The ubiquitous half-halt is a challenging concept and skill to master, but it’s essential for every horse and rider at every level. At its core, FEI dressage rider and trainer Ashley Donadt explains that the half-halt serves to rebalance your horse by asking him to carry more weight on his hind end and then recycling that energy forward.

“In the simplest terms, the half-halt is exactly what it sounds like. It’s half of a halt,” she said. “But the half-halt can evolve into many different varying levels of degree, and you need to use it whether you have a lazy horse or more forward one.”

In her video lesson on EQUESTRIAN+, Donadt notes that mastering this skill is essential for all disciplines and provides tips and simple exercises to help you feel and understand the mechanics of the half-halt. She also explains why half-halts are used and teaches you how to implement them for better balance.

The Half-Halt as a Rebalancing Tool

“Essentially, the half-halt is a rebalancing tool. The idea is that through the half-halt, the horse comes back to your seat to rebalance and carry more weight on his hind legs. For lower-level riders, I simplify it as much as possible by asking them to start to make a halt transition and then stop.

“Horses naturally carry more weight on their front ends, and through dressage, we’re trying to rebalance to lighten up the front end and encourage them to carry more weight behind. So, the half-halt is an important tool in starting to develop your horse’s balance and awareness of his hind legs.

“The half-halt is a slowing aid, but it also increases energy at the same time. I think that is what’s so hard for many riders to understand. You’re not actually stopping, but there needs to be that thought of shifting gears back, but then going forward again. You want to keep the energy and maintain that feeling of your horse’s hind legs moving forward under his body.

“You’re just asking the front end to wait a little bit for the hind end to catch up, and by doing that you’re connecting your horse more from back to front so his hind legs are carrying at least as much weight as his front legs. You want him really pushing from behind. Then you can contain that energy in front with the half-halt to recycle that forward energy back to the hind legs and then go forward again.

“Since horses carry more weight on their front ends, the faster they go, the heavier they can get in front. That’s when you get that downhill or runaway freight train feeling. There is so much power and energy going forward that if it’s not balanced on the hind legs, you actually start to lose that energy. This is because your horse is either going faster than you want him to go or because he’s just nose-diving and the energy has nowhere left to go.

“In the wild, horses are fine bearing more weight on their forehands. But when you add the weight of carrying a rider who might bring their own issues of crookedness or imbalances that put stress on the horse, it’s a different story.

“When both horse and rider are out of balance, it can start to wear on the horse’s legs over time and make them more prone to injuries. Your horse can only be in balance, if you’re in balance. Great balance is so beneficial for the comfort and longevity of both horse and rider.

“Being out of balance can also make riding more uncomfortable and both you and your horse feel clunkier. It’s not going to be as smooth and will feel disjointed. When your horse learns to carry more weight on his hind end, he has a more secure place to carry his rider.”

The Half-Halt as a Moment of Preparation

“The half-halt is a moment of rebalancing, but also for preparation. You’re alerting your horse that something is about to happen. So think about half-halting before every transition, after every transition, before a corner, during and after a corner and so on.

“The half-halt ties into your core strength to help stop the movement in your seat. Engage your core muscles to sit in the saddle and then add a little rein.

“For the half-halt, think about slowing your horse’s shoulders down and bringing your horse back to your seat while your legs say, ‘but also continue going forward.’ This is where your seat and rein contact provide a boundary in front to catch the forward energy. It’s a constant give and take.

“The reward for your horse is in the release. But that doesn’t mean you completely let go of everything. Think of it more as a neutralizing aid where you quiet the pressure.

“It’s not that all these aids are happening at the same time. That can feel a little claustrophobic and very confusing for your horse. It’s almost like a valve system, so that when you add pressure in one place, you want to release the pressure through another aid so everything is working together. You want to think of it as a constantly moving and evolving system of aids where there’s constant pressure and release. This helps avoid clashing aids and misunderstanding. When there’s too much pressure most of the time, that gets deafening to your horse.”

About Ashley Donadt

Ashley Donadt is an FEI dressage rider and USDF bronze and silver medalist with distinction. Before starting her own business in 2017, she worked for David Blake and his wife, Rebecca Rigdon, as well as Elizabeth Ball. Since 2019, she has been training with three-time Olympic medalist Guenter Seidel. She also trains with FEI Dressage World Cup™ rider AnnA Buffini and debuted at Grand Prix on Buffini’s schoolmaster Sundayboy. She is based out of Donadt Dressage in San Diego, California, with her husband and head groom, Evan Donadt.

For More:

• To watch this full video lesson on how to master the half-halt with Ashley Donadt on EQUESTRIAN+, click here.
• You can find her easy exercise to improve your corners and set your horse up for success at any level here.