Rushing and leaning on hands.

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Todmiester

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Youngster has been backed just over 8 weeks, she is in the school once a week otherwise I school whilest out hacking. I have an electric rear end and at present have had sciatica in my leg so dont have much power in my legs or pelvic girdle.

She is forward going and on her forehand at times due to learning to rebalance as I would expect on a young horse who has not built up the muscles. She is being ridden in a french link loose snaffle, and cavason noseband.

What exercies can I do to slow her down and help lift her front end, whilest I have poor power in my lower body. My school master I control with minimal weight changes, but this horse is not ready for half halt. But have just introduced leg yeild hacking, and we do plenty transitions without it becoming confusing and her becoming sticky.
 
20m-10m circles, spiral circles, transitions between gaits voltes but for all of them you'll still need the leg to help lift the shoulders and bring back end under to the hand
 
Not ready for half halt - why? I do half halts from day one; it's the only way you can influence pace, and the only way to perform any transitions at all. How do you get the horse to slow, balance or change pace then?
 
My 1st RI taught riders half-halt by saying "steady" on corners etc (it was years before I knew that was half-halt). In your position, I would say that to myself, to keep the aid minimal but to help the horse to rebalance.
 
I already do that kind of half halt which I don't see as a true half halt. A true half halt according to my old school instructor was to ask for a change of speed then just as horse does it with inner leg ask for forward movement.
 
Teach the half halt now...it will help you tremendously.

I teach half halt before I even get on. Before I long rein, I do ground work where I walk with the horse, I use 1.5 metre dog leads as reins and start walking between head and shoulder to teach the horse the beginnings of walking in front of me and learning to go forward without having to follow. Then I move back to the shoulders, then back to the girth and make my way up to long reining.

Through all of this, the horse will be given a half halt before every transition.

Imo, if you are going to do 200 transitions, you need to do 200 half halts. They are simply how I let the horse know that I am about to ask it a question, so it is listening and ready to respond when I do ask.

I honestly think that teaching the half halt is one of the cornerstones of training horses. It is a leveller, a grounder, an opening of the line of communication that we need.

No half halt means fuzzy questions and fuzzy answers or confusion.

Good half halt means attentive horse, clear question, ability to answer clearly, no confusion.

Have a think about that. I would introduce it on the ground where the horse is not having to concentrate on balancing your weight as well, although with the hacking it has done, you may be ok to start slowly under saddle if you have someone to help.
 
Try thinking of a half halt as having nothing to do with halting.

Maybe think of it more as a half go.

I'll be honest, I use different half halt methods for different horse, depending on what they respond to the best, but I never think of them as asking any kind of question to do anything....just more of a set up. More of a knock on the door so that they know they need to answer.
 
GG the way you have described half halt is probably what I do with the youngster before every change of movement where on the older one we are so in tuned with one another I just have to think what I'm doing next and get the response. Its been a while since I've brought on a newly backed horse and I've realised how much I've taught the older one who I've brought on from the same stage as the youngster.
 
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