Ride the perfect Halt
Riding advice
30 September 2011 12:31
Dressage rider and trainer Claire Lilley gives 4 simple exercises to help you halt correctly.
It’s easy to disregard the halt as nothing more than the moment your horse comes to a stop, but there’s an art to riding a good square halt, and therein lies the key.
You need to think of it as a movement in itself and ride it right up to the very moment that your horse stands still.
In a square halt the horse takes weight evenly on all four legs with a leg at each corner. To ride this successfully you need to prepare your horse and give him every chance to balance himself correctly, just as you would with any other downwards transition.
With practice you’ll develop the skills to set your horse up correctly for the halt, and learn to feel when one or more legs are slightly trailing and be able to correct this.
But, most importantly, being able to ride the perfect halt will have a knock-on effect on other aspects of your schooling and help to improve your upwards, as well as downwards, transitions.
1. Working in-hand
Work in a safe, enclosed area, with your horse in a bridle or lunge cavesson, and use a long rope or lunge rein. Stand beside his shoulder, facing towards him, slightly to the rear so you can see his whole body. Have the leadrein in the hand nearest the horse’s head, as though you were going to lunge him, with your long schooling whip pointing towards his hindlegs.
Start by touching each of your horse’s hindlegs in turn with the whip. The idea is that you’re asking the horse to step under with his hindlegs in halt, but without wandering off (quick tugs on the leadrein will prevent this). A fit, healthy horse should be able to stand still with both hindlegs under his body in a square halt.
If your horse tries to wander off, you need to be stricter with your tugs on the leadrein. Make sure he listens to you and repeat the tugs as necessary, but don’t resort to pulling, instead tug and release on the rein, so your horse learns to stand still without you hanging on to him. Avoid getting into a pulling match at all costs.
This exercise will teach your horse to stand still in halt (immobility) and familiarise him with halting squarely. Once he learns to stand squarely in-hand, he should also do so when ridden – if your aids are correct.
When riding the halt, should your horse leave a leg out behind, just tap him with a schooling whip on the offending leg, and he should bring his leg forwards under his body.
2. Rehearse the halt
Riding in walk, practise collecting the walk as though you were going to halt, but walk on again as soon as you feel the horse step under behind. For a moment this will feel as though your horse has got ‘stuck’ but this is simply him taking weight on his hindlegs.
Don’t fall into the trap of riding your horse forwards at this very moment, but instead simply close your legs, brace your back and squeeze him more under with your calves. As he does this, his back will momentarily lift under the saddle and he’ll put himself on the bit by arching his neck forwards to the contact. Now is the time to go forwards – your horse should react easily to your legs.
3. Shoulder-in
Ride shoulder-in along the long side for about half the side and then straighten the horse for a few steps, then halt. Repeat this on both reins. Alternatively, ride up the centre line and alternate shoulder-in right with shoulder-in left, making sure you straighten the horse for a few steps in between. During the straight steps, ask for halt.
To ask for shoulder-in, turn your body to the inside, ask your horse to step sideways with your inside leg, and keep his head and neck in line with his body, with a slight flexion to the inside.
Your outside leg stops his haunches escaping to the outside, ensuring the horse stays on three tracks.
4. Figure of Eight
Ride a small figure of eight – two 10m circles – joined with a couple of straight steps (during the straight steps, ask for halt). Make sure your horse is bent correctly on both circles, and take care that the steps where the circles touch are absolutely straight.
This will ensure your horse can take weight on both hindlegs equally and halt square when you ask. If your horse isn’t straight, the halt will be crooked, with the haunches to one side or the other.