Every experienced rider will confess to sometimes being foolish and having been taken unawares at the first competition. Success in this situation can only come with hindsight.

At every competition one must be prepared for things not to go as planned. This applies especially with the young horse. The atmosphere at a show is unfamiliar. People, banners, loudspeakers, and many different horses all contribute to unsettling the young horse. It takes about one show season for the youngster to perform as well at a competition as he does at home. Only then can one prepare properly for each outing.

The young horse needs frequent outings to a variety of different shows before the first proper one-day event. We also load up the horses and take them to another stable yard and practice different exercises in new surroundings.

It is best to plan which competition to enter within a set timescale. Once you have planned the date of the competition, you will have a clearer idea of the necessary training programme to follow. Most horses will need to warmed up for about 30-40 minutes. A horse who carries himself easily will need less, and an excitable horse will need longer. Warming up should include loosening exercises followed by dressage movements to ensure accuracy. For the dressage phase, parts of the test can be practised to make sure that the horse understands them. It is best not to practise the whole test in case the horse starts to anticipate the movements, which can cause problems.

It is a natural tendency for the rider to want to practise the more difficult movements but this is not wise on the day of the competition. There is a risk of the horse going against the rider and becoming tense and then not performing well in the actual test. In this situation the rider and trainer have to work on tactful riding. If the horse finds certain movements difficult when working in, the rider must be careful not spoil everything that has already been achieved in training. Just before the competition is not the time to teach the horse anything new. The rider must keep focused on the fundamentals of training, such as working through the back and keeping the horse calm in the dressage or showjumping arena.

In our experience the time allowed for warming up before the first competition should not be too short. Failure in the dressage test is usually because the rider has not taken long enough to warm up. It is better to take longer so that there is no pressure of time and the horse can relax. Just before the test, some lengthening and shortening of the strides should be ridden to make sure that the horse is responsive to the driving aids. Just before the start, the rider should practise the entry to the test, and praise the horse.

When warming up for the showjumping you could first trot over a small cross-pole after loosening up. With some horses it helps to lay a pole on the ground before it.

After the first jump the horse should be returned to trot and the exercise repeated a few times. To finish with, canter a few times over a small upright, which is raised gradually. Follow this with a small oxer with the back pole a little higher. It is important not to jump too high or too many times in order to maintain the horse’s trust and not tire him out.

For the cross-country phase the horse should cantered in a good rhythm after loosening up. Begin over a small natural fence which should be situated in the warm-up arena. Once this has been jumped calmly and confidently, then other obstacles can be jumped. The last warm-up fence should jumped be at competition speed.

Coping with competition atmosphere

At home one can practise ‘competition riding’. The atmosphere on the day, though, is somewhat different, being unpredictable and more unsettling. This is what makes competing exciting. If one can calculate what will happen beforehand, then there is no enjoyment anymore. At the first competition, about 10-15 minutes longer than normal should be allowed for working in. We have had horses who were so distracted at first that we had to warm them up for a long time before they would pay attention. A few weeks later they were completely different and needed much less time.

Warming up for the jumping and cross-country phases should be done in a jumping seat and be ridden in the same way as at home. It is essential to walk the course on foot beforehand and plan exactly the route to take from start to finish.

With young horses the inspection of the course is very important if one is to achieve good results. At every jump the exact take-off point must be noted, and this depends on a number of factors including:

- The precise direction/line you are approaching from.
- The direction you are going in afterwards.
- The condition of the ground on the points of take-off and landing.
- The structure of the obstacles. (With combinations, this includes measuring the distance between elements and deciding at what tempo to ride them.)

The experienced rider calculates each turn in the course and the best approach to each jump.

Reflecting and learning

If there is little success at the first competition, you should not hang your head in shame. We console ourselves with the thought that young horses are not always successful at the beginning and require painstaking preparation beforehand. A horse is not a machine. Working out what went well and what did not is part of assessing whether the day was successful. Riders should not just blame themselves regardless, without taking these factors into account.

Every competition should be reflected upon. Questions will arise after each individual performance, indicating what is necessary in future training. This can be, for example, how to improve looseness, contact, working through the back, or correcting flexion. Every competition is valuable and worthwhile when the horse has made progress in his training and improved from the last time out. The rider gains valuable experience and knowledge from each outing which can put to good use in training. The rider can work quietly at home on improving the horse’s performance.

The foundation of equitation—the act and art of horseback riding—was laid down by Xenophon, a Greek born in Athens in 430 B.C. He was a Spartan cavalry officer who trained his horses to change pace, to change direction, and to turn and circle. His horses learned to jump, were hunters, and served as cross-country mounts. Perhaps Xenophon’s greatest contributions to equestrianism came from the philosophy he developed for training horses. He was patient and did not use force; he used positive reinforcement for good behavior and a light touch for disobedience. General Xenophon wrote two of the earliest known books on horse training. In this modern world of constant change, it’s interesting to note that much of Xenophon’s theory on riding and training horses is as accurate and valuable now as it was in his own time. Today, Xenophon’s style of classical riding and training is called dressage.

Dressage is actually a French word, and was not widely used to describe classical horse training until the early eighteenth century It is derived from the French verb dresser, which means “to train or to adjust.” The ultimate goal of dressage training is to produce a horse that works in perfect harmony with its rider.

One world-famous example of dressage riding is found at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria. For four centuries, their lipizzaner horses have set the standard for dressage and have traveled the world to demonstrate this classical riding style.

Dressage competitions are a test of both horse and rider, and the purpose is to assess the unity of the two. Horse and rider, ideally, work in harmony. In the Olympics, competitors must ride the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special, and the Grand Prix Level Freestyle—the most advanced international tests. All riders are given the same amount of time to complete the same test. The tests require that riders and their horses do a prescribed variety of movements and figures. They are rigorous and include four levels of walking, trotting, and cantering, plus changes of direction, the half-halt, and transitions. All these tests are performed silently! Judges want to see a horse with free, light, and easy movements that give the impression of doing on his own what his rider requires. Needless to say, training and dedication are required from both horse and rider.

Grand Prix. All team and individual competitors compete, executing 38 moves in 7 to 7 1/2 minutes. They do this from memory and are awarded points from zero to 10. Very difficult moves performed exceptionally well may receive double points.

Grand Prix Special. This is limited and compulsory for the 25 best riders and their horses from the Grand Prix. It involves 32 movements ridden from memory.

Grand Prix Level Freestyle. Limited to and compulsory for overall best 15 riders/horses from the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special.

Points to Look For
If you are interested in finding a horse suitable for dressage, these are some things you should look for. A well-trained horse should be energetic and show a keen interest in its work, yet be under the riders control and willing to carry out the riders commands without resistance. The horse should move along with active, energetic steps, yet it should not “jig” or show other signs of disobedience. The hind legs should step well under the body, and the back should be slightly rounded in a convex (never concave) fashion to accept the rider’s weight. The neck should be long and arched with the head carried perpendicular to the ground. Almost any breed of horse can be trained in dressage; however, the larger European breeds, such as the German Hanoverian or Swedish Warmblood, are especially popular and well-suited for this discipline.

Uneven standards in musical performances are not satisfactory. When some parts are played harshly and others with poetic expression, it shows either a lack of understanding of the piece or a lack of skill in unfolding it correctly. Riding a dressage test often owes its greatest beauty to consistency. Once the horse and rider’s temperament develop a distinct style, perform in that style consistently.

Practicing the parts of a dressage test is as necessary to the rider as it is for a pianist to rehearse certain passages of a composition. However, that activity should be limited to practice sessions. Ride the entire test often. It will establish a mood and it will reveal any shortcomings. Repeat exercises for schooling purposes only if they are weak.

Whether competing or schooling the horse, do not ride merely the test patterns, instead, always ride your horse! You should know the test so well, have ridden it so often and polished it in such detail that you should not really need to note the letters of the manege. You should instead know the composition of the ride, “forgetting” the letters that initially aided in memorizing it.

Riding tests belong to the “examination” rather than to the “diagnostic” or “athletic development” phases of riding. Some horses enter the arena tense and showing major faults. Worse than the horse’s shortcomings could be the rider’s acceptance of them. Immediate attempts should be made to change these shortcomings. Although improving and correcting a horse may not be easy during a competition, sometimes just seconds of correctly influencing the horse can reestablish lost rapport and win the horse’s attention and cooperation.

The reins in the rider’s hands are tools and, as with all tools, can be put to good or bad use. Pulling on the reins, even in transitions, is a misuse of the reins. It is possible to think of dressage as desiring the elimination of pulling hands and any painful contact in general. Thus, strong contact through the reins, whether constant or occasional, is counterproductive to the goals of dressage.

Many riders pull because they do not sit in balance, which means they are not in full control of their body and therefore their aids. Often their riding remains ineffective. Words are not sufficient substitutes for feeling through riding. Words-can only guide us to situations that will result in proper feelings.

Riding is a sport and, as in any sport, muscle tone, skeletal coordination, and strength in certain areas are all necessary.

During riding instruction, we may hear repeated requests for relaxation. Relaxation of the useful kind can be forthcoming only after the rider has achieved balanced unity with his horse. Indiscriminate or inappropriate relaxation is counterproductive. Certain areas of the body should be relaxed, but others should not be! As riders, we must carefully define each area in order to have an effective seat that can either drive or restrain without our pulling on the reins. No athletic endeavor can be based on total relaxation. People under anesthesia or in a faint are relaxed but are not capable of athletic performance.

In general, the proper and therefore effective seat demands that the rider be silent and present isometric unity from the waist up and be imperceptibly active from the waist down. Some riders who have misunderstood requests for relaxation collapse their torso and grip with their legs. A hyperactive but mushy torso can not remain balanced in the saddle. In this situation, only the strong grip of the lower legs keeps the rider on the horse. In fact, the isometric situation should be reversed!

The rider’s torso should be isometrically toned to form his cabinetry. He should be properly stretched, straight in the back, and perpendicular to the level ground. In the torso, the rider should feel isometric muscle tone induced by his own inner toning rather than tensed by the horse’s motion. Without isometric firmness in the torso, the “silence” of the torso cannot occur. The horse is moving, and the torso must not only accompany but even partner the horse’s movement. The torso should accommodate the horse’s movements in all three of its dimensions. The lumbar thrust accommodates the horse’s horizontal progression in space. Suppleness in the lumbar back and in the ankles provides for “shock absorption” of the horse’s vertical rise and fall with each of his steps as he impacts on the ground. That impact on the ground causes the verticality of the horse’s motion. Finally, the rider’s cabinetry—that is, his torso, including the upper arms and elbows—should pivot slightly in the exact rhythm of the horse’s alternating use of his limbs. The horse progresses with alternating use of his limbs and many muscle groups. Therefore, a good rider’s seat becomes quiet in repose precisely because he has learned to accommodate and harmonize with the horse’s motion in all of its dimensions: its horizontality, verticality, and laterality. The motions in all three dimensions, of course, emerge as a combination of all three. The way they combine will differ accordingly in each of the horse’s gaits.

Let me suggest some things to do when sitting in the saddle. This will necessarily fall short of my personally “sculpting” the rider, but it is all that words can offer:

1. Sit on the saddle without pressing down on the crotch in order to achieve the three-point seat, which has nothing to do with any downward pressure on the crotch. In other words, do not tilt the hips forward, but keep them directly above the seat bones.

2. Do not hollow your back or in any other way arch and stiffen your spine. Sit on your (relaxed, not tensed) buttocks rather than pushing them out behind. Keep the spine straight, which includes the pointing of the tailbone toward and not back and away from the saddle.

3. Tighten your shoulder blades and flatten them into your back so as to have no more than a small space between them; that will stretch the torso up. This is the way to elevate the rib cage and stretch the abdomen. This also, very importantly, stabilizes your shoulders, which in turn allows the upper arms to hang with steady elbows.

4. Flex and firm the abdomen to hold yourself erect. A flat and steady abdomen allows the lower back to follow the movement. The lower back should be relaxed so that the lower spine and lower back muscles can both drive and restrain to perform the half-halt properly. The abdomen provides the deep, adhesive seat so essential to driving and half-halting. Occasionally, lean behind the vertical as an exercise to experience how taut the abdomen ought to be and how it should control the lumbar thrust both horizontally forward and vertically downward. The pelvis and the thighs should hang down on the horse’s spine and be draped over his back and barrel in full but lightly adhesive unity.

5. Keep the arms immobilized and cultivate quiet fists. Hands may either be still or yield forward, but both the silence and the motion must occur entirely by the rider’s will and design. Involuntary and haphazard hand activities, as well as voluntarily rude activities, are grave riding faults. The hands (lower arms, wrists, and fists) must be mere extensions of the rider’s seat only. It is through the stable, well-angled elbows that the horse feels the rider’s seat in his muzzle. The buttocks in the saddle convey to the horse most of the rider’s weight. Surely, the elbows are very important elements yet not equal to the rider’s seat. Yet, the full effect of the seat, that is, its weight plus the activities of the entire torso (the cabinetry of the rider) is fully communicated through the elbows.

Perfectly steady hands are a vital component of correct riding, and that includes straight and steady wrists and fingers closed into a full fist. The lightest contact is not obtained by hinging the wrists or by opening or spreading the fingers. In such hands, there is frequent change, restlessness, inconsistency, haphazard or willful leverage, and loss of contact.

Aiding succeeds through a totally coordinated, harmonized, and perpetual system. There should be a firm feeling of “one riderness” in order to allow for the lightest possible contact. Regardless of how many thousands of miles an underground pipeline supplying water may be or how long an electric transmission wire, if these systems are broken at one tiny point, the system will fail to supply what is needed. Analogously, in riding, if the seat, hands, elbows, or legs fail to perform the proper functions, everything “shorts out” and the aids fail to reach the horse!

Know that all horses can be ridden with the lightest of contact and without inhibition through the reins. It only takes correct equitation and the constant perfecting of riding skills to be effective through lightness, ease, grace, and elegance, totally without force.

1) Dressage—The dressage has the deepest seat of all modern saddles. That means the seat is considerably lower than the pommel (front) and the cande (rear). The stirrup leathers are inset a Utile further toward the cantle than they are on other saddles, positioning the riders legs well back under the hips. A dressage saddle often has very long billets, allowing the girth to buckle by the rider’s foot rather than up under the thigh. This overall design gives the rider a very secure feeling and allows excellent communication with the horse.

2) Close Contact—The close contact is also known as the forward seat or jumping saddle. The shallower seat and forward cut of the flaps allow the rider to be in balance with the horse when moving at high speed and over fences. When a horse is jumping, its balance shifts considerably farther forward than that of the dressage horse in action; hence the rider needs a saddle that allows him to shift his weight forward in time with his horse. The deep seat and straight flap of the dressage saddle would not allow the rider to move forward enough to be in balance with the movements of a jumper. Likewise, the shallow seat of the forward seat saddle would not position a rider properly for the collected movements of dressage.

3) All-Purpose—This saddle usually comes with adjustable bars, allowing the rider to move the stirrup leather forward or backward, depending on the type of riding. The seat is a cross between the deep pocket of a dressage saddle and the shallow seat of a jumping saddle. The flaps are not as straight as those on a dressage saddle, nor as forward as those on a jumping saddle. The girth, however, usually buckles under the riders thigh as it does on a jumping saddle.

The best way to store a tooth is to immerse it in a pH-balanced buffered cell-preserving solution, such as Hank’s or Viaspan® (used for transplant organ storage). Hank’s solution (under the trade name Save-a-Tooth®) may be purchased over the counter at many drugstores. With the use of a proper storage and carrying container, there is an excellent chance of having a dislodged tooth successfully replanted.

Vision and Corrective Lenses
Your vision, just like the strength in your arms and legs, is an important part of your overall performance, and the demands on your vision during sporting activities are rigorous. To ride your best, you must know what’s behind you, beside you, and in front of you at all times, and this takes a variety of visual skills. If your natural vision inhibits your athletic performance, ask your doctor about corrective lenses.

Today’s eye-care practitioners use a wide variety of lens materials. Among them are the new impact-resistant lenses now available for use in prescription glasses. These lenses are cosmetically excellent, reasonable in cost, lightweight, and will not shatter if broken.

Another option is contact lenses. Available in hard and soft lens materials, contacts offer many excellent advantages to the athlete. For best results, tell your doctor about the type (or types) of riding that you do. That information will be helpful to the doctor in selecting the best lenses for you. If you wear contact lenses, take your cleaning and wetting solutions with you to all equestrian events, and notify your riding instructor that you are wearing contacts. Instructors, as well as riders and parents, should have a basic understanding of how to remove, insert, or recenter a contact lens.

Getting a foreign object in the eye is the most common eye problem associated with riding. Fortunately, these foreign objects are usually in the form of minor irritants, such as dust, dirt, or sand. More serious intrusions, such as a blow to the head, may produce bleeding in or under the skin, causing a black eye. An ice pack will reduce swelling until a doctor can evaluate the injury.

Here are some guidelines offered with the customary word of caution not to regard them as recipes. Invest all schooling of a horse with feelings. Understand the tasks intellectually and then feel for their proper physical application when riding.

Start by schooling until a supple, bounding, round, and suspended canter is felt. The rhythm must stay even, and canter strides should be long enough for the horse to relax.

During the canter, the rider’s inside leg, seat bone, and shoulder are positioned slightly ahead of those on his outside. If a rider sits correctly, he simply parallels with his own body the position of the horse’s body. If the reins are connected correctly to the torso, the inside fist leads ever so slightly ahead of the outside, stabilizing one, because the shoulder position naturally causes that to happen, provided the hands remain extensions of the seat.

Prepare the transition to trot by half-halting the horse. Essentially, this means increase all the aids that are already in use. The half-halt should always result in improved balance. Create more engagement from the haunches and as the energy increases, invite the horse’s forehand to slow down. This creates collection, a shorter posture for the horse with higher strides, yet in the original rhythm. When the horse’s attention and collection have readied him for a transition, the aids may be applied. The most important effects of half-halts are better balance through collection, mental readiness to receive instruction, and slower forward impetus of the body’s mass. As the horse’s mass is collecting, it should increase its suspension upward. In the meantime, care must be taken that the half-halts are soft and that inhibition of forward progression is avoided. The half-halts must be repeated on a green horse often and sometimes for a prolonged period of time. They should softly “run through” the horse in order not to stiffen him in the process!

Downward transition aids must be coordinated and executed simultaneously at all contact areas. The rider’s legs return to a parallel position on the horse’s sides. Draped around the horse, the rider’s legs deliver a different rhythm to suggest that of the trot.

The rider’s inside shoulder should pivot back to a square position, parallel with that of the outside one. This movement of slight rotation at the shoulder also brings the seat bone back to its position parallel to those of the horse’s at the trot. As soon as the horse makes his first trot step, your entire aiding system must yield to produce the sensation of harmonious satisfaction. It is essential that the rider confirm the horse’s correct response by yielding all pressure of instruction. Changing from aiding for a change to aiding for maintenance confirms to the horse at that instant that he understood his rider. Most important of all is the instant yielding of the reins. On a green horse, a rider may lengthen the reins to the buckle as a reward to dramatize his pleasure with his horse’s response.

Often, the first few steps of the trot show rushing. The horse may be running because a lot of weight has fallen onto his forehand. At first, allow this to happen. If the rider has aided correctly and the horse still rushes in the trot, it is a sign that he is not yet sophisticated in balancing himself. His center of gravity is still shifting in spite of the rider’s efforts, simply because the horse is physically not strong enough yet. He lacks the skills to manipulate his center of gravity. Do not punish the horse for rushing. With the repetition of the exercise and other gymnastic efforts, he will eventually be able to maintain his balance despite the radical changes that naturally occur when a trot follows the canter. As always, when a horse falls out of balance, resume half-halting.

The rider should soon realize that the balancing process in the transitions might take five minutes initially but will soon be resolved in seconds. However, this dividend will be forthcoming only if a rider has the patience to teach the transitions without causing tension or resistance in the horse.

Relaxation allows horse and rider to harmonize, finding pleasure in moving through space in cooperative unity. With appropriate strength in specific muscle groups, the rider can use his aids to communicate with his horse.

Balancing the rider in the saddle is the first and paramount step for him on the way to controlling the horse. As long as the rider fears falling off, or even just losing his balance, relaxation cannot be expected. When losing balance, we instinctively tighten and grip with many sets of muscles, hoping that by strength, we can prevent falling off. Lungeing by an expert provides the rider with the hours in the saddle that give a sense of safety through improved balance. At first, the rider should hold the front of the saddle or a gripper strap and not the reins. The rider will gradually become independent of the need to hold on to anything to secure his balance. Once the rider has stopped losing his balance and slipping in the saddle while riding the basic gaits, he can begin exercises that involve moving various parts of his body independently.

An independently balanced rider emerges after a long process of carefully selected suitable suppling and stretching exercises. Useful stretching and limbering exercises should be done first at the walk, then at the trot, and finally at the canter.

An equestrian earns the name of “rider” by acquiring a balanced and independent seat. Having achieved that, he should be allowed to take control of his horse. Allowing premature control of the horse by the novice rider can cause undesirable habits, and such a rider’s seat and aids may never be completely corrected.

The success of a half-halt is dependent on the rider’s steadiness and coordination in the torso, for it is based on the anchorage of the seat. The driving aids, so intimately at the heart of a proper half-halt, cannot propel the haunches forward without the restraint of the forehand by a firm anchorage of the seat. The half-halt is an interlude of briefly doubling both the restraining and the driving aids.

A rider must perform half-halts often. Rebalancing the horse, especially to increase his weight-bearing in his haunches, is at the heart of gymnastic progress. Therefore, half-halts ought to precede all changes required of the horse. These include the very frequent changes from bending to straightening and straightening to bending, such as when riding through corners, followed by the straight lines along the walls of a manege. Also, rebalancing is necessary prior to all transitions, whether they be within the same gait or from one gait to another.

The term “half-halt” carries by suggestion its true meaning and hints at its performing skills. The rider’s “upper half,” or torso, including upper arms and elbows, acts as a passively restraining force toward the horse’s forward progression. Simultaneously, the rider’s “lower half” drives the horse’s haunches powerfully forward with the lumbar back and legs. Therefore, the slightly backward-leaning torso, with its braced abdominal muscles, restrains the horse’s forehand, while this very position enables the lumbar back and legs to drive more powerfully forward.

The rider’s “upper half” is always the primary controller of the horse’s “front,” which includes the forehand as well as the neck and head. The rider’s “lower half” is the primary controller of the horse’s hind end, that is, everything behind the saddle: the haunches, the lumbosacral joint, the croup, the lower back, the hind legs—basically, all the propelling mechanisms and the seating mechanisms of the horse.

During the half-halt, the rider’s activities also “split into two halves,” not unlike the way he “splits” the use of his body into two halves. The first half of the rider’s activities concerns the slowing of the horse’s forehand in its forward horizontal progression, basically conveying to the horse the desire to halt. As soon as the horse responds appropriately to the invitation to prepare for a halt, the rider conveys to the horse that he “changed his mind” and would rather drive on. It is this creation of a momentary hesitation, followed by an outpouring of reserved energy, that makes the half-halt a dynamic rebalancing gesture.

While a rider might perform thousands of half-halts in a relatively short period of time, no two of them will be quite the same. Only the essence of the half-halt—that it results in an improved balance of the horse—will be constant. The rider’s talent, “feel,” knowledge, practicing of skills, and experience will determine for how long a half-halt will be performed. The variables are many. The first half, the passively resistant half, can be sustained for one stride or longer. The second half, the one urging a resurgence of energy from the haunches, can also be brief or prolonged. Beyond the timing of these phrases of the half-halt, the severity of the requests for rebalancing will also remain variable. A rider can nearly stop a horse and suddenly pour his energies forward or a rider can just barely straighten and stretch his posture to create a new favorable condition for the haunches to move more forward or upward.

The half-halt is at the heart of the art of riding. It is based on skills and feelings that allow the rider to use himself simultaneously as a transformer of the horse’s “staying power” into an “explosion” or renewal of energies. The same torso that speaks of “restraint” to the horse’s forehand is the very torso that must be the “propellant” for his haunches.

Finally, the half-halt is only intensifying the rider’s influences for the first half of its performance. The second half must consist of yielding and relaxation, to confirm to the horse the rider’s satisfaction with his new balance and allow it to be maintained in self-carriage. The first half of activities is by “commission” while the second half is by “omission” of actions. This relaxing second half of every half-halt allows the readjusted energies of the horse to “flow through” him unhindered and to lead to his self-carriage. Appropriate driving must, however, be maintained in both phases of the half-halt.

The half-halt is the result of the synchronized use of all aids in an exaggerated form. Simply stated, it is “doubling everything”! When performing a half-halt, the rider should increase appropriately his leg, torso/back, and rein aids.

The rider will increase his driving leg aids to facilitate improved impulsion, more engagement of the hindquarters. Against this, he will use a retarding back and rein aids. As a result, a shorter but taller-moving horse—moving with more athletic resolve—is more prepared to change something in his position.
Half-halts should be performed prior to all major changes requested in the horse’s position. In good riding, half-halts should be performed with great frequency. To emphasize their importance, we could say that riding is synonymous with the perpetual variation and interaction of half-halting, driving, and harmony through relaxation.

Half-halts are performed in order to make changes easier for the horse and to allow him to change his position without reducing his athletic involvement. Without a half-halt, the horse cannot make transitions (changes in longitudinal position), nor can he bend (change in lateral position), without compromising the major requirements of his athletic performance: relaxation, suppleness, balance, elasticity, and maintenance of rhythm.

Prerequisites to Half-Halting
The rider should be able to ride with an independent and balanced seat. Also, he should have developed effective and coordinated use of his musculature. Because the half-halt’s success depends on well-synchronized and appropriately strong or mild aiding, the rider must be faultlessly “on time” with it, as gentle as possible, yet effective and perfectly capable of coordinating it with the movement of the horse.

The horse should be well on the aids, that is, longitudinally flexed, using his back supplely to transfer the energies of the impulsion from the hindquarters to the absorbing forehand. He should have an educated mouth that will respond elastically without resistance to both yielding or passively restraining reins. He should, above all, be eager to engage his hindquarters when driven forward, without reluctance or sluggishness. Maturation of both horse and rider must have reached a level at which both are toned and elastic enough to expect of each other smooth, harmonious coordination and partnership.

Half-halts in any movement serve the purpose of suppling. Usually, a horse will have a stiff side and a hollow side. As he moves, he will lean on the rider’s hand on his stiff side and not accept the bit on the hollow side. The rider should perform half-halts on the rein that is heavily contacted by his horse. Through his torso and reins, the rider should gently resist the forward progress and then relax contact on the heavy side. The activity should be rhythmically performed to the beat of the hind leg on the stiff side. The most important feature of the half-halt is the fact that it is “half,” and therefore terminates each time the horse responds by yielding. For example, when the left leg drives, the left rein contacts, then follow with both left leg and left rein relaxing.

Half-halts in transitions are necessary for a supple arrival from one gait to another. The sign of such suppleness is that the horse needs to change neither his rhythm nor his length when going from one gait to another. When going from a potentially faster gait (canter or trot) to a potentially slower one (walk or halt), repeated half-halts will make for a “soft landing,” as the horse moving with considerable impulsion will settle down lightly to a slower tempo without “falling” into the new gait. The first stride of each gait has to be as pure and impulsive as any that would follow it. Only by increased engagement, bending of the joints prior to a new gait, can the horse gather his quarters under the weight to support it correctly. The half-halt allows for repeated yielding, which will ensure an elastic entry into the new gait, uninhibited by a paralyzing, continuously resistant pull.

When the transition occurs from a potentially slower to a potentially faster gait, the half-halt serves as a preparatory warning device. It also facilitates improved engagement of the hindquarters. Thus, the prepared horse will be making a few more engaged steps which make him more capable of lifting up into a trot or canter, rather than merely pushing forward and falling through the forehand into these gaits.

Half-halts in lateral work should be employed to prepare each bending. Actually, every corner should be preceded by executing a half-halt. Without this, a horse usually does not bend, but instead falls through each corner stiffly. On lateral half-halts, diagonal aids are used. Thus, a half-halt before a corner should be performed with the inside leg driving and the outside rein maintaining contact.

Depending on the horse’s natural suppleness and elasticity, on his gymnastic development and on his responsiveness to the aids, half-halts may be repeated more or less often. An advanced horse that is moving well in a full bridle will respond to half-halts before they transmit from the seat to the hands, which is to say, the horse will respond to the leg and seat aids primarily.

Half-Halts Lead to Self-Carriage
When an improperly trained horse leans on the bit and over-contacts, he will be forced to bid the musculature of his body against the rider’s stress-causing hands. No human athlete could develop his body if it were engaged to force a locked door open by constantly leaning against it in a paralyzing brace.

Riders must insist on a contact so light that their hands merely transmit the isometric conditions and the position of their torso through the reins to the horse’s muzzle. The horse should be able to read the rider’s mind through the bit rather than being either held or steered by it. Self-carriage is a very serious requirement in classical equitation. If a rider cannot control the horse’s haunches, tempo, and balance with his seat alone and without the pulling actions of his hands, he cannot gymnastically improve his horse. At all stages of training, the horse should remain in perfect balance without the rider’s powerful connection to the bridle. Neither the rider nor the horse should hang on to the bit. It takes two to pull: if the rider blames the horse for pulling, he must remember that his horse is blaming him for the same. No one can pull on a string with force if the other end is not tied to something. An untied string cannot be tightened because it will follow the puller.

Training a horse without confinement and restraint through the reins will allow him to balance in self-carriage. This is the foundation for the future sophistication of the self-carriage concept. When a horse matures and develops gymnastically in self-carriage, he will volunteer to maintain the gaits without the rider’s prompting. Therefore, the most sophisticated manifestation of self-carriage is when a horse can be asked to perform any gait, any figure, and any level of engagement that he voluntarily maintains until aided to change out of it by his rider. A sophisticated horse will maintain the gait, proceed on the figure, and maintain his posture just as his rider asked, as if by himself. He will not need step-by-step prompting and continuous pressuring by his rider. He will continue to perform “by himself” voluntarily because he is free from fear and inhibition and knows that he can trust his rider to not disturb his balance or impede his motion. A horse trained in such a manner, one in self-carriage, will always be free to engage his haunches and, as a consequence, remain light in the forehand. Such a horse will be free to engage for maximum performance his haunches, carry his neck in the most graceful posture, and work as if his proud performance were his own idea. A horse in self-carriage may be asked for passage and will maintain it until his rider asks him for a change, to perhaps a halt, or canter, or trot.

The horse in self-carriage is one working on his four legs, without borrowing the rider’s hands as a “fifth leg.” He is allowed freedom of carriage limited only by the accomplishments of his haunches. He always maintains his balance, with his rider’s mild assistance, through half-halts. He promotes and prolongs his gaits, figures, and level of engagement willingly without the rider having to labor.

Self-carriage verifies the purity of the horse’s schooling. If a rider cannot yield one or both of his reins without his horse rushing, breaking gait, or diminishing engagement, the horse is not trained correctly and is leaning on a “fifth leg.” Self-carriage can be developed only by riders who are anchored in the horse’s movement on their seat rather than connected to their horse through the hands, anchored in his mouth. Horsemanship has always been evaluated by the rider’s ability to present his horse in self-carriage, hanging down from his seat and torso without any stress on the reins.

In phase six, the horse is suspended above the ground and comes easily into harmony with the rider’s new position. Without anchorage to the ground, the horse can rebend himself into a new lateral position. By the time his flight is concluded, he will exercise the option of touching down with the opposite hind leg on the ground. The flying change will have been performed!

Two words of caution: Before asking for a flying change, produce an impulsive, collected canter. As you change position, and with it aiding diagonals during phase five, you must do it harmoniously so that during phase six, you can once again clarify the new balance to the opposite side.

I disagree with any tendency to lighten the seat at the time of the flying change. Do not encourage an exuberant, leaping changeover. Neither hurry nor extend the canter strides before the change. On the contrary, make sure to stay deep in the saddle with a well-anchored seat, thigh, and knee contact, and in order to do so, stay very erect in the saddle. By bouncing forward, looking down, leaning to the side, or any other dislodging or “lightening” activities by the seat, the rider denies the horse the feeling of the rider having changed position and balance in the saddle. The seat is the most important contact area through which we communicate the change! Collect the horse more by a half-halt just prior to the change of lead. Keep your head high. As you change leg position, the new outside leg should move with friction along the horse’s side without leaving it. By kicking backward, you will aid in the wrong rhythm.