Halt - The Stationary Pace

Will your horse stand still? Nobody likes a fidget, especially at the end of a dressage test, but before you blame him stop and think about what you do as you halt. There’s a strong possibility you’re trying to avoid him fidgeting. And that’s the problem!

If your horse is fairly sharp the chances are as you ask him to halt you relax your legs and hold your breath. If you don’t move he won’t move – right? Wrong! The trouble is the minute your legs leave his sides he’ll be thinking “What’s going on?” he’ll also tense up in anticipation of the next bit of leg that comes on to say walk or trot on.

However much your head is telling you not to when you ask your horse to halt you need to keep your legs on. This has two effects. It will reassure him – he’ll know where you are and be able to relax. It will also keep him listening. If your leg is there he’ll know something is about to happen and he’ll be waiting for your next aid.

Don’t think you’re immune if your horse is lazy either! There’s a fair chance that as he halts you both collapse in a heap because “at least you can stop pushing then”. Think again. Halt doesn’t just mean die. It needs energy and he needs to be ready to either move forward or rein back.

In any pace you know to ride your horse from your leg to your hand. Halt is no exception. Your contact is essential to contain the energy your legs create. Imagine a bottle of coke shaken up. With the lid on the drink fizzes and the bottle expands. With the lid off the drink leaks out and goes flat. Your hands are that lid. No contact = flat paces.

Think of halt as a stationary pace. Your horse should be so charged up that his back rounds as the energy inside him tries to escape but can’t. Tighten your fingers around your reins and keep them closed. Keep your calf muscles against his sides but leave your heels away.

If you’ve read http://schoolyourhorse.blogspot.com/2010/12/other-way-of-stopping.html  you’ll know if you press your thighs and knees into the saddle you can bring a horse to a standstill. Try it from walk to halt. Walk round the arena and try halting at E and B. Get straight on the long side before you push your thighs into the saddle as hard as you can. This puts pressure against his shoulder muscles and he will slow down. As you reach E/B press both knees in tight and he’ll stop. You may need a slight squeeze on both reins to start with but he’ll soon learn.

To move on again release your thigh and knee and use a nudge with both heels. If your contact and calf muscles have kept your horse on the ball he should move straight into walk or trot.

Use the E/B line or the ¾ lines to practise walking or trotting into halt and out of it. Avoid the centre line as the last thing you need is your horse thinking he should halt halfway through your entry centre line.

When your horse stands in halt you must have some pressure in your hand. A horse that is light or nonexistent on your rein has no contained energy. He may swing his quarters to one side or ignore your aid to walk on again. The more you push him into the contact the more likely he is to stand still.

Sharpen him up by riding large round the school and asking for halt at every marker. Halt, count to three and then release your knee and use both heels. Soon he’ll be as attentive in halt as he ever is in trot and canter. When the halt is good you’ll feel him rock back onto his hocks. Keep your weight on your seat to help him stay balanced.

If your horse is crooked as he halts then it’s probably down to your position. He copies whatever you do with your body with his. If you’ve turned your body to the inside to come round a corner he’ll have done the same. If you straightened your shoulders up but forgot your hips then he’ll have done the same. As he halts his shoulders will be square on the track but his quarters will be to the inside.

If your horse moves after he’s halted it’s more likely to be uneven pressure. Most riders have a stronger and a weaker side. Be aware of yours. If the contact is heavier in one hand he’ll move his shoulders towards it. If the pressure from one leg is greater or one leg is further back than the other he’ll swing his quarters away from it.

Most dressage tests ask for immobility, salute. Be proud of the fact your horse will stand still. It’s a sign of engagement. Only a horse that is balanced on his hocks and moving forward into the rider’s hand can halt square, straight and still. Halt and immobility need as much energy as trot or canter – you just need to be prepared to create it.

Good luck and enjoy your schooling.

Get Your Horse Connected

Does your horse feel a bit flat? Are you going through the motions but struggling to set the world on fire? He may feel fairly light in your hand – perhaps he moves from your leg too – but if that’s the case why aren’t you getting better marks at dressage and why is your canter so flat? You need to get better connected.

Your horse has two ends and a middle. Those three parts are joined together by bone, tendon and muscle. Tendons and muscles are meant to stretch but allow them to get too far apart and you’ll struggle to keep him together. When he gets strung out it’s impossible for him to push himself forward correctly. Push on and you’ll generate speed but no power. Both ends will move faster - just not together.

You can tell a disconnected horse because his back is long and flat. He may not be on his forehand but he’s not sat back on his hocks either. He may have a ‘4 time’ canter too. It’s often overlooked as it feels similar to an ordinary canter. You may just think something’s not quite right but be unable to put your finger on it.  Listen carefully to the beat of the canter and you’ll hear four beats not three because the inside hind and outside fore aren’t moving as a pair.

To improve a four time canter the last thing you need to do is canter! Get your horse working between your leg and hand in walk and trot first and he’ll be better balanced and able to canter correctly.

Riding round the school trying to push your horse forward to your hand won’t work. It’s human nature to try too hard. You’ll end up pulling too hard and tightening his back or pushing him on so much that he falls onto his shoulders and rushes. You need to give him something to do which does it for you. Try this.

Direct transitions from trot to halt and halt to trot are perfect for pushing your horse together. Learn to use your thigh and knee to bring him back to you. The less you rely on your hand the better. If he’s relaxed in his mouth he’ll soften and round his back and work correctly. Check out - http://schoolyourhorse.blogspot.com/2010/12/other-way-of-stopping.html

You may be using halt but this needs to be a forward thinking exercise. Ask for your transitions on a long side at E and B so your horse has had time to get straight and balanced and has room in front of him to feel he can go forward again.

Turn onto the long side and focus on riding forward from both legs into a steady contact in both reins. Keep your hands level and in front of your body to keep your horse’s shoulders pointing down the track. Make sure, if you’ve had an inside bend, you always straighten him up on the long sides.

Never back off a downward transition – especially one to halt. Halt needs to be full of energy so your horse is back on his hocks and ready to move on again. Ride forward towards E/B and look up. Never underestimate the influence your weight has on your transitions. The further back you lean the more weight you’ll put on his hocks.

Two strides before E/B squeeze with your thighs to warn your horse the transition is coming. On the marker push your knees in as hard as you can and sit back on your seat. Keep your lower leg on to keep his hocks under his body. Come out of the saddle at this point and you’ll tip him into his shoulders and lose all the energy from your trot. Keep your contact in both reins.

Once your horse has settled in halt move straight into trot again. Don’t shuffle your seat in the saddle, shorten your reins or move your legs – you haven’t got time for that! Halt and move on again. Get it sharp enough and you’ll feel your horse rock back onto his hocks in readiness for the trot again. That’s where you want him.

The upward transition should be as sharp as the downward. Sit back, look up, take your knee off and use a nudge with both heels. If your horse doesn’t go the instant you ask tap him up with your whip bit don’t lean forward! That will put all your weight over his shoulders and make it impossible for him to engage his hocks.

You will never improve an upward transition by loosening your reins – just as you won’t improve a downward one by taking your leg off. Keep your contact even in both reins. Be careful you’re not focusing on an inside bend. Do that and unwittingly you’ll pull back on the inside rein. That sends your horse off to the inside. A crooked horse can’t use his hocks correctly to push himself forward.

Don’t just ride a couple of half decent transitions and move on. Spend the whole session doing them. Start on the long sides. When your horse is really halting and moving off with the slightest touch of your knee or heel you can move on to different places. Turn across the school, halting over the centre line. Ride figures of eight with halt transitions at X. Turn down the centre line and halt at X. Do anything you can to keep him thinking.

By the end of a good session you should feel your horse is more in your hand. You’ll have more weight at the end of your rein but in a positive way. He should be bouncier in his trot and itching to go forward when you halt. That’s connected. And the four time canter? Well that will be better but do yourself a favour. Leave it for another day.

Good luck and enjoy your schooling.

You've Started so You'll Finish

If you’ve read Prepare to Improve Your Score you’ll have read all about the importance of your centre line at the start of a dressage test. It’s the most important part of any test. It sets the standard in the judge’s eye for the rest of your marks.

A straight centre line is a great start. An accurately ridden test will score you some high marks. There’s one thing, however, which can make or break those all important double-scoring collective marks at the end. Your final halt.

A sloppy, crooked halt isn’t the best way to finish. It leaves the judge feeling disappointed rather than inspired. If you were about to score sixes or sevens in those final boxes you could well end up with fives and sixes. A bad halt can cost you as many as eight marks. That’s the difference between winning and losing.

A good square halt is easily achievable with any horse. As with all downwards transitions it’s the energy of the previous pace which is important. In a test horses often anticipate the halt and slow down. The rider panics and pushes on which makes the horse jolt forwards. Result? A less than tidy finish.

Try this.

Practice riding the centre line in trot and not halting. Get straight and push on in the fastest trot you can get without cantering. Sit up and push on round the turn at the end.

If you have trouble in tests with your halts never practice on the centre line. Instead practice on the ¾ line in the opposite direction. Leave your halt at G for show days.

Once you’ve established a straight line practice halting as you get level with D (Between F and K). Ride forward until you reach the marker. Squeeze as hard as you can with your knee and thigh to bring him to a standstill. (See The Other Way of Stopping – popular posts) Don’t stop pushing with your lower leg until you move off.

Your horse will stop if you keep your knees clamped in. The less you rely on your reins the less chance of him tipping his head up and hollowing. The more you practice the sharper the halt will become. If you sit back and keep your lower leg on you’ll keep his hocks underneath him and the halt will be straight and square.

A straight centre line always make a great first impression but a good final halt will be the last thing the judge remembers. Good luck.