What Is A Half Halt?

What is a Half Halt?

By Maribeth Dunlap

March 2012

At a recent clinic at which I was teaching a woman came up during lunch break and asked me some questions about half halts.

"What is your definition of a half halt"?

The answer I gave this woman as I was quickly trying to eat a sandwich was that it is a call to attention to the horse that something different is going to happen like a transition to another gait or a transition within the gait. The half halt also rebalances the horse and is used before every corner, turn, change of bend, etc., or when the horse is losing his balance and beginning to lean on the reins. It helps to balance the horse more towards his haunches and helps to lighten his forehand.

She then went on to ask another question, which at the time, I wasn't quite sure what she was asking me, "you asked a rider to close the fingers in her hand, is this what you teach a half halt is"? The answer I gave her at the time was that I was asking the rider to half halt by closing and releasing her fingers on the outside rein at that particular time to gain control of the outside shoulder of the horse and to help straighten the horse. She still didn't seem satisfied with my answer and asked, "You kept asking her to half halt on the outside rein and why were you asking her to do this"? I repeated my answer to her but then thought again that perhaps the answer she was searching for was how do I actually apply a half halt. So I offered another explanation. The half halt is using all your aids at once for a very brief period of time, lasting only a second or even 1/10th of a second. I went on quickly to add that a half halt can be as light as inhaling a breath of air and then quickly releasing the breath. She seemed satisfied with that answer and I had to then rush back to continue with the lessons. But I have since been pondering over her questions. What is a half halt? How does one apply a half halt? What are the prerequisites or requirements in achieving an effective half halt? Why do there seem to be so many different answers to these questions? And why is there so much confusion and mystery surrounded about half halts with so many people? I've already written an article about half halts but will I think the subject deserves more discussion and clarification.

What is a half halt?

"From a general, theoretical point of view the half halt aims at improving the flexion of the hip and hock joints of the addressed hind leg." (Dr. Thomas Ritter)

As I said above, the half halt is a call to attention to the horse that something different is going to happen like a transition to another gait or a transition within the gait. It is a preparation that rebalances the horse and is used before every corner, turn, change of bend, etc., or when the horse is losing his balance and beginning to lean on the reins. It helps to balance the horse more towards his haunches and helps to lighten his forehand.

"When properly done, it is a rebalancing aid without pulling." (Charles de Kunffy)

How does one apply a half halt?

The half halt can be thought of as the simultaneous use of all the aids lasting for only a brief moment - a second or even 1/10th of a second. Or better still, "the correct use of the interplay of aids, never just a rein aid" (Suzanne von Dietz). The half halt can be as light as merely inhaling a breath and then exhaling it. Or it can be as large as strongly engaging the muscles associated within the dressage seat, the legs, and the fingers for a brief moment before releasing. Half halts come in different sizes from one to ten. It is important to use an effective half halt so the degree is very important. An aid is only as good as it is effective. I also like to explain the half halt as using your body language in such a way that makes the most sense to the horse. Our dressage seat is not what we sit on in the saddle but the area of our body at the base of our rib cage all the way down through our thighs to just above our knees. When we are able to isolate and engage certain muscles and muscle groups within this area, we are then using our dressage seat. So in using our seat in a certain way in addition to degrees of perhaps our calves and upper body can create a powerful and effective aid that makes sense to the horse. Learning how to isolate and effectively use these aids can create an effective half halt.

"There are no hands for a good rider, really. ...the rider's hands should merely be extensions of his back. If his arms are correctly placed, upper arms hanging perpendicularly and close to the ribcage, his elbows will anchor the actions of his hands to the torso. As the torso changes its position, and as it communicates the various attitudes of the rider's back and musculature in general, so the arms, being part and parcel of it, must and will follow suit." (Charles de Kunffy)

Why is it so important to release the half halt and why is it a brief aid?

The reason why the half halt only lasts a moment is because of the interaction of the hind legs of the horse and the connection of the hind leg to the rein. To be an effective rider, one should have a good understanding of the timing of the footfalls of the horse in all three gaits. They should be aware of the three phases of the hind leg: the thrusting phase, the carrying phase, and the engaging phase. Because the purpose of the half halt is to rebalance and direct the weight toward the haunches of the horse, it is important to have an understanding of the timing and release of the half halt. A half halt applied when the hind leg is on the ground helps to flex the joints of the hind leg and direct the energy into a grounded hind leg. If it is applied in the thrusting phase you can create leaning and pulling and end up with the opposite of the desired result and a horse that is on the forehand. A half halt that is applied when the hind leg is in the air in the engaging phase shortens the swing phase of that particular hind leg. So the half halt has to be released so that the hind leg can swing through and not hit a road block that the hand can create by holding too long.

"In a half halt the most important part is not the lack of following the advancement of the head, the gentle backward invitation, but rather the forward yielding of the hand that follows it. In a half halt we do invite back, but we release the restricting tension by allowing forward. In this act we always give back exactly what we have taken away. Therefore, a half halt merely runs a momentary restriction though the horse's mobilized system. It never hinders the fluency of the movement, merely gathers it, balances, adjust, harmonizes it. Half halts can be brief, or sustained longer. They can be done very frequently. As soon as the backward invitation of the brace has produced yielding by the horse, the rider must relax the hand entirely." (Charles de Kunffy)

What are the prerequisites of achieving an effective half halt?

"Many riders are fixated (because they have been told so often!) on giving half-halts to prepared for a transition so they automatically pull on their inside rein during the canter depart. But there is a great deal of misunderstanding. The half halt is the correct use of the interplay of aids, never just a rein aid. Pulling on the inside rein cause a rider to incorrectly shift their weight to the outside seat bone, which interferes with the balance of both horse and rider. The flow of motion during the transition is disrupted. The inside rein needs to give the horse enough freedom to be able to balance himself during the suspension phase of the canter." ~Suzanne von Dietz

After thinking again about the brief conversation I had with the woman at the clinic, I realized that she wasn't perhaps understanding the things that are required to achieve an effective half halt, or perhaps I wasn't being clear enough. The Training Scale - Rhythm/Relaxation, Suppleness/Looseness, Connection/Contact, Impulsion, Straightness, and Collection are the training objectives that all riders should have a good understanding. In order for the half halt to be effective, the horse must first be balanced, relaxed and working with a clear rhythm. He should also be supple and able to easily perform simple figures and changes of bend. His muscles must be working with relaxation and his body should swing in the movement and not have any restrictions or resistances. He should be moving with good energy over his top line and there should be a light and steady contact. Without these things, the half halt is not effective. One of the biggest things I most often see is a lack of balance in the horse and rider. Often the hollow/stiff issues of the horse have never been addressed so there is a lack of straightness which causes a loss of balance and in turn creates resistances and restrictions and an unhappy horse and rider combination. So the first thing I usually do is to address the Training Scale with the needs of the horse/rider team. Using a rein aid on a particular side of the horse helps to address the shoulder on that side and can help to straighten the horse. When the shoulders and haunches are in correct alignment, the horse can move in balance and can free himself of any restrictions and resistances. If you think of a horse like a garden hose, the water flows much more freely through the hose if the hose is straight and has no kinks in it. Much like the water hose, the horse can move forward freely over his back and allow his body to swing when he is moving straight and in balance. When the elements of the Training Scale are being put into correct practice, then the aids can go all the way through the body of the horse and the half halt can go through and effectively influence the hind legs of the horse.

Why do there seem to be so many different answers to these questions and why is there so much confusion and mystery surrounded about half halts with so many people?

Perhaps part of the answer to these questions lies in the fact that horses are living breathing creatures. They're not robots or machines where if we do 'X' we get 'Y' every time. No two half halts will feel the same if they are to be effective. The horse is a living, breathing, moving creature so being able to feel and connect with the horse becomes very important. There are moments/strides when the aids can be light as a feather and moments/strides when we have to use a stronger degree of a particular aid or half halt. It all depends upon that moment and what we're feeling as the horse moves. There are so many variables that have to be taken into consideration like the gait the horse is traveling in, his individual conformation, the energy level and degree of impulsion, the attitude of the horse at that particular moment, as well as other factors such as the footing the horse is working in, the environment in which he is working, the temperature of the day, etc., too many things to even begin to list in this little article. But all these variables influence the feeling, the communication, and the connection the rider will have with his horse. It is the goal, however, that remains consistent - to prepare the horse, to rebalance and lighten the forehand of the horse and to help him become more ride able and maneuverable. When a horse moves more freely and in balance, he is happy and can then enjoy his work.

Photo: Maribeth riding Escarpa

~This article was written by Maribeth in March 2012 – All Rights Reserved - Used With Permission.~