Part 3: While the horse takes a break, Doug reminds the rider that her hands are a powerful tool to help make her life easier and overcome her horse's issues. By maintaining a shorter rein but keeping her hands more forward, her aids can be more effective, and she can avoid a lot of the wiggling that happens when the horse has too much rein. They pick up again and incorporate canter work, keeping moving forward and in the correct bend, keeps the horse's brain and body engaged.
Up Next in Dressage
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Using Half-Halts - Part 1
Colleen discusses and demonstrates how she rides a half-halt with her body, which helps the horse balance back, keep his energy, but not fall on his forehand. A proper half-halt will help the horse rebalance, change the horse’s tempo or let the horse know something different is coming up.
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Using Half-Halts - Part 2
Using the half-halts in a well-trained horse shows how the horse gathers and engages himself. Colleen also explains what happens when she doesn’t execute a half-halt as well as she should have and what she could do to improve it.
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Using Half-Halts - Part 3
Colleen rides a younger mare that struggles more with her balance. This requires more half-halts to keep her hind legs coming up underneath herself. When the horse loses her balance, she also loses her confidence. The half-halts are important to help the horse keep her balance.
