HANDY HALF-HALTS

We’ve all been told in a lesson by our instructor to ‘half-halt’ but do we really know what they are asking us to do? A half-halt is probably one of the most confusing aids to understand and learn to ride, so here we try to demystify it a bit. If used correctly, it can be a super powerful way of improving your pony’s way of going and your riding!

WHY DO WE DO HALF-HALTS?

To ride well and have our ponies going in a way that makes riding easier for them and for us, they have to be balanced. When a pony leans on your hand, runs along or pulls up or down it is because they have lost their balance and are ‘running’ on the forehand. This means that most of the weight is now in their shoulders, and they are barreling forwards and unable to stop in more extreme instances.

A half-halt is an aid that helps your pony to rebalance himself in these moments. The halfhalt helps to shift the pony’s weight out of his shoulders and back into his hind end so that he can carry himself better and move more freely yet with more control. A half-half is, therefore, super important for balancing your pony if he is starting to rush, preparing your pony for a change in gait or movement and keeping your pony concentrating on you.

Some situations in which a half-half can help:

• Going into corners, as ponies easily lose their balance in the corners.

• Coming out of corners, to prepare them to be balanced on the next side.

• Before a transition (either upward or downward). Half-halts can be particularly useful going into the canter as they can encourage the pony to take weight behind and ‘jump’ neatly into the canter.

• Before doing a new movement in dressage. A half-halt, in this case, helps, firstly, to let your pony know that you are about to give a new instruction and secondly, to get them nice and balanced so that they can execute the movement well.

• Coming into or going out of jumps to make sure your pony is balanced and not rushing.

• When riding downhill to keep your pony balanced.

• When your pony isn't listening. In this instance, a half-halt can remind your pony that you are still there and that you could give them a new instruction at any time. This can help to tune them into your aids.

TRAINING THE HALF-HALT FEELING IN THE HUMAN

The trick to riding a successful half-halt begins with teaching your pony to understand the aids for it, as well as getting the timing right. However, it is difficult to do this if you, the rider, don’t know what you are looking for. A useful way of training the half-halt so that you can learn the feeling you are looking for and get your pony strong enough to half-halt is the following:

• Work in trot on a circle.

• Prepare to walk by slowing your rising.

• Just as your pony starts to feel like he could walk, gently ask him up into trot again.

This is the feeling of the half halt – when you get your pony to come back, and he rounds his back and steps under with his hind legs in order to be able to balance himself and then move off again in balance.

• This is a difficult exercise, so if your pony struggles, ask him to slow the trot instead of bringing him to an almost walk before encouraging him to trot more forwards again. Over time he will get strong enough to be able to come to a very slow jog and then accelerate back up again.

THE AIDS

All instructors teach the half-halt slightly differently, but here’s how we do it:

• When your pony is moving forwards, and you feel that he becomes unbalanced or speedy, breathe in, close your hand on the outside rein and sit back a little while keeping your legs on. You then release with your hand and seat. The whole movement should only last for half a second. You do not want to hold or pull, or your pony will pull against you.

• If it helps to have a picture in your mind when doing this, we think of the half-halt as tipping our pony’s weight out of the shoulders and into the hindquarters. We don’t think of it as slowing down but rather tipping the weight back to power up the hindquarters so they can keep the forward motion but with more balance.

• If one half-halt is not enough to rebalance your pony, then do a couple in a row, making sure to release in between each one. If this doesn’t work bring him back to a halt and repeat the exercise again.

‘Bracing’ the outside rein and sitting back for a split second, whilst continuing to encourage the forward motion, has the effect of asking your pony to step more under from behind and engage his hind legs more. This keeps him in balance by removing some of the weight from the forehand and tipping it back onto the hindquarters.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

A half-half is not an easy thing to understand but when used well can make a massive difference to the quality of your riding, and your pony’s movement. Spend some time getting familiar with the half-halt, and chat to your instructor about it. They will show you exactly how best to do it, to get the results you are looking for.