13/03/2024
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Kyra Kyrkland says a "half-halt is a transition, a feeling, that she could have halted, but didn't"! The halt is the reverse and is a transition where you could have easily continued, but didn't.
This means that the halt transition must be made with the right speed and impulsion to allow the horse to engage himself from behind and not stop first in the shoulders.
"The walk-halt, itâs a subject in itself," says dressage riding technique expert Richard Weis. "In fact it is unique because all other transitions (transitions not to or from halt) are synchronised in speed; meaning a perfect canter walk requires collected canter at âwalk speedâ, at least for the stride before the transition to walk (which of course is at that collected canter speed). If the canter is not collected to walk speed the horse will dig his heels in in order to slow down."
The walk-halt transition is thus extremely delicate and difficult, as a rider must collect the walk to the right degree paying special attention that the walk doesn't become short or lose its rhythm.
"We obviously canât go into a collected walk at halt speed, but we can at least collect the walk as preparation for a forward halt transition. Collection has the quality of shorter higher steps. That is the quality that allows the horse to lift its body into halt as opposed to dropping it," said Weis.
This is very difficult, as many riders try to shorten the length of the steps by quickening the walk, rather than maintaining the same tempo by engaging the horse to take more time to reach the height of the collected steps. The time is transferred from length to height, enabling the horse to maintain the same level of activity, just in a different direction.
When a rider can collect the horse's walk without changing the rhythm, activity or carriage in any way, the halt will be as simple as putting weight down through the seat bones and asking the horse's hind legs to stop and let the energy flow through to the front.
"Over time the halt aid develops as a nuance of the collecting aids. When the horse is uphill and collected in the walk, the seat asks his back feet to stop up underneath him, poised and loaded, ready to proceed in walk, trot, canter or rein back."
That is why the halt must always remain a forward transition, so the horse is ready and waiting to proceed into the next phase.
A halt that begins in the shoulders and ends at the back, will be a backward halt, which will block the horse in front, and make it difficult for him to ease back into the work. Richard says that many riders make this mistake and having not established the correct walk speed and activity, the horse plops into the halt and falls onto the shoulders.
"Many riders lose sight of the collecting requirement and suddenly drop their weight; most horses then drop their back. Going forward and dropping the back are opposites. Riding to keep the back up right to the halt transition requires the rider to offer a concentrated central weight, a collected, narrowed and linear stepping seat."
The difference in a forward halt and a backward halt is easily seen and while in one the horse will engage and slide smoothly into the halt with an open gullet, in the other the horse will come abruptly to a stop, often closing in front, or falling onto his nose.
"If a mistake is made and the horse drops, the best correction is to ride forward instead of halting and then again try collecting the walk in preparation."
The second most important thing about the halt, besides the collection and speed of entry, is the release after. The tendency is for riders to reach the halt, and maintain the rein aid while the horse is standing, teaching the horse to remain stopped until the rider releases the rein. This is not correct! A rider should release the rein the second they hit the halt, so that the horse learns to stand alone, and the leg aid, with no rein, should be the command for the horse to move off again.
Edward Gal stressed the importance of the waiting button on a horse and this button should be activated without pressure on the mouth. A horse should stand free, when the rider is completely relaxed, so that when the rider half halts and then releases the horse knows this is not an invitation to go more forward, and instead will wait for his rider to engage him with their seat.
The trot to walk transition is equally complex, and again requires the right speed and impulsion in the trot. âCome to a walk only after a good trot,â said Nuno Oliveira. There is no point attempting a fluid transition if the horse is not trotting in front of the rider's leg, and with a solid forward engagement and impulsion. It is important to establish that impulsion early, and carry it into the transitions.
"When I ride a horse, I do halts in the beginning. With most riders I donât ask too early because they are not capable of putting the horse forward.â (Nuno Oliveira)
Trot to walk transitions are the same, except that you allow the horse to flow even more forward into the walk. The walk must immediately be let out free, teaching the horse to use the impulsion from the trot to help him search for the length he needs in the walk.
âI cannot control my rage when I hear it said that the horse must be permanently pressed against the bit as this is the only way to vary the speed as wished, and the only way to have a completely straight horse,â he laments in âReflections on Equestrian Art.â
The basis of this stems around one fundamental point! That the command to halt is an aid and as with any and all of the aids in horse training the importance is not when the aid is applied, but the timing of its release! When we first teach a horse to halt, we should establish a quick reaction, and should first be asked with a short relaxed but firm rein command. However, the problem is that too many riders forget the release, and instead of the halt being a forward movement, they block the horse, and hold him there, turning the release into the command to move forward!
Young trainer and rider Joao Moreira stresses both the difficulty and importance of this transition, saying that a good walk to halt transition can show the judges a lot, but the rider must be careful not the destroy the walk in order the do the halt.
"The horse's hindlegs must be really engaged and underneath him to do a proper transition to the halt, but a rider must be careful not to shorten the walk and destroy the walk's activity, in order to achieve this engagement," said Moreira. "The transition should be graceful and soft, illustrating to the judges that you and your horse are in harmony, and that the energy is flowing fluidly towards the front. It is also important that during the halt the horse remain balanced, engaged, and with his weight perfectly distributed on his four legs. He should wait there, perfectly immobile, light in front, focused, and ready to react when the rider gives the aid to go forward."
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