Dressage - The Half Pass

Dressage - Half Pass
The Half Pass is a lateral dressage movement in which the horse wrapped around the riders inside leg, moves forwards and sideways into the bend with the forehand very slightly in front of the hindquarters.

Half Pass requires the horse to maintain balance, rhythm and impulsion throughout and is therefore a very demanding exercise for the horse to undertake due to the amount of engagement that is required from the hindquarters.

Preparation For Half Pass
The horse should already be well established with school movements and be correctly working through in Leg Yield, Shoulder In and Travers with free and energetic paces.

How To Ask For Half Pass

Have your horse in walk on the left rein to begin with and as you come out of the corner of the school begin to ride Shoulder In.
Ensure that your horse is balanced and freely moving forward and sitting lightly in the outside right rein with a soft light contact on the inside rein and with the correct amount of left bend.
Your inside left leg will already be on the girth maintaining impulsion and the soft inside bend to the left and it is now that your outside leg will take action to begin the Half Pass.
Move your outside right leg back behind the girth to ask the hindquarters to start moving to the left.
At the same time take your outside rein and use an indirect rein to allow the shoulders to start freely moving diagonally across the school.
You need to maintain the shoulder fore positioning whilst riding the Half Pass so that the hindquarters do not overtake the front of the horse.
To begin with only ride a few steps of Half Pass to the quarter line and then continue to ride Shoulder In along the quarter line. As your horse progresses you will be able to Half Pass to the centre line and eventually across the opposite side of the school.

Half Pass Exercises

Another way to start riding Half Pass is to ride a 10 or 15 m half circle at one end of the school and then Half Pass back to the track, this exercise is great because you change the rein each time you ride it, ensuring that you are well practiced on both reins.
Once you are accomplished at riding Half Pass you can ride from the track in left Half Pass to the centre line and then back to the track in right Half Pass and vice versa.
When you have really established your Half Pass it can also be ridden in trot and in canter.

Faults Of Half Pass

Horses footfalls becoming irregular when in Half Pass is a sign that there is either insufficient engagement from the hindquarters or that the horse is falling out through the inside shoulder. If you feel irregular steps then you will need to reengage the hindquarters by riding circle and some more Shoulder In to ensure that the inside hind leg is engaged and able to maintain energy in the Half Pass, ride a few steps of Half Pass at a time in order to maintain quality steps and build up your horses strength.
Lack of inside bend shows that the horse is not sufficiently wrapped around the riders inside leg and connected to the outside rein. Use a circle to start your Shoulder In which will help to engage the hindquarters and reconnect the inside leg and outside rein and once the correct bend and shoulder in is established ask for a few steps of Half Pass and then come out of the Half Pass and into some more Shoulder In.
Horse losing impulsion can be due to the rider asking for too much Half Pass for the horse to cope with, if this is the case then start off with a few steps of Half Pass and gradually build up the amount of Half Pass. The other reason for lack of impulsion can be if the rider is restricting the horse in any way with their position.
Horses hindquarters leading is often due to the horse anticipating the Half Pass, you will need to ride shoulder In or a circle first and then ask for the Half Pass to ensure that the shoulder stays in front of the hindquarter.
Horses hindquarters left behind is often due to the shoulder dropping too quickly into the Half Pass. Try riding a few steps at a time mixed in with the shoulder In to help prevent the horse from anticipating.
Resistance by the horse can be due to the horse not understanding the riders aids or through discomfort. Start the Travers and Shoulder In again to ensure that the horse fully understands the riders aids correctly and then add the Half Pass in again.