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Continued from Good
Basics I
5-Half-Halt for the Green Horse
Like everything else in the horse’s training, the half-halt is taught.
Easier to teach is the half-halt in trot than the half-halt in walk and
canter. A correct halt-halt is delivered through an erect upper body,
contracted lower back, and momentarily restraining, but ‘breathing’
contact. The correct response is a more engaged hindquarter and a lighter
forehand, in other words, collection. The half-halt can be applied in
varying degrees, depending on the desired response. Lasting only a couple
of strides, the half-halt is a subtle and effective way to rebalance or
collect a horse.
Teaching the half-halt in the trot is done through trot-walk-trot
transitions. The number of walk steps between trots is decreased until it
reaches only one stride, which becomes nearly undetectable throughout the
movement. Eventually, the rider gives the aid to walk but keeps the horse
in trot, and as a response, the horse shifts his balance to his hind end,
collects a little, while keeping the trot.
The half-halt in canter is taught differently. As you canter on a 20m
circle, brace your lower back a little and close your outside hand at the
moment when the leading foreleg is on the ground (which is just before the
outside hind comes forward). It is the same moment when the neck is
lowered. Nine out of ten times, the horse that is not familiar with the
half-halt will break into trot. That is perfectly fine, but you must
correct it instantly. It is not important to rebalance the trot, unless it
is completely falling apart. Just as the horse breaks into the first
stride of trot, your outside leg would already be asking him to canter
again, preferably supported by a verbal ‘no’. Ride another circle in
canter, then repeat the half-halt. Most likely, the horse will break
again, but your response will be instantaneous, asking him to canter on.
After several corrections, your horse will realize that you do not want
him to trot, and will try something else, usually a few slower or
collected strides. As soon as that happens, praise your horse and canter
forward, then try again. It is important to refresh the canter by doing a
few medium strides in between half-halts to prevent loss of impulsion. It
might take just a couple of corrections, or ten minutes of circling for
your horse to understand your request. Don’t be discouraged if it takes a
really long time because the more frequently you work on it, the easier it
gets. Make sure you change the rein and work the other side equally.
This going forward and coming back teaches the horse to be more responsive
to your aids, in addition to building his muscles, improving his
self-carriage, and introducing collection. It is the building block for
all the work that is about to follow.
6-Transitions
The half-halt makes it possible to ride good transitions. Without the
half-halt, upward transitions may be hollow, and downward transitions on
the forehand. A good transition guarantees that the following gait or
movement will be good, too. With your horse on the bit and responsive to
the half-halt, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t do a perfectly balanced
transition.
Upward transitions, like walk to trot, or trot to canter, must exhibit a
willingness to go forward. For example, the transition to canter must show
a clear uphill jump into canter, not a flat, dragged depart. This is
achieved by proper balancing of the horse through a little half-halt,
alerting the horse that something is coming up. If the horse is not
adequately prepared, he will probably throw his nose up in surprise,
thinking, “Oh! What? Ah, canter. Okay!”
Downward transitions require even more preparation. The trot to walk, for
example, needs an active hind engine that keeps stepping through actively.
A faulty trot-walk transition looks abrupt, as though the horse hit a
wall, with the hind engine taking a nap. Instead, you should feel that the
energy in the hind end generated in the trot is carried forth into
walk—almost as if the forelegs step into walk while the quarters stay in
trot. Of course, this feeling lasts through the transition only, as the
next walk steps must be smooth and fluid.
Canter-trot transitions need a clear half-halt. Since the horse will
already be familiar with the half-halt, willingly collecting his canter
stride upon request, this transition should be fairly easy:
1. In
a nice, forward canter, half-halt and let the horse collect a little.
2.
Follow the collection for two or three strides, then merely think ‘trot’,
giving a very slight indication on the outside rein if necessary.
Horses usually respond very well to softening of the aids, so the moment
you harmonize with the collected canter, your horse will be very ready to
trot at the slightest cue. Very important throughout these transitions
that the horse remains soft to the contact and supple at the poll. The
canter-walk transition is performed pretty much the same way, but requires
a more powerful canter to start with, then a stronger half-halt to absorb
that energy into an uphill collected canter, harmonizing for a moment,
then sitting deep and restraining with the hand into walk, then
immediately softening. The quality of the canter-walk transition depends
on the quality of the collected canter and the tact of the rider in
application of the aids.
You should also practice transitions within gaits, such as working
trot-medium trot-working trot. At this stage, these can be done on a 20m
circle, by lengthening the trot for a circle, then gently bringing it back
to working trot for another circle, and so forth. The same can be done at
the canter. Trot lengthening across the diagonal are to be attempted after
the horse is comfortable changing the rein in working trot, accepting a
new outside leg and hand as he reaches the opposite side in a confident
and relaxed way.
Transitions within the canter are also an integral part of the horse’s
basic training. As the horse becomes familiar with the half-halt in
canter, it is time to practice some medium-working canter transitions, or
even medium-collected transitions. On a 20m circle, start with in a nice
working canter, then ask the horse to lengthen for half or more of a
circle. Do this by applying the outside leg when the horse is in the last
canter phase with the neck lowered and the leading inside foreleg about to
leave the ground. This causes the outside pushing hind leg to engage
deeper and facilitate the lengthening of strides. Then half-halt and
collect the stride to working canter. If you have thoroughly familiarized
your horse with the half-halt, this exercise should be a piece of cake. To
make it a little more difficult, half-halt in medium canter to working
canter, then half-halt again to collected canter, and soften and
harmonize, allowing the horse to carry himself in a collected canter for
half a circle or more. It is important to ride smoothly out of it into
working or medium without jetting the horse forward with your leg, as that
rings like punishment to the horse.
7-Medium Paces
A lengthened stride is not the same as a medium stride. In dressage tests,
you may find ‘lengthened strides’ in lower levels, but as you move up, the
tests ask for ‘medium strides’. Many horses can lengthen without showing a
truly medium pace. I believe that lengthening can come out of a working
pace, but a medium comes out of a more collected pace. This is because a
lengthened stride is merely longer, while a medium stride is active,
uphill, with a lighter forehand that flicks forward.
A few steps of collected trot before asking for medium strides help
elevate the forehand and activate the quarters. The better the quality of
the collection, the better the extension that follows. Riding plenty of
medium trots throughout a training session keeps the horse alert, light to
the leg, and active. It also supples the horse, builds muscle, and frees
the shoulder. With your horse relaxed, on the aids, round, and obedient to
the half-halt, the medium trot comes through naturally.
The medium canter can still look good on most horses even if preceded by a
working canter. You can safely ride an energetic medium canter down the
long side when you are confident your horse will answer your half-halt
before the corner. Of course, if the horse ignores you, go back a step and
work on transitions on a circle until the horse is happy to half-halt on
request.
The seven steps in these articles form the base that supports further
training. If your horse is trained up to this level, you can be sure you
will receive no less than a 60% score on a First Level test regardless of
your type of horse. Any horse that was thoroughly familiarized with these
concepts is a horse with very solid basics. While training these basics
can take up to two years of hard, patient work, progressing from this
point should be fairly easy. The seeds have been planted and nurtured, now
you can watch them blossom.
Further Reading:
The Elements of Dressage: A Guide to Training the
Young Horse by K.A. von Ziegner
The Simplicity of Dressage by Johann
Hinnemann and Coby van Baalen
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