How To Dressage

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Article Categories
    • The Scales of Training
    • Dressage Theory
    • For The Rider
    • The Horse’s Paces
    • Dressage Movements
    • Dressage Competition
    • Horse Care
    • Dressage Troubleshooting
    • Interviews with GP Riders
  • Training Forum
    • Recent Posts
    • Register
    • Login
  • Our Book Range
  • Our Podcast
  • FREE STUFF!

logo

How To Dressage

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Article Categories
    • The Scales of Training
    • Dressage Theory
    • For The Rider
    • The Horse’s Paces
    • Dressage Movements
    • Dressage Competition
    • Horse Care
    • Dressage Troubleshooting
    • Interviews with GP Riders
  • Training Forum
    • Recent Posts
    • Register
    • Login
  • Our Book Range
  • Our Podcast
  • FREE STUFF!
Dressage Movements
Home›Dressage Movements›How to Ride a Good Halt

How to Ride a Good Halt

By How To Dressage
March 15, 2018
4974
0
How to Ride a Good Halt How to Dressage


One movement that appears at least once in every dressage test is the halt.

On the face of it, the halt should be an easy mark winner – all you have to do is stand still!

So, what is the dressage judge looking for in a good halt, and how can you teach your horse to halt well?

Read on to find out more.

What is a good halt?

In a good halt, the horse should be straight and square.

Each leg should bear the same weight evenly so that the horse has ‘a leg at each corner’.

If the halt is unbalanced, the horse may tip onto his forehand and drop his poll as he halts, or he might throw his head up against the contact and not halt square.

The horse should remain still and relaxed but attentive whilst waiting for his rider’s next instruction.

When asked to move off, he should step forward immediately and smoothly into whatever pace his rider asks for.

How to ride a good halt

Regardless of the pace you are approaching the halt from, it’s important to ‘think forward’ when riding into the transition.

If you just close the reins and fail to use enough leg, the horse will lose engagement as he halts. The halt will become unbalanced, and he will probably not be square behind.

Step 1

As you prepare to halt, help your horse by riding two or three shorter, more collected trot or walk steps in the approach to the transition, while keeping the horse moving forward. That will push the horse’s hind legs underneath him, helping him to maintain his balance and giving him every chance of halting square.

Give your horse a clear half-halt, and cease following the movement with your seat.

Be careful not to ride too abruptly into halt. That will only serve to unbalance your horse, and he will probably not halt square.

Step 2

Close your hand and leg.

Don’t simply pull backwards on the reins, instead, use a ‘forward’ hand. That will keep your horse soft, round, and stepping underneath with his hind legs so that he doesn’t lean on your hand for balance in the transition itself.

Keep both legs on and maintain an even contact in both reins to make sure the horse stays straight.

Step 3

Don’t be tempted to “fiddle” with the halt. That’s a mistake that many riders make.

Once the halt is established, sit still and allow the horse to relax and mouth quietly on the bit.

Unless you need to make a very small adjustment to correct a crooked halt, it’s better to leave well alone. The judge will mark your first attempt at the halt, and making major corrections will probably just lose you valuable marks.

Step 4

When the horse has achieved a good, square, straight halt and has waited obediently for your next instruction, always make a big fuss of him.

It’s just as important to reward your horse when he gets it right as it is to correct him.

When you’re happy with the halt, ask the horse to walk on (or proceed in whatever pace is required).

Make a correct halt a habit

If you only ever insist on a square halt when you’re in a dressage competition, your horse will never learn how to halt correctly!

Each time you allow your horse to trail a leg, swing his haunches to one side, or fidget in the halt, you are effectively training him that this behavior is acceptable.

Every time you ride a halt during your schooling sessions at home, when you’re out hacking, and during competition warm up, insist that your horse gives you a square, obedient halt.

Learn how to “feel” a good halt

When you’re riding a halt in a dressage test, you won’t be able to look or ask a helper to tell you if the halt is straight and square. So, you’ll need to learn how to feel when a halt is a good one.

Each time you ride a perfect halt, sit for a few moments and teach yourself to recognize what a good halt feels like underneath you. The same applies when your horse isn’t square or straight. Eventually, you will know right away if the halt needs correction.

Common faults and fixes

Not square

A square halt will only happen if the horse was straight and engaged. If the horse is moving crooked, it’s virtually impossible to arrive at a square halt. Therefore, before you can expect your horse to halt square, you’ll need to teach your horse to halt on a perfectly straight line.

As the horse halts, glance down at his shoulders. If the shoulders appear equal, the front legs are square. If one shoulder is further forward than the other, it follows that the halt is not square. To fix this fault, ask the horse to step forward so that both shoulders square up.

It’s more common for horses to halt with their hind legs not square. To achieve this, you’ll need to keep the horse active and stepping through right up until the exact moment he halts. That will stop your horse from trailing a hind leg. If you feel a hind leg trailing, nudge the horse with your leg on the side of the offending hind leg. You might need to touch your horse gently with your whip if he ignores your leg.

Not straight

A very common fault in the halt is a lack of straightness. This often occurs if the horse is unbalanced on the approach to the halt.  He may run against the rider’s hand and swing his quarters to one side as he halts, or might step sideways into the halt instead of standing still directly.

You can make it easier for the horse to keep his balance as he halts.

Start at the walk. Use little half-halts to collect the walk and make sure that the horse stays straight. When you feel that the horse is slightly collected, attentive, and perfectly straight, close your fingers, let your weight drop deep into the saddle, and ask the horse to halt.

Try to ease your hand slightly into the transition and don’t try to make the transition too direct.  You can sharpen things up as the horse becomes more experienced and better engaged.

If the horse swings his haunches to one side, try to catch the haunches by moving the horse’s shoulders. Don’t resort to kicking your horse’s quarters back onto the straight line, because that tactic won’t work. You’ll probably end up playing a game of haunches ping-pong, as the horse wriggles its quarters back and forth!

Instead, as soon as you feel the haunches swinging out, move the horse’s shoulders in the same direction as the haunches so that he’s straight.

If the horse persists in swinging his quarters out, practice riding halts alongside the fence, making sure that you keep both legs on equally.

Carry your schooling whip on the side to which the horse habitually steps out.  Sometimes, the mere fact that the horse can see the whip there will do the trick and help you to keep him straight.

If you feel that the horse is about to halt crooked, walk forward straight away and ask him again.

Sometimes, using two poles placed parallel on the ground and halting between them can be a good way of teaching a horse to halt on a straight line.

Does not stand still

Some horses fidget in halt. This is a serious fault in dressage and will lose you many marks.

The impatient horse that fidgets in halt can be difficult to cure.  It’s really just a question of practice and insisting that he stands still until you ask him to move off.

To achieve this, you may have to sacrifice straightness at first, but you can tidy things up once the horse has accepted that he must stand still.

Steps backwards

If your horse begins to step backwards, ride forwards immediately.

Ride the halt again and ease your hand as you do so.

Be positive with your legs and keep thinking forwards.

Anticipates the halt

Some horses quickly learn that they will be halting on the centerline every time they enter the dressage arena.

Anticipation is a serious fault that often leads to the horse losing impulsion as he comes onto the centerline.

If the horse is not moving forwards into the halt, he will not step underneath himself in the transition, and the halt will probably be crooked and not square.

When schooling your horse at home, practice riding centerlines without halting and work on improving the halt at other places in the arena instead.

In conclusion

Your horse should be straight, square, attentive, relaxed and immobile during the halt, and the move-off should be immediate and obedient.

The key to a good halt is balance and submission to your aids.  Remember to include riding the halt during your schooling sessions, using the tips given above to help you.

Related Reads:

  • How to Ride a Half-Halt
  • How to Ride a Good Trot-Halt Transition
  • How to Ride a Good Halt-Trot Transition
  • How to Teach Your Horse to Stand Still

 

Previous Article

How to Keep Your Horse’s Attention Whilst ...

Next Article

How to Get Your Horse to Bend

How To Dressage

We are an information blog breaking down the How To's of dressage. All of our articles are put together by British Dressage judges to help you train your horse correctly, get higher scores and win your next dressage competition.

Related articles More from author

  • How to Ride Shoulder-Fore Dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Ride Shoulder-Fore

    August 11, 2020
    By How To Dressage
  • How to Ride a Walk Pirouette in dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Ride a Walk Pirouette

    May 3, 2018
    By How To Dressage
  • How to Ride a Good Trot-Walk Transition how to dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Ride a Good Trot-Walk Transition

    May 4, 2018
    By How To Dressage
  • How to Ride Turn Around the Forehand how to dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Ride Turn Around the Forehand

    July 19, 2018
    By How To Dressage
  • how to ride a good canter walk transition how to dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Ride a Good Canter-Walk Transition

    December 29, 2018
    By How To Dressage
  • How to Leg Yield how to dressage
    Dressage Movements

    How to Leg Yield

    February 10, 2018
    By How To Dressage

Leave a reply Cancel reply

0

WANT MORE?

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • How to Transition Between Piaffe and Passage Dressage

    How to Transition Between Piaffe and Passage

    By How To Dressage
    February 23, 2021
  • How to improve rider confidence dressage

    How to Improve Rider Confidence

    By How To Dressage
    February 16, 2021
  • How to Stop Your Horse From Changing Canter Leads Dressage

    How to Stop Your Horse From Changing Canter Leads

    By How To Dressage
    February 9, 2021
  • How to recognize an unhappy dressage horse

    How to Recognize an Unhappy Dressage Horse

    By How To Dressage
    February 2, 2021
  • How to Connect Your Horse Through the Use of Transitions Dressage

    How to “Connect” Your Horse Through the Use of Transitions

    By How To Dressage
    January 26, 2021
  • How to Have Patience With Your Dressage Training

    How to Have Patience With Your Dressage Training

    By How To Dressage
    January 19, 2021
  • How to Keep Your Horse up Through the Corners Dressage

    How to Keep Your Horse “up” Through the Corners

    By How To Dressage
    January 12, 2021
  • Dressage Training Plan

    How to Structure a Dressage Training Plan for Your Horse

    By How To Dressage
    February 13, 2019
  • how to create the ideal arena surface footing for dressage

    How to Create the Ideal Arena Surface Footing for Dressage

    By How To Dressage
    October 31, 2019
  • How to Import a Dressage Horse

    How to Import a Dressage Horse (from Europe to the U.S.)

    By How To Dressage
    October 19, 2019
  • How to Fit Horse's Noseband

    How to Fit Your Horse’s Noseband

    By How To Dressage
    October 5, 2019
  • How to Safely Ride and Lead horses

    How to Safely Ride and Lead

    By How To Dressage
    March 13, 2019
  • How to Keep a Consistent Rein Contact How to dressage

    How to Keep a Consistent Rein Contact

    By How To Dressage
    June 13, 2018
  • How to Ride a Good Trot-Canter Transition how to dressage

    How to Ride a Good Trot-Canter Transition

    By How To Dressage
    May 1, 2018
  • How To Dressage
    on
    February 15, 2021

    How to Keep Your Horse Straight

    Thanks so much! :)
  • Niavoequestrian
    on
    February 15, 2021

    How to Keep Your Horse Straight

    Its a great post! ...
  • How To Dressage
    on
    February 14, 2021

    How to Ride a Good Trot-Canter Transition

    So glad we could ...
  • Adriana Roessner
    on
    February 14, 2021

    How to Ride a Good Trot-Canter Transition

    thank u so much, ...
  • How To Dressage
    on
    February 4, 2021

    How to Plan Dressage Freestyle to Music in 7 Steps

    Hi Anmari, That's a ...
  • Anmari
    on
    February 3, 2021

    How to Plan Dressage Freestyle to Music in 7 Steps

    Where can i find ...
  • How To Dressage
    on
    February 2, 2021

    The Scales of Training: Scale 1 – Rhythm

    Hi Sandi, It's a ...

Article Categories

  • Dressage Competition (28)
  • Dressage Movements (45)
  • Dressage Theory (47)
  • Dressage Troubleshooting (46)
  • For The Rider (31)
  • Horse Care (39)
  • Interviews with Grand Prix Riders (8)
  • The Horse's Paces (23)
  • The Scales of Training (8)

Free Email Courses

how to dressage newbie email course

how to dressage scales of training email course

how to dressage competition email course

WANT MORE?

Useful Pages

Home
About us
View Our Book Range
Join Our Facebook Group
Forum
FREE STUFF!
Contact Us

See our social side

Our Podcast

how to dressage podcast
Copyright © 2018-2021 How To Dressage
Privacy Policy
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links that are included on this website are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we earn a commission if you make a purchase. If you would like to support this website in some way, using these links will help you do exactly that. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT