Training half pass

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ChestnutConvert

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I'm riding an ex sj and he seems fine at dressage so far, half pass, shoulder in etc all seem fine. I'm not totally sure if he knows half pass or if i'm making mistakes. If it isn't me and he doesn't know are there any tips for training this movement?
 
How do you he's doing half-pass if you're not sure?

I practice it after a haunches in, or sometimes off a circle from the middle line and they have to be looking in direction of the movement. When we first tried it, we could only do one or two steps as it's quite hard at first. You really have to get impulsion and a good steady rhythm sorted first though in all movements or I've seen horses just try and evade by going faster and breaking out of pace if you haven't prepared them enough.
 
If you are not sure he is doing it right it might be an idea to get someone on the ground to help you out. A SJ wouldn't have been trained in half-pass as a matter of course.

I find this exercise very helpful: leg yield (let's say left) from the track to the 1/4 line (making sure you start with the shoulders leading, this is where you need mirrors or a person on the ground), then stay on the 1/4 line and shoulder in right (this gets them active to your inside leg). Once this works well, progress to travers down the long side and eventually half-pass on the diagonal.
 
A good half pass should demonstrate balance, impulsion and collection. Front legs and hind legs cross, with the shoulders slightly leading, and the horse should be slightly flexed in the direction of movement. As Tallyho says there should be no break in the rhythm of the pace.

In terms of 'feel' half pass is closer to travers than leg yield. In fact half pass and travers are more or less the same movement, with half pass being the more exaggerated version. So if you aren't sure whether you are achieving half pass try travers - shoulders on the track and quarters in, flexion to the inside. If your horse has been doing half pass correctly then travers should come easily.

When I was teaching half pass to my horse (after I had established a nice supple travers) my trainer always had me spend some time doing shoulder in, to help us achieve suppleness and collection. Then for the movement itself I would turn onto the three-quarter line and ask for a slight shoulder-fore positioning. This encourages the inside hind to step under, and discourages the horse from going crooked and leading with the quarters when half pass is asked for.

After two or three strides of shoulder fore I would as for two or three strides of half pass. The aids you use will depend slightly on riding and training style, but here are mine: half halt. Open the inside hand very slightly away from the horse's neck, keeping the contact with the outside rein light but steady. Squeeze with the outside leg, which should already be slightly behind the girth from the shoulder fore. Take care not to shift your weight onto your inside seatbone because this will block the movement.

Aim for a few steps of half pass towards the centre line. What you do next depends on your horse - you may find you have to steady the shoulders with your outside hand if they are leading too much, or switch back into shoulder fore for a few steps if the quarters are leading. Of course, hopefully you will get three perfect strides, in which case I suggest circling away in the direction of the movement and building up a few more steps each time :)

If you aren't sure then having somone on the ground who can recognise the movement would be the best way to go. I taught my horse half pass having never ridden it before but I couldn't have done it without a knowledgeable instructor, and it would have been much easier if I could have borrowed a schoolmaster to try these things out on first!

I hope this is useful and makes some sense! :D
 
Booboos said:
I find this exercise very helpful: leg yield (let's say left) from the track to the 1/4 line (making sure you start with the shoulders leading, this is where you need mirrors or a person on the ground), then stay on the 1/4 line and shoulder in right (this gets them active to your inside leg). Once this works well, progress to travers down the long side and eventually half-pass on the diagonal.
Click to expand...

I do something similar. I leg yeild from the fence line to the center line, then keeping the same bend but changing the aids, I then half pass back to the long side. Think a V shape. I find it much easier to ride half pass if the 'bend' is already established.

Another thing I do is to ride a half 10m circle and return to the track in half pass. This can be ridden at H returning at E or K,From K returning to E or H,from F returning to B or M and from M returning to B or F.
 
I practise on a circle first, and askthe horse to 'close' the circle and then 'open' it again. So you get your horse active to your inside and outside leg, then you can correct it if goes wrong. Once it's responding to that, practise some more shoulder-in. Then practise some travers, make sure it is nice and supple.
Thats all the prep work, now for the real work.

Ask for shoulder-in and then apply the aids for half-pass. You'll first just get 1 or 2 steps of half-pass, but it is just the beginning. It willall get better and better the more you practise.
 
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