Most of my riding life I have been trying to lighten my aids, especially with my hands. Since I ride the Forward Seat system I had a wonderful beginning by following their system of riding with loose reins part of the time and hewing to the ideal that no hand aid should ever alter the head carraige of the horse. I accomplished alot, and as I got better my horses got happier and happier with me, giving me quiet and smooth slow-downs and halts. However I wanted to get better and lighter, and knowing that dressage riders emphasize lightness, I started reading dressage books for techniques that fit withing Forward Seat Riding by using no collection.

Around fifteen years ago I finally got two dressage books that showed me the way to greater lightness. These two books are "An Anatomy of Dressage" by Heinrich Schusdziarra and Volker Schusdziarra, and "The Way to Perfect Horsemanship" by Udo Burger. In each book I found one sentence that showed me the way to better lightness. Let's examine these sentences:
1) from "An Anatomy of Dressage" on page 53
"...1) a restraining half-halt, which should take place in that phase of motion when the downward movement of the rider's pelvic half corresponds with the simultanious forward swing of the horse's hind leg on the same side."
2) from "The Way to Perfect Horsemanship" on page 181
"...the cardinal sin would be to act with the reins in the direction of one hind leg at the moment it starts extending to propel the mass forward."
These books also contain detailed instructions of how to use your aids to achieve collection so I could stop accidentally asking for it.

First thought--I would have to stop using both reins at the same time to get a halt, as when one hind leg swings forward, the other is pushing.

Second thought--wouldn't two half-halts equal one halt?

I had not been riding my horses much because of my undiagnosed MS, so I started on my first horse, in his twenties and sort of set in his ways. I did two half-halts and he stopped. Then I tried it on two mares I had raised, broken, and trained myself. The first, a green broke Arab mare, still resistant to the halt--two half-halts and she stopped perfectly with no arguement, The second, my feisty, fiery and opinionated Paso Fino mare, a perfect halt. Three perfect halts, on three different horses, immediately, with no resistances, just by moving my fingers. WOW. Due to my worsening MS I did very little riding the next 5 years, and none at all the following 5 years, but I never forgot those halts.

When I started riding other people's horses five years ago I continued with my experimentation. The first horse I rode independently was a retired Thoroughbred race horse turned lesson horse who was apparantly extremely resistent to halting. Two half-halts, and I got a perfect halt, prompting a "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" from her owner. Other horses either stopped the first time, or I could teach the new signal in only three tries at most, asking the new way first backed up by the old signal. All the horses I rode became MUCH lighter and more responsive to my hand, they liked my new way of halting and slowing down, and once they learned it I had no further problems (most of the time). And I never had to collect them to get these wonderful results!

It is pretty easy to tell the perfect time for each half-halt. At the walk, as my butt goes down I apply the rein on that side, releasing immediately, and repeating on the other side as my other butt goes down. At the posting trot I apply the inner rein as I rise and the outer rein as I sit, also releasing each rein immediately. At the canter it is slightly different as both hind legs sweep forwards at the same time, I apply both reins as the head rises, releasing at the top of the head motion. It is important to give the horse a little bit more rein than you usually do when you release while keeping a light contact. This gives the horse a chance to carry out your command comfortably. All the horses I've ridden react well to this aid because I am working WITH the horse instead of against the horse's motion.

At first it is best to school the horse at each different gait, speed, and location with this aid. Always try to apply the lightest rein aid possible, strengthening the signal for faster slow-downs or for slow-downs at speed.

Enjoy your ride.

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