The elusive half halt

Meika and I got to talking about what makes an effective half halt and through our discussion I realized I didn't know what the heck a half halt really was. I thought I was doing it at least fifty times each ride but it turns out I had never actually done one. Well, at least not a correct one. 

My previous TB was an anxious fella who ran away from his problems. I knew better than to pull because he would just pull back and pick up more speed. Instead, I was taught to "give and take". I thought that was a half halt. I was using this so-called halt halt as a way to chip away at too much speed. Like tapping the brakes.  But I ended up with a horse that would pick up speed immediately after I took my foot off the brake, was falling on his forehand and was behind the bit. What was wrong? 

braced, perched and pulling

I thought it was all his fault. So I got a new horse.

I now know I was missing the point of the half halt. Back then I didn’t have the proper balance and position to engage my core so I relied too much on my hands. I was pulling him into half a halt instead of compressing him into a half halt.  It took a few years, three more trainers and a couple of horses before I understood that the half halt is so much more than just tapping the brakes. 

This was my half halt!

Meika equated the half halt to a rubber room with two doors opposing each other. 

Different kind of rubber room :)
I could never ride in that!!!

When both doors of the rubber room are open, energy flows through the room. But when the front door is closed and energy continues to push in through the back door, the room expands to contain it. The flow isn't prevented just because one door is closed, it is accommodated and captured to be utilized later. In the case of the horse, the energy from the hind end is captured by the half halt (front door closing and room expanding) and converted into the next movement. The goal is to change the balance of the horse yet maintain the impulsion. You must use your core, your seat and your legs to let the horse know something is coming and prepare him for the transition. 

Meika had me do an exercise to understand the half halt. The goal of the exercise was to make a trot to walk transition take one quarter of a 20 meter circle, no more, no less. This forced me to use a substantial amount of leg during the downward transition to prevent my horse from walking too soon. It felt like instead of tapping the brakes, I was  downshifting and keeping the tachometer up. Eventually my horse was light in the bridle, stepping under himself and transitioning in two steps instead of a quarter of a circle. 

So now, I wish I could apologize to Willie, my previous TB. I never helped him understand what I wanted. I derailed him just like a train. I just hope now I can avoid making the same mistake with any more of my horses.