saw another post similar to mine which was helpful to read the advice. She is quite weak and stiff which I think doesn't help, to watch she doesn't look awful, just a bit quick and lack of rhythm, I wish I could afford an ideal Jessica saddle, I don't know why but it makes ride so much better.
 
Oh forgot to add, I part loan her and the yard I'm at is a pretty bitchy and I imagine if I say please don't jump her until she's improved there'll be uproar. I know really silly, but it's quite a big yard and everyone seems to get involved with my business I actually don't know who most the people are, but some how they always seem to know my business.
 
Oh dear, that's why I have mine at home!

You can try other things to lift her off the forehand and strengthen her rear end along with half halts. Things like leg yield and shoulder in can help but make sure she can do them well in walk and trot first. Do lots of shortening and lengthening in all paces and do lots of transitions between paces. Try doing half halts from a more forward canter. Teach her transitions from walk to canter and back to walk and also canter to halt to canter (again ensure she halts properly from walk and trot first). It may just be that she doesn't feel balanced enough to do collected canter at the moment. Do you get chance to hack? If so hill work in canter can help, again go through shortening and lengthening and transitions between canter and walk wherever possible
 
Rachel93 said:
Oh forgot to add, I part loan her and the yard I'm at is a pretty bitchy and I imagine if I say please don't jump her until she's improved there'll be uproar. I know really silly, but it's quite a big yard and everyone seems to get involved with my business I actually don't know who most the people are, but some how they always seem to know my business.
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You don't need to jump her though. IMO you should concentrate your schooling sessions in building her muscles and loosening her up. What does her owner think about her way of going?
 
It's possible she just isn't moving forwards enough in canter in the first place, so when you half halt she just goes back to trot. If that is the case, then I would work on getting her really moving forwards, even if her canter gets a bit fast or unbalanced at first. Once the energy is actually there in canter, you can work on gathering her up a bit more. But you can't gather up energy that isn't there. To do that, I'd stick to canter on straight lines & mainly going large. When she can do that nicely & in balance, I'd ride the short sides as large half circles, eventually moving onto exercises involving more bend. And once you have that, you can play around shortening & lengthening her stride, but still with the same energy level as the original too fast & low canter, regardless of stride length. Then you can introduce lateral work, and walk to canter transistions.
I also wonder what her topline is like? If she's very green schooling wise, chances are her back muscles just aren't sufficiently developed to work in anything but a very long & low outline in canter. In which case the above still stands, its what I'd do with any green horse. And remember back muscles take a while to develop to be strong enough to work properly in a more upright position.
It's also worthwhile checking her saddle fit. And I'd try it on the lunge too, to see how much is a rider issue, past or present, & how much it is just her way of going.
And btw, unless its someone genuinely wanting to help, tell any busybodies to mind their own!
 
Hi guys thanks for all the advice I'll try it out and if I can figure out to post pictures I'll post some to show you my progress. I'm planning on having some lessons as well, I think I get a tense sometimes which doesn't help, I'm actually her owner, and have been for 7 years, I've only been at that yard about 2 years but her loaner has had horses there for 17 years so people seem to take her side, I haven't jumped her in ages, and if I did I would do grid work, but her loaner has jumped her recently in a lesson, I just have a feeling if I say would you mind not jumping her until she gets more engaged, Chinese whispers will start and I'll come across as a bossy owner, it's pretty annoying seeing as most of these women are in their 40s and I'm 19 and it just confuses why they gossip like school girls. I'll talk to my instructor and see what she thinks. Thanks for your help! :)
 
Bossy owner? No, concerned owner who is well within their rights to state no jumping for a month if you think it is of benefit to the horse!

Who will end up with the vets bill if something goes wrong?
 
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