What is it? Why is it used so frequently? What does it really mean when my trainer tells me to half halt?
I think I could write a full book on the half halt, the many different ways that it is described and the different aid combinations to achieve it.
I think the half halt is so confusing and allusive because it can be achieved in so many different ways. I actually don’t like that it includes the word halt because that automatically makes your brain think about stopping the energy and motion instead of redirecting and rebalancing it.
I love to think of the half halt as a rebalance. If each time your trainer says half halt, you instead think rebalance, you as a rider are much more equipped to explore the many different ways that this can be achieved. As a rider you need to know your horse and what is needed for the rebalance to happen. Is your horse stung out, behind the bit, in a collected trot without impustion, heading into a corner, turning into a volte. All of these situations would need a half halt but each rebalancing aid in these situations would be different.
So try it, the next time your trainer says half halt, translate that in your brain to, rebalance. See what happens in your body and your horses body.
More to come as we explore different ways to rebalance a horse in motion.