ANSWER:
If I interpret your description correctly, you hold the half halt for one
entire "rise-sit" phase, i.e. two entire steps of the hind legs (as in
"right-left"). Please correct me if I am wrong. If this is the case, the aid
would be between one and two seconds long. That is several times longer than
it should be. The reason is that the half halt would cover not only the
carrying phase of the hind leg, it would also cover the thrusting phase of
the hind leg as well as the supporting phase of the front leg (simultaneous
with the airborne phase of the hind leg) on the same side. It would thus
interfere with the flow of the energy, and the horse will either ignore it
as an enduring stimulus, or he will brace against it. If the aids are too
predictable and monotonous, the horses will ignore them as well, just as we
automatically tune out stimuli after a few repetitions that occur in a
perfectly regular, predictable rhythm. If we didn't ignore them, they would
drive us crazy. The same thing goes for horses as well.
In order for our aids to be meaningful communications, they have to have a
certain variability in terms of intensity and combination.
So, when you apply a half halt, target a specific leg. E.g. if you are in a
rising trot, half halt on the inside rein when you sit down (if you are
following the convention of sitting down when the inside hind leg touches
down), and half halt on the outside rein when you rise. Don't apply
identical half halts every single stride, though, in order not to lose the
horse's attention.
Try to minimize your active aids while maximizing the releases. Releasing
early buys you time to set up your next active aid. This goes for any aid,
not just rein aids. If the aids last too long, one of the effects is that
you are forever trying to catch up with your horse, whereas our goal is to
stay mentally ahead of our horse. Egon von Neindorff used to say in every
lesson: "Before the horse has finished thinking, we are already there with
our aid." This is only possible if our aids are so quick and to the point
that we have time to observe the horse's reaction AND think one step ahead.
Try to surround each aid with a release before and after. The more clearly
the aids are isolated by releases, the more they stand out, i.e. the more
clearly recognizable they are for the horse. And the more recognizable the
aids are, the smaller they can be. There is no need to shout in a perfectly
quiet environment, whereas in the middle of a rock concert you have to
scream your head off to be heard by the person next to you.
The precision of the aids of a good rider is very similar to the precision
of a microsurgeon. The clarity, precision, coordination, isolation of all
the relevant muscle groups that we aim at takes a lifetime of dedicated
studying to develop, but it has to be learned one aid, one ride at a time.
And you will be surprised how fast you can progress when you practice
diligently and systematically.
- Thomas Ritter
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Last Update: January 13, 2007