Almost every dressage test in the world starts and ends with a halt and many also have a halt associated with a rein-back in the mix. These are three movements in one test and a lot of marks can be secured by organising the training of a square halt
In the movement where the halt is required, there are some other parts to the total movement, but the majority of the weight in the mark is taken up by the quality of the halt. Before trying to ride a square halt for a mark of 10, you must firstly know what the judges are looking for so you can understand how to get to that elusive 10! This is how the halt is spelt out in the official FEI Dressage Rules:
ARTICLE 402, THE HALT
- At the halt, the horse should stand attentive, engaged, motionless, straight and square with the weight evenly distributed over all four legs. The neck should be raised with the poll as the highest point and the noseline slightly in front of the vertical. While remaining “on the bit” and maintaining a light and soft contact with the athlete’s hand, the horse may quietly chew the bit and should be ready to move off at the slightest indication of the athlete.
- The halt is obtained by the displacement of the horse’s weight to the hindquarters by a properly increased action of the seat and legs of the athlete, driving the horse towards a softly closed hand, causing an almost instantaneous but not abrupt halt at a previously fixed place. The halt is prepared by a series of half-halts (see transitions).
- The quality of the paces before and after the halt is an integral part of the assessment.
THE ENTRY SETS THE SCENE
There are three paces in the test that halts can be done from. At Preliminary level, it states that a few steps are permitted before the halt. Then there is the halt from the trot and the halt from the canter. In the freestyle tests, there is a mark for the halt at the beginning of the test and at the end of the test – and that’s the halts alone – and at Grand Prix level it can be ridden from walk, trot, canter, piaffe or passage.
The importance of the halt is utmost, and the first impression really does lead the way to a high scoring test. The confidence, balance and attitude of the movement tells the judge from the beginning of the many training issues, both positive and not so positive. The entry certainly sets the scene!
Square halts are not created through luck. Nor force. They are created through diligent training from the very beginning of a dressage horse’s career. Some horses love to stand still whereas others, that are energetic and keen, find the halt one of the hardest movements in the test.
There are a multitude of ways to train the halt and everyone has their own ideas, but the most important thing to teach the young horse is to stand still! (that is, motionless with all feet securely on the ground with weight equally distributed through the joints to the secure, motionless hooves). At this time in the horse’s early stages, who cares if it’s square or not? The horse simply needs to stand still and motionless and learn that a halt is a happy place to come to.
If at this time you start to organise the halt too much, then tension will creep in and it sometimes never goes away. Be careful and very aware in the beginning and never let the horse get worried about not standing still, as forcing it to stay still will not help with the anxiety. Again, it should be a happy place where a pat and a measuring word is essential to encourage the relaxation and the off button. If the horse stands still for a few moments then gets agitated, it’s best to move off and try again. Making him stand there when he is anxious can even develop into rearing.
With young horses, always halt heading away from the home gate and not towards home, and always stand still and preferably on a relaxed rein before you dismount.
ALWAYS ON THE BIT
The first essential about developing a square halt is of course the hardest principle in dressage, and that is… ON THE BIT! Until you have a horse that understands the basics, it’s not worth fiddling around to get a square halt. It’s a feeling of having your horse between hand and leg, straight, impulsive, forward and confident. A halt doesn’t only need to be motionless but also straight, square and attentive. A leg at each corner and a horse that is switched on for the next instruction and transition.
A square halt is a developing movement and riders must take time. Every horse’s attitude is different and the path to a square halt has many turnings and no absolute rules. By the same token, of course, there are principles to look to and the first one is forward, and with forward is straightness, an absolute essential. The horse still remains forward or thinking forward in the halt. It’s like having the car idling, not moving forward nor rolling back, but with that feeling of readiness to accelerate. There could be books and books written about those two principles! So, take it as done.
What you also need to understand is the footfalls of the pace you are developing the halt from. The easiest pace to understand this will be the trot. The most collected trot would be piaffe… trot on the spot. If you stop a trot that is on the spot (piaffe) then the halt has no chance of being anything else but square so long as you can keep the piaffe straight and halt. The halt is that movement the horse learnt as a young horse to come to a peaceful position.
Canter, on the other hand, a three-beat rhythm… if you could canter in collected steps and halt, then the legs won’t stop square as the canter leading foreleg is in advance; but if you can canter on the spot then the chance of squareness is greater indeed. Surprise… but the same goes for walk; that is, four-beat rhythms, and if the walk is not very collected in the steps, then the halt will not be square. It is very easy now to understand how to get a horse to halt square!
DEVELOP COLLECTION & ADJUSTABILITY
You must have a horse on the bit, straight and engaged. You have to be able to walk, trot or canter on the bit and, of course, unless the horse is straight, you cannot get collection – and unless you can’t make your horse crooked you can’t make him straight and develop true sitting engaged collection, because in a good halt the hindlegs should be well under the horse.
It is easy to see that if you can walk, trot and canter on the spot the halt that’s square will develop. Of course, there is more to this which will be explained, but primarily organise clear paces that are adjustable. In the canter to halt on the centreline, the last leg to step up will be the outside foreleg, so always think “stop” then allow forward that outside foreleg.
OBVIOUS MISTAKES IN THE HALT TRANSITIONS
- Not straight
- Not square
- Not immobile or maintained long enough
- Coming on the forehand
- Dropping the poll
- Leaning over the shoulders and heavy in the bridle
- Too abrupt (with hindlegs too under that will result in stepping back)
- Stepping back
- Resting a leg
- No engagement and lightness
- Lazy and resistant to move from the halt
Once our horse is on the bit and forward and straight, and is well prepared to stand still, then that you can start to help square up the halts. It is of the utmost importance that the rider can feel through their position where every leg is as you halt. It is only when you learn to feel when the halts are not square, or for that matter square, and what leg is forward or back in the halt that you can be adept at fixing this.
Of course, the best way to check is to use a mirror. If you don’t have a mirror, then use a person on the ground who you can tell where you believe the legs are and they can confirm or correct you. You may also use the shadow on the ground in the early morning or late afternoon. As a last resort, once the halt is established you could lean over and look – but that is the very last option. All the same, it is good that your horse learns to stabilise the halt with you a little mobile on top.
When teaching the halt, it’s all about collection, balance and responsiveness to the half-halt. These responses have to be crisp and instant; if the aid is drab the horse will never halt squarely on the aids but lean into the bridle and behave and drape over the shoulders; and, of course, from this unbalanced and leaning position the transition out will be drab and on the forehand!
COLLECT, COLLECT, COLLECT
The words “collect, collect, collect and halt” are clear in your mind and on your aids. You must determine the timing for the halt with a final positive half-halt and the hindlegs engaged and the balance absolutely not tipping on to the hand. A good place to start adjusting legs to check you have control of each individual one is on the wall with someone near to watch. Walk and shorten the steps towards halt and as soon as the horse stops you need to be feeling where each leg is. With a quick response from your person on the ground, you know which leg needs to move and remind the horse which leg is out of place. Beware not to fiddle around as the horse will become agitated and hate standing still.
To move the left hind forward, you need to keep a steady contact to stop the horse from walking forward and invite the left hind to move forward with your left leg. When he does, reward with a pat or voice. Beware that he doesn’t step sideways, so the opposing leg will be gentle there to not allow the quarters to drift sideways and this is where the wall is handy. It is the same vice versa with the right hind.
With the front leg, to move it, lighten the rein on the side the foreleg is back and maintain the opposite rein to ensure he doesn’t walk that leg forward. Then, with the rider’s leg on the side the foreleg is back, bring it towards the girth and encourage a forward step with that leg and catch it with a half-halt.
The bottom line is it’s all about the collection and the quick response to a half-halt with a horse that collects well with the hind legs well under and an uphill feeling. Once the horse sits and is straight and comes to the halt, it will be correct.
The development of the square halt is essential to winning a test. The progression should show confidence and you should make sure that every time you halt, you collect into the halt and establish it square until it is habitual!
TIPS FROM THREE EXPERTS
CLEMENS DIERKS: “The way to a clear and positive square halt is to simply have an engaged and balanced horse from the back to the front that is super receptive to the half-halt and shows a very good ability to engage and shorten the steps.”
NICOLE TOUGH: “You must ride forward into the halt and never leave a halt not square, even when you are dismounting. When I get the horses back from the breaker I already think about the halt. As soon as they are confident to stand still, I make sure I get the front legs to halt straight and square.
“As the training progresses, and even by the time they are turning four years old, I get the hindlegs to square up. It really is about the degree of collection and the balance. I never hassle the ones that show tension in the halt, it will all come in time, and never let them halt leaning into the bit. Remember the halt must be ready for the next command. The feeling is that they must always be asking if they can go now.”
SUE HEARN: “I start early as it improves the balance, and with balance comes confidence to carry themselves. I feel very strongly that the horse must always step forward into the halt and remain in self-carriage (depending on the age and degree of training) and never ever heavy or backwards thinking. I always have them square to mount and dismount and always make sure of this so eventually it’s instinctive.
“I try not to fiddle on the centreline with the halt as they can get tense, and so I use the long sides and quarter lines or diagonals around the arena to school the halt and then a centreline to see if it’s working. I don’t train them on the centreline. Standing still and straight is the first thing, then the square. When I train and coach my students I always insist that the horse must step up into the bit in the halt but never back away for the contact, especially when they are actually in halt mode.” EQ
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