Half halt is a term that we hear often in the arena but it is often misunderstood and not really made clear to most riders. As a professional coach I will often ask students what their understanding of the half halt is and I undoubtedly get different answers.

Almost every book you open will  give a different description of how to ride a half-halt, but I think  we all agree what a half-halt is:

A pause, a comma, a rebalancing, a signal that something is about to happen. It is what it says it is; you tell the horse to halt and in doing he begins to lower his haunches. At this point, before he stops, changes gait, you apply the forward driving aids and he moves off with his hind legs more engaged than before.

I guess the first place to start is with the FEI definition:

“The half-halt is a hardly visible, almost simultaneous co-ordinated action of the seat, the legs and the hand of the rider, with the  object of increasing the attention and balance of the horse before the execution of several movements or transitions to lesser or higher paces.”

For me the most important word in this definition is the word “almost”. It is quite clear in this definition that the rider’s seat, leg and hand are not to be used at the same time, yet this is often what is done. When seat leg and hand are applied at the same time the horse has to make a choice to listen to only one (as he can only do 1 thing at a time!) This will not only make the horse confused and ultimately tense but will often cause the horse to become dull and heavy to the aids.

So if we look at the half halt in its most purest and simplest form it is half of a halt and at its most basic level is for speed control. When training the young horse the first step is to develop his understanding to light aids to Go, Stop, Turn and Yield. When the horse is responding to these aids lightly we are able to have greater influence over his speed control. The half halt can only be effective when the horse has a good answer to the go and stop aids. Very simply if your aids for halt are not light your half halt will fail no matter what you are endeavoring to do. When your horse gives you an immediate and light response to the slowing and going aids he will be developing the beginnings of engagement. At any time your horse is heavy on the reins be it continually or in downwards transitions he is on the fore hand and is using his weight on his front legs to balance. As he begins to answer your aids lightly he will be taking the weight on to the hind legs, bringing them more under his centre of gravity and developing carrying power.

So how should we ride the half halt?

I divide the half halt into 3 distinct phases.

1. Firstly, the horse must be self maintained in whatever pace you are in. This simply means that he is travelling actively forward without the continual prompting or nagging from the rider’s legs and equally the rider should not have to hold the horse in the pace with the reins.

2. The second phase is the application of the seat (often described as a holding of the tummy muscles) followed by the light application of the rein aid (both reins). If the horse is light to this aid he will immediately shorten his step as he compresses his body taking more weight onto his hind legs as they step more under his center of gravity. This phase may be extremely subtle and only influence the horse’s stride by inches and can often be seen as an increased elevation of the steps in the more educated horse. It is the subtle response that achieves attention and prepares him for movements to follow. A common fault seen at this point is the horse will shorten his neck in answer to the rein aid instead of compressing his body, if this happens it is simply indicating that the horse has become dull to the rein aid and the rider has stopped communicating with the horses lips to control his legs. Another common fault is as the rider asks for the compression of the body the horse pulls against the rein and becomes heavier in the contact. If this happens he has simply given the wrong answer to the rein aid and pulled against the rein rather than respond lightly with a shortening and compressing of the body. Both these faults require the horse to be familiarized with the light aid to halt and then try the half halt again.

3. The last phase is the release of the rein pressure as the horse offers the correct response to the rein aids at which time he is then actively ridden forward from both legs with the his hind legs more engaged than before.

For me the key to the half halt is in the horses understanding of and response to  the light aids.

Only through lightness can true self carriage (self maintenance of rhythm, line and frame) be achieved.