Awesome explanation - especially that there are variations of HH! Especially loved the point about the rider needing to engage their own half halt before translating it to the horse. ❤️
Thank you for this really helpful video. I’ve been riding a school horse who was pretty slow but worked quite well with me then I was put on a faster horse the other day, I hadn’t been told about half halts and when he went into canter I felt unbalanced and he just took control racing off with me and I was trying to stop him with the reins. I was told to half halt him using the outside rein but it still didn’t explain how to do it, finding your video is so helpful I will put it into action tomorrow at my next lesson
you have just made me realize most horses i have ridden were pretty heavy or hot and SUPER forward ...or at least when out hacking even in the arena ..i always thought my hands were awful but didn't understand because my instructors never said that to me and it was always the horse pulling and bulling through really hard ...i could literally spend like 10 mins at a time in a half halt because this is hard to explain but if you get the horse propelled from behind the force they are putting in their head is much less and thus then you have way more control over the head ..but if they are bulling then they have a lot more head control etc but then the stable i rode at had a lot of ex jockey's and ex racehorses i never realized they were so hot until i saw how sleepy and docile some other mounts were in most other stables. I thought all horses were super competitive and wanted to be in front or bomb off all the time.
I really like this version because it encourages the back to come up. Often we hear we need to sit deep in a half halt - maybe I'm not interpreting that correctly, but wouldn't that tend to do the opposite?
Yes you are correct . Often times it is misunderstood and I’m an effort to seat deeper sometimes the seat bones cause the opposite effect of lifting the back .
Could you please share information on the saddle stand? That would really be beneficial to training. Thank you for such an incredible explanation on the half halt and look forward to more videos!!
That was really interesting thanks (sure I am guilty of collapsing 🤦♀️) and would like to try the diagonal half halt. If I was leg yielding to the left for example- how would that work please? X
Linda super question . I hope to be adding some ridden videos I. The future when life slows a bit in the farm but for now I’ll explain the best I can . If you are asking your horse to LY to the left the diagonal HH work like this as you horse is lifting his inside or right hind leg you in that moment would add your inside seat nine and calf lightly in combination with standing . Stabilizing your left rein aid to straighten the shoulders as well as tell the horse how much for word movement you are allowing . You will feel the inside hind leg a coupe of ways , either as your horses barrel moves away from your leg or you may feel your inside hip drop down and fit word slightly . It is important to mention that when we apply out leg that we should lengthen our leg not contract it and add the heel , this would remove your inside seat bone and encouraging collapsing . I hope this helps .
@@valeriemccloskey4733 that’s quite a lot to think about (as I sit on the sofa 😊) I will think about applying my inside aids as the horses barrel moves away? That sounds sort of logical as you are scooping the horse to the left almost - with the rhs aids - while stabilising the left shoulder with the left rein? Thanks- I have subscribed now so look forward to seeing more of your videos (found you by accident 😊) x
The leg encourages energy and lift of the and/ back . Alt halts are all seat and leg hardly any hand as explained in the video . The leg aid depends on what you are doing in that moment
Hi yes , great question . I also use the terms half go , or rebalance . So if your horse tends to be quick and over tempo there are many things you can do . I will just give you a couple here as I hope to add video of this in the near future and demonstrate it . 1. Do many many transitions I mean millions of them . If your horse is rushing at the trot , trot a few strides walk just keep repeating these . This will help your horse understand the “ half go “ and by doing transitions we bring the horse back to the walk before they lose balance and rush . I find best to do these on a circle depending on the age , training level of horse as the circle and the bend helps the horse not get to quick while going straight down the wall . The other thing is we as riders must have control of our own bodies and tempo , if a horse wants to to trot quickly for example 1,2,1,2 1,2 then I post 1 ...2 1...2 with a pause or hesitation to help the horse come under me and into my tempo . Hope this helps and watch for video on this in the future . Please share and invite friends to subscribe .
Because I’m riding we ride from balance and must have an independent seat . The stirrups should only be used to help support your foot but not to push off of or brace on . The shifting of weight comes from Lengthening the leg from the hip down . A very strong core is necessary to be able to have balance, independent seat , body control as well as effective HH.
