Half Halt

Half Halt
We all hear how important half halting our horses is but how do we know if we are doing it right?
First of all, what really is the meaning of a Half halt and what does it really do.
When you apply the aids for the Half halt it is suppose to re-balance your horse from the front end to the hind end. This being the most important tool you will have in your riding career, because as we already know, horses are what i call north bound movers. Once again meaning that horses carry most of their weight on their front end (head, neck and shoulders). This is all fine and good until we add a rider to the equation.
When you add a rider to a horses back we now have to change how and where they carry their balance. This is where the half halt comes into play.
Most people start teaching their horse to half halt by taking the reins. Realistically it has to do with your seat first and then very little outside rein.
Before we can ever teach our horses to re-balance with the Half halt, we have to make sure they can even load and carry their weight back there.
What does that really mean?
Well our horses don't really know how to go backwards properly. Remember horses pull with their front ends and their hind legs just follow out behind them.  We need to teach their shoulders to have a backwards motion and their hind end have a forward motion. This will eventually allow them to load and carry  more weight on their hind ends.
So you are wondering how do we actually do this?
First we start out by just asking our horse to go backwards. You will now be able to see really how hard this really is for your horse. Remember this is not a movement that they do very often. Every horse should be able to go backwards just as smoothly as they go forward.
What are we looking for to know if they are doing it correctly.
1. They should be moving in a diagonal pair.
2. They should be able to lower their haunches and lift their withers.
3. They will need to be able to do this in a straight line.
4. Once they are able to do all this then we can start by asking them to trot about ten steps forward then quickly asking them to stop and go backwards about 8 to 10 steps .
This will start to teach them to load and carry more weight to their hind ends as they stop, slow down and move forward.
5. Then its time to start to teach them the aids to Half halt.
So now ask yourself are you truly performing a Half halt(shifting their weight from the front end and loading their hind end) or are you just slowing down the front end?
With lots of time and practice you and your horse will now be able to perform the most important tool you will have in your whole riding career.   The Half halt.

Good luck with teaching your horse this. Be patients this is very hard for your horse to do properly.
This is probably the most important  movement you will ever teach your horse. Remember if your horse is not cng their weight on their hind end, then they are just running on their front end.