Lara Butler
Using leg-yield to develop the half-pass and improve balance and control (née Griffith) on improving the half-pass
AIM
Half-pass in both trot and canter is a useful suppling exercise and an important movement in dressage tests from medium level upwards. To gain good marks, it needs to be ridden with forward impulsion while retaining balance and control.
This exercise uses a few steps of leg-yield to teach the horse to stay bent around the rider’s inside leg in the half-pass and ensure that he isn’t just falling sideways. It also teaches the horse to listen to a half-halt within the half-pass, which is essential when you’re aiming to achieve high marks in a test, especially as you go up the levels and have to increase the angles — and the cadence.
The ultimate aim is that you don’t need to ride the legyielding steps, and that the horse recognises the pressure of the inside leg and outside rein as a half-halt which reminds him to stay balanced and in rhythm. With this kind of control, the rider can influence the tempo, cadence and angle of the half-pass.
THE EXERCISE
1 This exercise can be ridden in either trot or canter. On the short side of the arena, as you approach the corner, start to flex the horse around your inside leg. 2 Before starting the halfpass on the diagonal, half-halt with the outside rein. Shift your bodyweight back slightly and turn your upper body in the direction you want to go.
‘With this kind of control, the rider can influence the tempo, cadence and angle of the half-pass’
3 With your weight down the inside stirrup, start the half-pass and travel sideways for about five metres.
4 Give a signal with the outside rein and then push the horse away from your inside leg (i.e. back towards the track) to leg-yield for three or four steps. Keep the outside contact so that the horse does not fall onto his outside shoulder.
5 Change sideways direction to return to half-pass. Try to give with the inside rein.
6 The exercise can be repeated several times across the diagonal, depending on the size of the arena. Don’t forget to repeat it on the other rein.