Building Balance and Connection with Half-Steps

With her ever-present smile and crowd-thrilling performances aboard the grey Swedish Warmblood D Niro, Jacqueline Brooks has become one of Canada’s best-known riders on the international dressage stage. The two-time Olympian from Edmonton, AB (now based in Newmarket, ON) has been a dressage competitor for more than 20 years, qualifying for six Canadian teams during that time. She is also a respected trainer, coach and sought-after clinician known for her careful and kind approach to horse and rider development.

Jacqueline shared her thoughts with us on the importance of half-steps as a valuable, yet challenging training tool in the development of upper-level dressage horses.

What exactly are half-steps? In the simplest of terms, they are a forward-moving version of what will eventually develop into piaffe. Performed at the trot, they are necessary to initiate a horse’s education for the piaffe and passage and the transition between the two.

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Half-steps are the ultimate exercise for core strength and balance. Once a horse understands half-steps, he also begins to understand the advanced balance for all his transitions. They are the introduction of a real connection between the haunches and the forehand that require true straightness and self-carriage.

I generally introduce half-steps into the training process when the horse is five or six. If a horse demonstrates a natural talent for them and begins to offer them at age five, I certainly would not discourage him. If he has not tried to offer them by six, I begin to teach the movement to him.

Initially, I am simply looking for a reaction in the horse’s upper back and shoulders to lift his forehand and maintain a rhythm. I do not ask for a lot of impulsion in the early stages and instead focus primarily on balance. I try to encourage the horse to shorten his back and bring his hind legs forward and carry more of his weight. I then ask for the necessary impulsion to create the lift required to turn the exercise into true half-steps. If correctly performed, the horse must be pushing his shoulders up, shifting more weight to his hindquarters and – most importantly – maintaining true diagonals and a quick enough tempo within his rhythm.

Avoiding trouble before it starts

Before attempting half-steps, the rider must absolutely have an independent seat and understand where a horse balances the rider. He or she must truly understand connection, how to rock a horse’s weight back towards his haunches, and how to bring the hind legs forward under his centre of gravity. The rider must have a sensitive understanding of rein and bit aids.

If you are considering teaching your horse half-steps, you absolutely need the help of a professional to be your eyes on the ground and ensure you are heading in the right direction. One of the most common mistakes is trying to pull the horse’s neck and shoulders back towards his hindquarters in an effort to ask him to carry them. The shoulders really need to be pushed up by the rider and the neck relaxed forward.

The second thing is usually a lack of attention to the role self-carriage and straightness play in learning this exercise. If the horse is leaning laterally on either rein, or depending on the actual bit for his balance, he will not be able to maintain the balance necessary for half-steps. It would be similar to leaving the training wheels on a child’s bike; they would never learn to balance the bike. Another common error is a loss of the diagonal trot movement.

Some riders prefer to first introduce half-steps on the ground. I am not an expert in in-hand work myself, so if I have a horse that I feel is not understanding what I am asking from his back, I ask an expert to teach them the in-hand work. I am very lucky to have a great relationship with Juan Matute Sr. and love how he introduces the in-hand work. Once he has the horse understanding what we are asking of him, I continue the in-hand work until the horse is able to connect it to the work I am asking for from the saddle.

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First steps – Teaching your horse to do a very small trot that is not dependant on your driving aids or your reins and bit to balance is a great introductory exercise. Then practise finding your own balance within those small steps so that you are not a burden to your horse as he tries to manage this more advanced exercise. Working on ambidextrous bending and straightening exercises such as leg yields, renvers, and half-passes to develop a balanced athlete are necessary precursors to this most advanced of exercises. Having your horse working evenly into both reins is imperative.

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Ready for more – Presuming you are confident in your horse’s self-carriage and independent balance, I like to do the half-steps from a lot of different exercises so the horse begins to use the half-steps to recover his balance. Using half-steps between leg yields and half-passes teaches horses to keep their feet quick and their balance athletic as they negotiate the changes of rein, bend, and direction.