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  Discussion on The halt
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New Member:
verani

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 6:07 pm:

my horse pushes his nose out at the halt. any suggestions on doing the halt
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 7:03 pm:

Hi daniela, I think you may need to give more information to get help. Does he push his nose out while trying to stop? or is it while he is standing still? A more detailed description would help.
New Member:
verani

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 7:51 pm:

Hi Diane,
when I ask him to halt he bears down but pushes his nose out and up and opens his mouth. Sometimes he gets it great,halting on all fours, but not on the forehand, more often he does the above. I looking on advice to get him light,weight off the forehand. thanks
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 8:20 pm:

Daniela sounds like you are asking for a quick halt when you say he bears down? So I will take for granted you want a quick stop...with poll bent.

I am sure there are many ways to get this, but it doesn't happen overnight.

My personal favorite and what worked for my horse was when asking for a stop sitting my seat deep and saying ho. then use the reins as a backup. Once stopped back up a few steps which sets them up on their hind end, pretty soon they anticipate the stop then back and start using their rear. We started this at a walk and once good moved to trot then canter.

My horse has a good back up which helped. We practiced every time we rode and after about 2 weeks he would stop when I sat my butt deep with very little pressure on the reins.

When your horse is doing this it is a form of resistance, he doesn't like the way you are asking and or you are probably using too much rein. Try using body cues first, reins last. It will come with patience.
Member:
canter

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 8:22 pm:

Daniela, I'm wondering if you aren't riding the halt with too much hand vs. using your seat and leg. Are you letting the horse know that you're thinking about the halt before you ask i.e. are you riding a slight half halt first to get him paying attention to what might come next? Can you describe for us exactly how you ask for the halt? Perhaps then, we can get a better idea of what you may be doing and can advise from there.
Member:
amara

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 8:32 pm:

daniela,
what style of riding are you doing? what kind of bit do you use? what is the age of the horse and the level of training? what is your level of training?...does he move free and relaxed with a loose back before you ask for the halt? does he move free and relaxed at all 3 gaits?... does the saddle fit?.. how exactly do you ask for the halt?(from several strides beforehand to several seconds after the actual halt)..do you ride the halt as forward movement in place? or as a complete stop of all energy... as Diane says its done as a resistance, but depending on why he resists what you do to work on it can be different...
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 8:39 pm:

Hi Daniela,

I would only school this transition if it remains a problem after you get him light and straight in his canter to trot and trot to walk transitions. I say this because vices in the walk to halt are extremely difficult to fix, especially if they result from over-schooling. For example, a lot of people will pull back in order to correct the DrOp/invert behavior you describe, which either makes it worse or creates the evasion of stepping back (to avoid the pull).

School the other transitions until they are right, and the walk to halt will almost always fix itself. If it does not (maybe that's why you are posting), trying schooling walk to halt in a leg yield, and then in a shoulder-fore. When those are right, move to a circle (don't DrOp the figure). School in both directions, and only ride it straight when it's correct in figures. This has worked for me on confirmed fidgeters. It takes a while-- not gonna happen in one ride.

Keep yourself honest in your hands-- his evasions now sound like an objection to excessive bit pressure at some point in time. You may have to work at regaining his confidence in this transition.

Good luck!
Member:
frances

Posted on Monday, Oct 29, 2007 - 6:20 am:

Hi Daniela,

This is a quote from Michael J. Stevens book "A Classical Riding Notebook": "The only satisfactory way to encourage the horse to stop is for the rider to slow down the rhythmic movement of his pelvis which will thereby damp down the movement in the horse's back. The rider can achieve this by closing his knees and thighs more firmly against the saddle, and by tightening his stomach muscles. Mastery of this technique is one of the keys to success in riding and training horses. To achieve a good quality transitiion the rider may need to use legs and hands to keep the hind legs engaged and to prevent the horse from poking his nose, but the dominant stopping aid must always be given to the horse through the rider's seat. If the horse will not stop it is better for his development to ride him straight up to a wall than to pull on the reins."

I think it was the last sentence that made me remember this paragraph!
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Monday, Oct 29, 2007 - 10:36 am:

You've gotten some great advice! My horse does this... first I get him relaxed and forward, then I pick a spot to halt, then I step in the stirrups, kegel (sp), squeeze (not pull) on the left, then the right rein and visibly breathe out. Some horses halt square with just the kegel (sp). Also, be sure to add leg so he walks forward into the halt. Granted this is just at the walk, we're not trotting yet.

Good luck!
Member:
frances

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 - 9:44 am:

Hey Aileen, what does kegel mean?

Lynn the ignorant
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 - 10:40 am:

No you're not :-)

Kegels are the exercises for the muscles around the pelvis. You can find the exercises by googling them ...
Member:
kthorse

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 - 5:49 pm:

Hi, A good trick to help you use your body more is to have a rope or leather attached to a belt or something (to stop it sliding down) Have it around your back. It should be the same lenth as your hand position on the rein. Hold the leather or rope together with the reins. When you use your seat to stop you feel more pressure from the rope against your back. It also stops you from pulling back as you lose the feel/ contact against your back. Its a great tool for learning the feel of stopping with your seat. I also take a deep loud breath before I halt (also puts you in postion for halt). It gives the horse a warning of whats to come. Soon he will hear your deep breath, or sigh , and will stop on this alone. If he doesnt stop at first after you ask him nicely maybe twice, then do a one rein stop and start again. I found using to much rein causes them to pull and or stick their nose out to avoid the bit. If you dont give them anything to pull against they cant pull. Does that make sense. I am terrible explaining things.
New Member:
verani

Posted on Saturday, Nov 3, 2007 - 4:32 pm:

Hi,
All of you have really given great advice and I will try all of it. He is a nine year old oldenburg, 16.3, really big boned, with a 56 inch girth. He is trained to third level dressage movements, only shown up to training level 4, with scores at 75.3, and has been doing the hunters for a year. He is probably the safest, sweetest horse I've known. He jumps 3'6" easily and has perfect cadence, but if he is not kept straight, he will get pulling down on the bit after the jumps. He never does anything that is mean, and will not purposely try to get you off. He jumps anything with knees square. I would like to try to get him really light in front and not to pull out and up at the halt. Daniela
Member:
amara

Posted on Saturday, Nov 3, 2007 - 7:38 pm:

hi daniela,
you've just about answered your question i think... he needs to be kept straight and thru... never ever ask for any transition unless your horse is ready for it...he should be moving freely thru his back...make sure he is moving lightly forward from your legs and does not fall into your hand... if he falls into your hand then he is NOT using his hind end correctly... you need to create more energy and use your midsection to control the pace so that he does not fall forward and get heavy...
in asking for a downward transition - any downward transition - you need to ride the horse forward into the transition.. it in fact takes more energy from the horse to correctly do a downward transition than it does to do an upward...so keep using lots of leg, and minimal hand - just enough to keep his straight...use your body to ask the horse...hold with your back and still your seat.. if he gets heavy in your hand use more leg - not more hand - and hold more with your seat...
he may be lacking some muscling in his hindquarters and along his topline, so dont drill transitions until he's strong enough for it, tho doing lots of correct transitions is a great way to build up lots of strong muscles and get them really light and on the hindquarters...

good luck
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Saturday, Nov 3, 2007 - 9:52 pm:

I too have been working on the halt, and the stand still after. She would pull right through the halt.
My instructor has me squeezing with my knees, therefore stopping the pelvic motion, then, a "ho" and a brief, light squeeze of the reins, she is halting really well and not dancing about as she used to. We also worked doing serpentines at the trot and halting in the middle of each loop and then right back into a trot. I was having a really hard time trying to halt with a deep seat, but this way is working great.
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