half halt???

[lauren123]

I have never been taught how to half halt even though i have being riding for 8 years with me having king his canter is fast and someone said about half halt but i dont no what it is or how to do it

[coss]

think of half halt as a collecting moment, you need to use your outside rein and its similar to asking for a downwards transition bu tyou have to stop the downwards transition from actually happening so your seat and leg should just think smaller steps, your rein aid just says "hang on a minute" and then allow forwards again- it should only last a couple of steps

[cwb]

Half halts vary from just a light "twinkle" on the outside rein to a definite tug plus a blocking seat and restraining legs - depending on the horse and the situation.

To slow a canter then use the outside rein to pull the outside nostril just into view and release - repeat until the horse slows.

[cvb]

ok - both responses so far have mentioned outside rein. This is likely to be because they generally use the "inside leg into outside rein" approach.

There are different approaches to halt - and hence to half-halt.

So if we start from a different point - a half-halt is a hesitation that asks the horse to listen, and often results in them rebalancing themselves.

So think about what your normal aids for halt are - and think about how you might "almost" halt. To refine it you can actually start from a halt transition (from whatever pace) and then gradually lighten it up so you get an almost halt, and then get it lighter still so you just get the attention of the horse without it actually stopping.

A half-halt is often used as a preparation to say "listen up" e.g. before you get to a corner/turn "listen up" and then apply the aid for the turn, before a transition "listen up" and then ask for the upward or downward transition etc etc

Because it asks for the horse to listen, it can also helps with the "I am about to tank off" scenario when it becomes more of an "OI LISTEN !!!" ;)