I am hearing some different things regarding what a half halt is. So.. how do you define a half halt and what do you do to get one? My understanding is also that a half halt is used to slow a horse down or "get the horses attention" as in listen up we're going to change gaits etc. Thanks in advance.

I'm laughing a little because I think this question is a much debated topic in the horse world and you can find a multitude of discussions about it. I have found that the consensus usually is that a half halt is used to rebalance your horse and refocus him, whether he is rushing, preparing for a transition, a jump, leaning, whatever. It shifts his weight back onto his hindquarters a bit as well.

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It shifts his weight back onto his hindquarters a bit as well.

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I couldn't have said it better. Its a communication aid that helps rebalance your horse for what you are preparing to ask in the next stride.

The easiest way I have found for teaching the half-halt is to start of course at the walk. Ask for a series of walk to halt transitions. Hold the halt for a few seconds and ask for the walk again. Once your horse has that down, ask for the halt again from the walk, but as soon as your horse shifts his weight back to stop, squeeze him foward again back into the walk. The horse should not be allowed to halt. It will start off feeling like a hesitation but will eventually become smoother and feel like your horse is picking himself up by shifting his weight back. Hope that helps a bit.

Okay, first no rudeness intended....but I've been curious for quite a while... do you actually do anything with horses? For a while I thought you were asking questions because you were thinking about entering "the horse world" and then I switched and decided you were just trying to ask questions that would stir the pot so to speak. Then your questions switched to dealing mainly with money issues.

So, I'm just confused and I've stopped answering any questions, thinking they weren't legit. However, if they are I'd like to answer them. If you don't want to answer in the public forum I totally understand and would welcome a PM, but I just didn't want to put forth the effort to answer any questions if they were only being asked for S & G.

So, sorry if everything is above board and I'm a doofus.

Dear Phyxius (and anyone else who might have similar concerns).

1. Do I actually do anything with horses? Not as much as I would like. I have loved horses from the time I learned what a horse was. I owned a horse from age 13 to 17. I pretty much gave up riding (for 20+ years) until Feb 06 when I started weekly lessons. I have taken mostly hunter seat lessons as well as a few dressage lessons. I am currently hoping to half lease. I really would love to own a horse again, but money (lack thereof is a huge issue) and will be for a while (student loans).

2. Do I ask questions to "stir the pot." No, my questions are not intended to "stir the pot." I apologize if anyone was offended about questions pertaining to money but I think at least one of those questions reflected my frustration with my current situation (as in how the hell does anyone afford this?). Other money questions were related to horse upkeep and insurance that I really did not know about. A post of mine was recently bumped "your favorite horse" which you may wish to view. I believe I have posted a few of that variety as well.

3. I would be interested in what you might have to say about half halts, I heard one thing from my dressage teacher and another from the owner of the horse that I am considering half leasing.

Sincerely,
Cyndy

Cyndy (great spelling of your name by the way!! )
Thanks for replying, I couldn't think of any nice way to say what in my own opinion was kind of rude. However, I didn't want to keep passing by your posts if you really wanted answers. Ha, not that my answers are always right or always the best. But, they are a different perspective (sometimes).

I think it's great that you're riding again! Yay! Have you started looking for a lease horse yet? I've never leased a horse, but I've seen in want ads that there are far fewer for lease than for sale, good luck finding one and you'll have to keep us updated. You know we hound people for pictures

Oh, and money? Not offended by money at all....just don't have any. It all (okay, not all but mostly) gets tied up to horses somehow! I feel ya there!

Okay, now that I've hijacked your thread -
Half-Halts. They differ from person to person, trainer to trainer, and discpline to discpline; but, fundamently they're all the same.

Purpose:
To lighten the horse. To prepare them for something new, (like a jump in hunters). To signal a change in gait or within the gait. To rebalance and place more weight on the hind-end.

How to:
(This is where people really differ.) Simplest explination is to ask for "Whoa" and then almost simultaneously ask for "Go". Now, unless you and your horse are actually familiar with half-halts this Whoa-but-Go approach won't get you much a response. So, tried and true method of teaching half halts... trot-halt-trot transitions. Lots of 'em! Ask for about 10 strides of trot, then halt for a couple seconds. Then trot 8-10 strides, then halt for a couple seconds. Decrease the number of trot strides and the amount of time halted. You want PROMPT, FORWARD take offs, with the horse lifting his/her shoulder, but NOT longeing forward. You want square, balanced halts where the horse steps up (almost think up and under, but know it's square).

Now, try trotting and then prepare to halt; think halt, allow your muscles to think "halt". BUT at the teeniest tiniest, most miniscule reaction of the horse ask for forward. Other wise you'll have waiting too long and end up with a slowdown-speed up movement instead. (Like a person driving a car up a hill pumping the gas for a second and then letting go.) You don't want that. So, again think whoa just enough to get a "lift" and "lightening" of the horse and then ask for forward.

(Just reread other posts and saw that this was already answered...but since I've typed it I'm not erasing it! )

What's wrong with sitring the pot every now and then? Keeps us thinking and learning and sharing information. And there is nothing in this forum stipulating you have to own a horse to participate.

Exactly right, MorganRider.

I stir the pot quite often (not here so much, I *try* to behave. But, occasionally Erica tries to lure me over to the dark side.

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Back on subject though, RiderSkiier, any luck with the half-halts?

OK I think I understand what a half halt is intended to be. One of the things I was confused about was how to cue for it. I was told you are supposed to push a little with your seat and legs and also tighten the reins. One trainer (who is a dressage instructor from Germany said to just use the outside rein). Another person said to use both reins. What do you folks think? I appreciate any wisdom that might be offered (as well as recommendations for dressage books that would be good for a person new to dressage and preferably still useful as one advances- highly technical is no obstacle for me)

Ah, I see what you mean. When I first started taking lessons they were pretty strict hunter type. That's where I learned the one rein half-halt. Since then I've had three other instructors describe it as the Whoa-but-Go method posted above by myself and another person. One is a grand prix dressage rider, one is an eventer, and the third is horse trainer.

A lot depends on how the horse was taught. However, I've found that the one rein "half-halt" doesn't work correctly (if at all). BUT, since your reins will be doing different things the whoa-but-go may be considered one rein, and it works. (gee, not explaining well at all!)

The basic idea is to ask the horse to slow down and ALMOST simultaneously ask it for forward. So, if you usually ride with a strong outside rein you obviously won't change that much. However, if you glide-and-release with your inside or lift up occasionally for a lift than you'll be asking for more "whoa" with that rein, which depending on your persepective may qualify this for a one-rein half halt.

The outside rein should always be stronger, more supporting than the inside. For a sensitive horse sometimes just adding a little more pressure here will get you a half-halt. You should be riding inside leg to outside rein, so the German trainer could be assuming that you'd be adding inside leg and outside rein there by doing pretty much the same thing the other people have told you. So, it seems the controversy is more along the lines of "one rein or two", which I tried to show from above is kind of in the eye of the beholder.

Don't know if that's helpful at all. It's also difficult because there are differnt styles of riding within discplines. French style is different from German, is different from Spanish, etc.

Erica is often the guide to the dark side isn't she? LOL!!! Maybe that's why I love her posts soooo much.

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Erica is often the guide to the dark side isn't she? LOL!!! Maybe that's why I love her posts soooo much.

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Heeheehee isn't that the truth.

As to the half-halts, I half suspect that they are more intuition. I have never been able to figure them out, so you all are way ahead of me. They are mythical and mystical to me. LOL...

RiderSkier, what area are you in? Maybe someone close to you might have a lead on a lease?

I am a native Californian, then Wyoming, now Northeast Ohio (Sylvania)-close to Southeast Michigan. I am pretty sure I am going to be 1/2 leasing a 10 year old throughbred mare. I like her because she is very beautiful and also sensitive. I am probably going to do a one month trial just to make sure things work out. She likes to go so you have to remind her to Whoa a fair amount moves nice and is supposed to jump anything (I've only jumped her about 2'6" but she can do higher). I am mostly planning on lots of flat work to get more saddle time. Got real tired of riding once a week in riding lessons! By the way, as soon as I finish my PhD, I will be looking for jobs in the west!!!

Ah, my niece just moved back from AZ. She has been down there for 2 years, and decided that the NW was where she wanted to be. What is your PhD in? That is a time consuming endeavor! I admire anyone who can accomplish that!