Half-halt from posting trot?

[Stitch_In_Time]

How do you (personally) half halt when you are posting the trot?

I have had trainers describe it to me as “slow your post” or to pause in the saddle on the downbeat.

I understand the concept, and can sometimes make it happen, but I have a tendency to get sucked into my horses rhythm rather than actually controlling it. I have no problem half-halting from a sitting trot, but I can’t seem to get my body to cooperate when I am posting.

Sometimes all it takes is a new way to think about a concept in order for it to finally sink in, so I am hoping someone has a different way of explaining it than what I have heard in the past.

[2tempe]

OP - I sometimes do the slow the post thing for a stride or two. Other times I do the pause idea, though I tend to do it when I’m out of saddle, along with a tighten of my abs and a quick squeeze. For me the slow the post is actually more useful if my horse is a little heavy on forehand or “running” thru my hands. Something where I need a number of strides to correct. The other works for quick rebalance - say for a corner.

[Stitch_In_Time]

@2tempe

OP - I sometimes do the slow the post thing for a stride or two. Other times I do the pause idea, though I tend to do it when I’m out of saddle, along with a tighten of my abs and a quick squeeze. For me the slow the post is actually more useful if my horse is a little heavy on forehand or “running” thru my hands. Something where I need a number of strides to correct. The other works for quick rebalance - say for a corner.

You hit the nail on the head!

My horse is a green 5yo warmblood mare, her go-to evasion is to get heavy on the forehand and run through your aids (leg, seat, hand, all of them!). I’m sure its partly a strength issue, on both our parts. She is the type of horse that is a full body workout to ride, not helped by the fact that I am 5’ 2" and she is 16.1+ and still growing!

[theresak]

I find it’s easier to affect the horse’s rhythm on the up part of the post. I think about floating over the pommel more and then touching the seat of the saddle super lightly before getting up and out again. You want the HH to lift the shoulders, so I think using your body to “lift” more in the up phase of the post is easier then when seated.

[piedmontfields]

You can think of giving a “hip” half halt in the upward phase of the posting trot, by closing your hips slightly.

[Cat_Tap]

I half halt in the sitting phase by emphasizing my shoulders back and down, sitting a little deeper while still using driving aids and squeezing my reins. I will repeat in the next sitting phase if it wasn’t sufficient the first time.

[Dressage_Strider]

First - do you have perfect balance in your post? Can you easily and seamlessly switch between sitting trot, to posting trot, to standing in the stirrups and maintain the post (not a 2-pt)?

[alibi_18]

@Stitch In Time

How do you (personally) half halt when you are posting the trot?

I have had trainers describe it to me as “slow your post” or to pause in the saddle on the downbeat.

I understand the concept, and can sometimes make it happen, but I have a tendency to get sucked into my horses rhythm rather than actually controlling it. I have no problem half-halting from a sitting trot, but I can’t seem to get my body to cooperate when I am posting.

Sometimes all it takes is a new way to think about a concept in order for it to finally sink in, so I am hoping someone has a different way of explaining it than what I have heard in the past.

Half halting and slowing/controlling the horse’s tempo are 2 different things.

You can slow down your posting in order to stop/prevent the horse from ‘‘running’’ and adjusting the tempo to a faster/slower/shorter/longer gait, but you don’t necessarily use the half halt, hence the need of only slowing down (or speeding up) your posting to achieve the result.

Half halts could influence the rhythm by rebalancing, re-establishing the contact for a proper 4 beat walk, 2 beat trot and 3 beat 4 canter.

With good core exercises for you, and a better control of your posting, you should be able to half halt properly while posting in no time.

[Stitch_In_Time]

@Dressage_Strider

First - do you have perfect balance in your post? Can you easily and seamlessly switch between sitting trot, to posting trot, to standing in the stirrups and maintain the post (not a 2-pt)?

I have good balance while posting. I am a hunter convert, so I have spent a lot of time doing balance exercises like changing diagonals back and forth by standing for 2 beats (rather than sitting), and my old coach’s favorite exercise was cycling from posting-sitting-2 point-sitting etc. in whatever order she called out. I got very good at seamlessly flowing from one to the other, the hardest being 2 point-sitting trot.

That being said, one of my greatest riding struggles is the tendency to tip forward. This is a combination of not enough core strength (I’m working on it!) and fighting my own conformation. My Yoga instructor pointed out to me that my pelvis is tilted forward, which makes arching my back and tilting my upper body forward all too easy.

[merrygoround]

Close your inner thighs against the saddle while simultaneously stopping your body, but keep the lower leg to drive the back end under. This takes core strength to keep your upper body steady for just that hearbeat.

The trouble with half halts is that if you hold them until you feel the pause, you’ve held too long, :winkgrin: and then get a downward transition. :no:

[tbchick84]

I think about posting in slow motion. The affect is my horse coming back to me and me staying up longer since I’m in slow motion. Works great.

[joiedevie99]

I do a variety of different things in different situations:

• sit heavy at the bottom of the post
• post in slow motion
• post lower/closer to the saddle
• close my upper thigh
• leave my shoulders behind for a stride, so my hips swing out in front of my shoulders as I post
• bring my shoulders back as I sit so I’m more vertical for a stride

[Stitch_In_Time]

It’s interesting that several responses here mention pausing at the top of the post rather than the bottom of the post. I will definitely give it a try, I think it will be beneficial as my mare’s tendency is to get heavy and run. She is at the trainer right now and we are working hard to get her to use her hind end and not get so heavy in the bridle. She’s shown a lot of improvement, but its still a work in progress!

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

Breathe in…Breathe out (per Robert Dover)

[Cat_Tap]

Isn’t a half halt used to balance the horse to slow and lighten the front end and engage the hind? Slowing the posting would just slow the horse down but not necessarily rebalance.

[Stitch_In_Time]

@Cat Tap In my case I have a tendency to get sucked into my horses rhythm rather than controlling it. I’m not sure yet if it is a lack of strength issue, or if its more of a mental issue where I just can’t get my body to ride a different rhythm than the horse is offering.

Maybe a half-halt is the wrong way to describe it, I’m mainly looking for alternatives (to how I’ve been taught) to control the horses tempo at the posting trot. If I sit the trot I can control the tempo no problem, and maybe I just answered my own question, I am probably not engaging my core enough when I post!

[KittyinAus]

@Stitch In Time

@Cat Tap In my case I have a tendency to get sucked into my horses rhythm rather than controlling it. I’m not sure yet if it is a lack of strength issue, or if its more of a mental issue where I just can’t get my body to ride a different rhythm than the horse is offering.

Maybe a half-halt is the wrong way to describe it, I’m mainly looking for alternatives (to how I’ve been taught) to control the horses tempo at the posting trot. If I sit the trot I can control the tempo no problem, and maybe I just answered my own question, I am probably not engaging my core enough when I post!

Don’t think it’s a lack of strength issue. You can get your body to do a different rhythm. First thing you have to do is believe it. The next thing is to not care if things don’t always look nice when you are doing it. Because you were a hunter, I know that it’s going to be hard to be okay with things not looking great. That’s okay you have other skills, you learnt those and you can learn this one too.

Here’s how you do it. You can use the post to speed up the trot as well as slow it down. Because you won’t be thinking about ‘heck I need to slow this horse down’ that will be easier to learn, I suggest starting with that. When you are trotting slowly, think ‘I want a faster trot and post a bit faster’. Because your horse is green, you will probably have to use a bit of leg in the sit part of the trot post to get the horse to match your rhythm. Do this practice in short bursts of only a few strides. Once you believe that you can post at a different rhythm, than the horse’s rhythm, slowing down the post will be much easier.

Ideally, have a talk to your instructor about your rhythm matching problems. It’s entirely possible that they don’t know it’s a problem for you. If you can, get a lesson on a schoolmaster.

[NSC_Los_Angeles]

Stitch In Time, I feel your pain, I have a long-ish torso and shorter limbs (it’s my cross to bear!). I even had a trainer once tell me I should just go back to jumping as my “conformation” isn’t suitable for dressage. For several years when trying to transition to the dressage seat I felt like I was fighting with my own body. Getting as much saddle time as possible and staying clear of riding in any jumping saddles helped, but I would say the number one exercise that helped me find my core strength, and to just pull it all together, was to alternate the strides of posting/sitting. For instance, you could start with sitting/posting/sitting/posting to get your flow, then try sitting/sitting/posting/sitting/sitting/posting, or switch it up more with sitting/sitting/posting/posting/sitting/sitting, etc. For some reason that exercise unlocked a lot of good stuff for me, and now I’m not fighting my body anymore and I don’t have “bad days,” it feels glorious after a few years of feeling like I was floundering.

[Graymaresrule]

For me it’s a crunch. Up down up down up crunch

[alibi_18]

@Stitch In Time

@Cat Tap In my case I have a tendency to get sucked into my horses rhythm rather than controlling it. I’m not sure yet if it is a lack of strength issue, or if its more of a mental issue where I just can’t get my body to ride a different rhythm than the horse is offering.

Tempo, what you mean is tempo. Not rhythm. Terminology is important to understand.

You get suck in your horse’s tempo. Unless you have trouble keeping the trot?

https://dressagetoday.com/instruction/dressage-tempo-rhythm-27136

Maybe a half-halt is the wrong way to describe it, I’m mainly looking for alternatives (to how I’ve been taught) to control the horses tempo at the posting trot. If I sit the trot I can control the tempo no problem, and maybe I just answered my own question, I am probably not engaging my core enough when I post!

When you sit, it probably goes slower because riders tend to grip more with their thights and naturally block the forward motion more easily with their body.

To control the horse’s tempo at the posting trot, you have to control your own posting tempo. You need to engage your core and be confident in what you want (slowing down/going faster). Like others have said, play with your posting; go faster, go slower, intentionnaly. Give yourself and your horse some time to adjust to the newly asked tempo. Used the letters as goals. Do a fast 20m then a slow 20m, then a working trot 20m.

Have fun.