The infamous, mysterious half halt! If you were to ask 100 riders what the definition of a half halt is, you’d get 100 different answers! The half halt has a bad reputation for being highly misunderstood, yet it is possibly one of the most important ingredients in your riding. Many beginner riders have a hard time riding a good half halt because they simply don’t understand the meaning behind it.
Common Misconceptions
A lot of people think that a riding a good half halt is all about slowing the horse down. While you can use a half halt to slow down, it does not in any way reflect what a half halt actually is. The meaning of a half halt is more far-reaching than that! The term “half halt” is a broad spectrum of methods and ideals that shape the way you ride your horse. So when 100 different people give you 100 different definitions of what a half halt is, mostly likely all 100 definitions are correct! A half halt is a horse of many different colors!
At the same time, though, there are several ideas about half halts that simply are not correct. As stated above, a half halt does NOT mean “slow down.” It does NOT mean “pull on the reins.” And it has nothing to do with halting, or even half-way halting!
What is a Half Halt?
Like I said, there could very well be 100 different correct definitions of a half halt. As you progress in your riding you will learn how to do many different types of half halts that are applied for different reasons. I’m not going to lie; you will not be able to magically ride a good half halt after learning all the various definitions for them! Being able to ride a variety of good half halts requires practice and hours in the saddle. You really need to learn how to ride good half halts by developing feel. But you will be miles ahead of your time if you do a little reading and start to understand a little more about the actual meaning and principles behind the half halt.
With that being said, if I were to pick only one word to describe half halts for you, the word would be… BALANCE! When it boils down to it, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BALANCE!!!
In most cases, riding a good half halt is all about bringing balance to your horse. Most horses will continuously need to be rebalanced throughout the ride. As the rider, you need to be constantly assessing your horse’s balance and trying to help them re-balance with half halts. You could possibly be riding a half halt every 3-4 strides throughout the duration of your ride! That’s why I like to say “RIDE the horse, don’t just sit there!”
Next I will describe some of the most common types of half halts.
The “Heads Up” Half Halt
This is the easiest, most simple half halt of them all. The “heads up” half halt is used to give the horse a heads up about the next movement you are about to do. You can also use this as a general “heads up” to the horse who needs their attention refocused for any reason. The idea behind it is that you are grabbing their attention right before you give your next cue. That way they are paying attention to you and thinking, “what’s next?”
This simple half halt is usually just a squeeze and release of the outside rein. You are just saying, “Hey, listen to me and get ready for what’s next.” I like to always give this kind of a half halt right before I ask for a transition to canter. A prompt canter transition is what we should alway strive for, and when you give the horse a heads up, they are ready to transition right when you ask. Why? Because you gave them a warning that something was coming and so therefore, they are paying attention. (A good canter transition should start with a ‘heads up” half halt, followed by a balancing half halt, and finally the cue to canter. More about that later!)
I also use this type of half halt for horses who need a general “heads up” about, say, a lawn mower getting ready to pass, or if i need to get their attention for any reason. So basically, this type of half halt is telling the horse to watch, listen, and wait.
The Half Halt for the Speedy, Runaway Horse
This type of horse needs A TON of good half halts to bring them back into a rhythmic, relaxed tempo. But before I go any further, lets get one thing straight: A SPEEDY HORSE IS A LAZY HORSE!!! Yup, that’s right! A speedy, rushy horse is actually very lazy. Why? Because they are falling onto the front end and pulling themselves along rather than using their hind end to push themselves forward. The hind end is the engine of the horse, and rushy horses don’t want to use it! And because they have fallen onto the front end, they are unbalanced. So in order to stop the rushing and get a nice, smooth and floaty gait, you need a half halt to balance the horse in a way that promotes the usage of the hind end.
This type of half halt is hard to master because it is not easy to contain a rushy horse! The rider’s first instinct is usually to pull on the reins to slow the horse down. The thing is, you don’t actually want the horse to slow down at all! You need to simply change the way the horse is using it’s body. Think about slowing the front end and adding more energy to the hind end.
Your half halt is going to slow the front end, but then you need your leg to take action to keep the hind end going! So when your horse is rushy and running away with you, first think about adding a little leg, closing your fists, tightening your core and holding it for a few seconds. Then release and give your hands slightly forward as you add leg again. Repeat again and again as often as needed.
Think about it like this: You start by adding energy with your leg. Next, you capture it with your hands and core, and then you release it as you are adding leg again. So you are basically creating energy, sending it from the hind end up to the front of the horse and stopping it with you hands and core before it all falls out the front. Then you are holding onto that energy for a few seconds and recycling it back to the hind end. Imagine if you were to only add energy and not capture it with your hands. The horse would get faster and faster as the energy keeps falling out the front. And the horse would fall even more onto his front legs. This is precisely the snow ball effect. You want the horse to rock back, not fall forward.
Just remember that you do not want to pull on the horse’s face. If you start a tug-of-war, you will NOT win. This bad habit of pulling is often how horses learn to pull and lean on the rider’s hands. Your pulling will only make the horse pull back. But don’t be shy with your hands either! You do need to take up a firm grip with the rushy horse, but the key is that you LET IT GO. So go ahead and grab contact with the horses mouth, even pull back for a few seconds if needed. But don’t keep pulling. You need to use the aid, then get out of it. Use it, get out. Use it, get out.
The Rebalancing Half Halt
This half halt is broad one. I would say that this type of a half halt is used constantly throughout the ride to rebalance a horse in general and to prepare them for other movements. There are probably hundreds of variations on how people ride this type of half halt, but the basics are still the same as the rushy horse half halt. The major difference here is that you would usually use the outside rein more often than both reins. The rushy horse half halt is more about balancing the horse from front to back. But this general rebalancing half halt could be used to balance a horse onto one particular leg, or shoulder, or even just to add a little more uphill tendency.
One of the best ways to use this half halt is before a transition. Sending horse into a transition can easily get a horse off balance. So you definitely want a horse to be in good balance before the transition. So before every transition, it’s usually a good idea to give a proactive half halt to make sure everything is ready for the transition. For example, if the horse is falling on the forehand before you ask for canter, how do you think the canter will turn out? (on the forehand as well!)
You also need to use these half halts all throughout your ride to keep your horse “through” and forward. Horses naturally fall onto the forehand, so the rider needs to constantly be checking and adjusting the horse to help them balance. Then the horse can really come “through” and not be “stuck.”
You always want to be thinking about putting energy into the horse through the hind end and recycling it back to the hind end again and again. So start by adding your leg to send energy from the hind end. Then capture this energy in the front. Usually you’ll do this with your fist on the outside rein, along with your core. In this split second you need to also decide if the inside rein needs a little suppling. The horse’s head needs to feel supple and flexed slightly to the inside. For this half halt you usually don’t need to hold it longer that a second. So after you’ve captured the energy in the front, you will release it and slightly give your hands forward as you add leg again to finish it off.
The most rewarding part of this is the RELEASE! When you release the half halt and give slightly forward with your hands(and add leg), this is the moment when the horse is using the new energy in his newfound balance! Those few seconds that follow will be the best moments you’ll get. It’s as if you are adding energy, holding it while the horse gets balanced (and gets ready to properly use that energy), and finally you release the half halt and push the horse forward so he can use the energy that he is now set up to properly use. When you push your hands slightly forward, this gives the horse a little room to move freely forward.
Simplified: Leg, capture, release, give, leg……Leg, capture, release, give, leg…..
All of this happens within a second. And there and hundreds of variations of this half halt as well. Sometimes it depends on what movement you are doing. Sometimes its all about the type of horse you are riding. And it also could change depending on the gait. Rider preference is also a big factor in how to ride this half halt.
The Collecting Half Halt
This half halt is used when you are doing some heavy duty collecting! Once again, it’s the same principle of recycling the energy. The difference here is that you are going to use 100% more core and SEAT. You will also recycle the energy faster, and you won’t necessarily release it and push the horse freely forward. It’s more like this: Leg, capture, leg, capture, leg, capture, leg, capture, etc. All the while you are using your seat to influence the length of stride. Now, there is still a release that happens here. It’s just very very quick. The higher you go up the levels, you will be using more and more seat, core, and leg. More collection=more energy. The importance of riding a good half halt will also sky rocket as you move up the levels.
Summary
Once again, there are many many variations on riding a good half halt. But the principle behind a good half halt is the same. Essentially you are rebalancing the horse and manipulating the flow of energy. Learning to ride good half halts requires time and practice. Hopefully now, you have a better understanding of the meaning and purpose of a good half halt. Understanding it better will go a long ways toward being able to ride it well.
Keep Riding, Keep Refining
The Refined Rider
