Test for Halting – A Valuable Tool for Training Balance and Control
When working with a horse on a circle from the ground, a highly practical exercise to improve the horse’s balance and flexibility is disengaging the hindquarters to halt the horse facing the circle center. This movement, known as hindquarter disengagement, is a great way to practice “applying the brakes.”
Disengagement, the opposite of engaging the hindquarters, primarily reduces forward drive. It helps improve flexibility, balance, and responsiveness to cues for lateral movements. From a behavioral perspective, this exercise enhances focus, control of energy, and emotional regulation, and it teaches the horse to respect personal space by moving its hindquarters away. This can serve as a valuable handbrake that every horse should know.
Important Note
Groundwork enthusiasts often overuse hindquarter disengagement. When working on circles, we may repeatedly halt the horse by disengaging the hindquarters or changing directions toward the circle center with various maneuvers. Horses trained this way quickly improve their balance and flexibility, but moderation is key! Straight halts on the circle are equally essential for building quality transitions and halts under saddle.
Under saddle, halting by disengaging the hindquarters is useful, especially for young or high-energy horses that struggle with halting and regulating their emotions. However, if we aim to advance a horse’s training level, straight halts on a squarely aligned horse are essential.
A Simple Test for Halting
Try this exercise and rate each component from 0 to 3 to evaluate the quality of your horse’s halts both on the ground and under saddle. This will highlight areas to focus on in upcoming training sessions.
1. Assess Your Horse’s Halts on a Circle from the Ground:
- The horse halts by smoothly transitioning down through the gaits. (0-3)
- The horse halts from a trot. (0-3)
- The quality of the halt (e.g., smoothness, control). (0-3)
- Does the horse halt squarely, with legs properly aligned? (0-3)
- Does the horse stay straight, or does its hindquarters drift out while it turns its head toward the circle center? (0-3)
- How quickly does the horse respond to halt cues? (0-3)
- Does the horse respond to subtle cues (energy, voice, body position), or does it wait until it feels pressure from the halter or sees a lunge whip in front? (0-3)
Total Score for Groundwork Halts: … / 21
2. Assess the Quality of Halts Under Saddle:
- The horse halts by transitioning down through the gaits. (0-3)
- The horse halts from a trot. (0-3)
- The quality of the halt. (0-3)
- Does the horse halt in response to the seat or energy rather than rein pressure? (0-3)
- Does the horse halt squarely, with legs properly aligned? (0-3)
- Does the horse stay straight, or does its hindquarters drift out while it turns its head toward the circle center? (0-3)
- Does the horse lean on the reins when halting? (0-3)
- Was any rein correction needed? (0-3)
- Was any leg correction needed? (0-3)
- How quickly does the horse respond to halt cues? (0-3)
Total Score for Halts Under Saddle: … / 30
How to Use Your Scores
Regardless of your score, this test is a valuable tool for planning future training sessions. Record your results and repeat the test in 1, 3, and 6 months. These insights may help solve recurring training issues or bring variety to your training routine.
Good luck!
Ola Najman
fot. Light Equitation
