Please explain the half halt, in dummy terms

[egontoast]

The half halt is really about feel and rebalancing and that is why all the elaborate descriptions don’t capture it all that well. There is no formula. The best way to understand the half halt is to feel it.

To feel a half halt, try this simple exercise. Trot several strides, Halt. Trot off. Repeat this until horse and rider are in tune and horse is on the aids and even anticipating the transitions. Then Trot, ALMOST halt and trot off. That feeling, That rebalancing of the horse who is already on the aids and coiling up for a transition is the feeling of the half halt. You can make that almost transiton smaller and smaller but the ‘regrouping’ or 'coiling" feeling is a form of half halt. It can be a half halt just with the seat only or involving more aids.

Any other exercises using transitions such as walk/halt /walk, almost halt/walk for example, will also work to establish feel…

[hamsterpoop]

Ya know, I event but this works for me. I’ve noticed when people say “use your seat and leg” but what the hell does that mean? Example: Have you ever had an instructor say " Slow or stop your horse from canter, trot or walk and DON’T USE YOUR HANDS!" Well, how do you do it? I keep my lower leg (calf) ON. And I use my thighs and squeeeze them together as hard as necessary to block his shoulders until I get a response. It works. One can also “brace the back” in the sense that Muller wrote in his book Riding Logic, sit up and all that, but the only real power and influence you can really have is by squeezing the hell out of his shoulders with your thighs until he responds. I have heard riders refer to this as the “collection button” I’m not a purist, I just try to use my hands as little as possible. Bon Chance!

[CosMonster]

A visual that helps me is to think of your horse like a spring. You want to coil the spring up, squeeze it together end to end. Of course unlike a spring you don’t want to have it string back out when you release, so that’s where that visual ends. Other posters have explained the way to do that better than I could.

[_Freedom]

@Ambrey;4019369

How does Jane Savoie explain it? “The simultaneous application of seat, leg, and hand.” Something like that She also says “it’s not really a half HALT. There’s no HALT in a half halt. It’s a half GO.”

Oh for Gods sake, if you can’t say what YOU think (which I know is very little) please stop quoting your God idol.

You don’t really know that much and without understanding what a halt is you can never understand what a half halt is.

[Icecapade]

[QUOTE=hamsterpoop;4020541]
Ya know, I event but this works for me. I’ve noticed when people say “use your seat and leg” but what the hell does that mean? Example: Have you ever had an instructor say " Slow or stop your horse from canter, trot or walk and DON’T USE YOUR HANDS!" Well, how do you do it? I keep my lower leg (calf) ON. And I use my thighs and squeeeze them together as hard as necessary to block his shoulders until I get a response. It works. One can also “brace the back” in the sense that Muller wrote in his book Riding Logic, sit up and all that, but the only real power and influence you can really have is by squeezing the hell out of his shoulders with your thighs until he responds. I have heard riders refer to this as the “collection button” I’m not a purist, I just try to use my hands as little as possible. Bon Chance![/QUOTE]

lol that version of the half halt won’t work for me… my stallion is a go go go horse. not excitable in the spaztastic way but the oh squeeze means go… so it winds up being more of a HEY down there than a I’m going to keep doing this till you stop.

But we are totally special at this so, maybe we need to work our way into it more. lol

[hamsterpoop]

Yes, it takes a bit of experimentation. It’s often referred to coyly as “closing the thighs”. With both of my boys the response is very good. It is used with the calf on but not necessarily driving unless the beastie slows down too much. It just allows me to down transition within a gait or between gaits and I may still need to use some hand but not nearly like I was. As part of a half halt it will help keep him from running on his forehand and allow one to keep him between a closing or sometimes squeezing thigh (seat) and restricting hand and of course releasing when desired response is achieved. The release is obviously most important.

[flshgordon]

@Briggsie;4019409

One other question, i guess it works the same in all the gaits? I hate to admit, when my trainers wants a collected vs working canter, she swears I need to half halt more to get more control and get the right rythm. Yeah, easier said than done dammit! this is where i am running into problems…

up till then…I know I am doing it…just not sure how. Kind of like, yeah, I know what I just told that guy in french, but not sure I know exactly what he says back.

Half halts to me are like algerbra…i knew how to get to the end of the equation, my own way, I just could never explain it. I just knew. When it came to calculus and applied physics…i had to relearn everything because the little things that i neglected to really understand, all came back to haunt me

In the above scenario, think about it like this. In a working canter, you are allowing your horse forward with your seat. When you want to move to collected canter, the movement goes from forward to up & forward. You are lifting your seat, thighs, body, etc up instead of allowing so much forward. While you are applying the “up” then you add a little leg & arm (I say arm, because you will get to the point you can half halt with just muscles in your upper arms, it is barely perceptible). It’s merely a resistance, not a pull, then you release the resistance and have more up.

[Ambrey]

Halting without reins is fun! Close your thighs and then pull with your tummy. Unfortunately if the horse is being recalcitrant it’s like a hardcore ab workout… (ask me how I know this…).

[DressageGeek_Ribbon]

I practice halting without contact often. It is a humbling experience.

[Briggsie]

The other day my husband asked what it was like to walk in high heels, and how do i do it so gracefully. I told him, well, you know, its like a half halt, you have to control your muscles to keep your balance but not so much that you walk like a rigid person with no joints or let your weight fall like an elephant…now if i could figure this out in the saddle…great.

[LarkspurCO]

[QUOTE=hamsterpoop;4021915]
Yes, it takes a bit of experimentation. It’s often referred to coyly as “closing the thighs”. With both of my boys the response is very good. It is used with the calf on but not necessarily driving unless the beastie slows down too much. It just allows me to down transition within a gait or between gaits and I may still need to use some hand but not nearly like I was. As part of a half halt it will help keep him from running on his forehand and allow one to keep him between a closing or sometimes squeezing thigh (seat) and restricting hand and of course releasing when desired response is achieved. The release is obviously most important.[/QUOTE]

I started doing something very similar on my go-faster-faster-FASTER Thoroughbred. It was the only way I could get get him to slow down to a reasonably balanced trot from a hysterical racing trot. I just kept trying to slow the rhythm with my seat and back and getting madder and more insistent each time it didn’t happen, and then when my thighs got involved he finally listened. I didn’t really think of it as half-halting – more like stopping a train. But I guess it really is a half-halt of sorts. Now, to get that going on my other horse…

[Valentina_32926]

The HH is an almost halt - at the last minute you push horse forward. So thinking about it - you need the horse to halt with hind legs UNDERNEATH them - not out behind (i.e. parked out).

Practice GOOD halts - horse must be underneath itself and square behind (need mirros or a helper). If one of the hind legs is out (e.g. left hind) use the leg on that side (left leg) to ask horse to move that leg up and under the body so it’s square with the other leg.

Repeat from walk to halt until perfect then go to trot/halt. Once you’ve got that use the same aides and just before horse halts ease up with elbows just enough that they keep going. AT walk I can do a HH just arching my back and my mare will respond (most times), but if that doesn’t work I ask for halt and at last moment allow her to continue forward.

Riders hips push horse forward underneath itself then immediately the fingers close and the elbows stop following (think side reins) and rider sits tall arching back. As horse steps deeply underneath itself to stop rider IMMEDIATELY stops arching and allows elbows forward - about 1/2 inch - and horse continue forward - but this time the horse is carrying more weight on it’s butt.

Timing is everything. Suggest you work on the (full) halts first and the HH’s will be easier while your trot will improve as horse starts carrying itself (second/third level frame).

[sabryant]

hampsterpoop and larkspur, you are both on to something here! The thighs are the primary aid for the HH’s though not squeezing thighs (which tend to push your seat up out of the saddle,) rather thighs that roll over into the thigh roll and into the shoulders of the horse with a downward action in your knees.

[sid]

Take the “go” out of your body/aids for a nanosecond that creates a minor resisting force to the present forward…the horse usually follows.
Maybe not the best way to describe it, technically and physically it works for me and most horses who have no barging issues and are attuned to the bit, seat and legs.

[FriesianX]

I read this quite a while ago on another forum - and it helped my comprehension quite a bit! Don’t hold with the thigh - that can pop your seat out of the saddle. You need to engage your core and seat - so, if you are a woman, you might recognize this term - Kegel :winkgrin: It engages your pelvic floor!

Another bit of wisdom that stuck in my brain. Everytime you think HAND, do LEG first. We (human beings) have hundreds of thousands of years of evolution behind us to create a hand, so we are ALL hand oriented. It is so ingrained into us. So always remind yourself - leg first (drive forward), THEN hand. And after hand, you MUST release, otherwise you create a tug-of-war. The horse can always win a tug-of-war because, well, he’s bigger and stronger

I also agree, the half-half is not something where a person can hand you a recipe and you can create it. Instead you have to experiment with ingredients, how much, when to mix, when to stop. AND there are different variations of half halt, depending on what you are trying to do…

[goeslikestink]

here read helpful links page 1st i explain how to do the half halt stride
which is your freind of a stride the same as trot is half halts inform the horse something going to change via a direct signal to the horse to go from a faster pace to a more collected pace
or visa versa half halts strides and should be used in all transitions
also read all the other links on the 1st page as ita ll relevant to how to help you and your horse to be balanced and forwards
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=178116

[ideayoda]

To slow/halt a horse just sit taller and still the seat, the horse will stop without any tightening of the leg or strength of abs (esp it will on a lunge).

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=ideayoda;4026508]
To slow/halt a horse just sit taller and still the seat, the horse will stop without any tightening of the leg or strength of abs (esp it will on a lunge).[/QUOTE]

Yup! You stop you, and the well trained horse will stop. You pause you(you stop following the motion for a breath or less), and the horse will pause, however you must keep the leg on.

[Ambrey]

I forgot Jane had a video up with her half halt explanation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PNXXo5TFV4

It seems to not quite agree with what many of you have posted, unless I’m misunderstanding. How do other trainers teach half halts?

[CosMonster]

[QUOTE=DressageGeek “Ribbon Ho”;4022457]
I practice halting without contact often. It is a humbling experience.[/QUOTE]

That’s for sure. I can slow down within a gait or drop down to the next one pretty easily, but hell if I can get them to actually halt. I have a distinct memory of my instructor laughing at me as I walked around and around the arena going “I can’t stop, I can’t stop!” Happened three years ago but still feels like yesterday… :winkgrin: