Half-pass is a two-track exercise in which the horse moves sideways and crosses his legs. The forehand slightly precedes the hind end, and the neck and head are flexed in the direction of the movement.
 

Purpose of half-pass: Increase the mobility and level of attention of the horse.  Make the horse more flexible laterally.  Better the range of motion of the hindquarters.  Reinforce the muscles. Posture of the horse: The horse moves sideways, flexed the same way he is going, crossing his legs.  There are three rules to respect: - The horse must go forward, - The horse must go sideways, - The horse must stay parallel to the rail. Each horse has his own correct bend.

 

Increase the horse’s impulsion before a half-pass, but do not loose cadence by quickening or slowing down your strides. Position the horse’s shoulders well before starting. Keep your bending aids when leaving the rail (inside bend).

The inside leg stays at the girth and maintains impulsion. It controls the bend.
The inside leg first gives the bend. Then the outside leg, more or less behind the girth, pushes the haunches intermittently toward half-pass.

The inside rein gives the bend and does not move anymore (it may give in);
The outside rein positions and controls the outside shoulder of the horse. Therefore, it is essential that you keep a very good contact with the horse’s mouth. The two reins stay parallel.

The upper body of the rider always stays parallel to the horse’s shoulders. Look slightly toward the direction of the half-pass, and also turn your shoulders in the direction of the half-pass.

The body of the rider goes toward the inside hand.
By slightly putting his weight toward the direction of the half-pass, the rider enforces the action of the inside hand.

Half-pass can be done at the walk, trot, canter or even passage.
 
 

Always leave the rail at a right angle, go forward, then start your half-pass. Put your inside leg at the girth before leaving the rail.

Never let the horse put more weight on one shoulder than on the other.
Act in an intermittent manner with your inside leg. When touching, the spur has a “spasmodic” (sharp) effect and flexes the horse (if a horsefly bites the horse at the girth, the horse reacts by bending on the side of the horsefly).
The outside aids must prevail (especially at the end of the half-pass), just like in a shoulder-in.

Do not create a “pulley effect” between your inside hand toward the withers or the other side of the neck. It’s better to place your two hands on the side of the half-pass for an instant and then release. This will increase the range of the half-pass stride.

Have the same tension on both reins, never abandon the outside rein. Putting more tension on the inside rein than on the outside rein will restraint the movement. Keep equal strength in both reins.

Do not over bend the horse.
Make sure the horse is bent from head to tail.
Make sure you are seated well in the axis of the horse without putting too much weight on either side.

Any adjustment made during half-pass must be done with the inside leg and the outside rein.

Turn your shoulders in the direction of the half-pass (the inside shoulder moves back), except if you want to counter the movement.

Relentlessly practice half-pass until there is no more resistance from the horse.

Your half-pass will be good when, at the end, your horse bends freely, just by asking with the outside (of the bend) rein and the inside leg.
In a half-pass to the left, arrive at the rail with more left leg, giving in with the left rein (lowering of the hand).
To have a light inside rein, use your inside leg.
Try to replace the inside rein with the inside leg (very light rein, just for the bend).
 
 

Do not teach half-pass to a horse before teaching him shoulder-in.

Start at a walk, calmly and slowly.
Make the horse round, obtain cadence and aim for a relaxed horse (execute a couple of shoulder-ins just before starting).

After the long side of the arena, turn on the quarter line of the short side of the arena.
Take two or three strides keeping the bend (inside hand, inside leg) to position the horse’s shoulders.
Move your outside leg back –touch the horse in an intermittent way- and continue to touch with your inside leg well at the girth to keep the bend.
Use small touches of the whip on the outside left hip of the horse.
Do not ask for too much bend.
Reward after two or three lateral strides.
Ask for this two or three times on each rein, then slowly become more demanding in the following days.

Ask first when leaving the rail between A and C, then on the three quarter line, then on the diagonal to the first quarter, to the middle, etc.
 

My advice:

Take a very slow pace at the beginning, decompose the movement and give the horse time to react.

Do not hesitate to go back to shoulder-ins if difficulties arise. Cut the half-pass work with shoulder-in.
Execute a couple of shoulder-ins on the diagonal to familiarize the horse with going sideways.

Ask for less bend and more haunches when first teaching the horse, to obtain the necessary mobilization of the croup and engagement of the hind legs. Once the horse understood, ask for his attention and reactivity by half-passing three or four strides, then go straight, then ask for three or four strides of half-pass again, etc.

To half-pass from the corner to X or on the entire diagonal, do the following in sequence: start by going along the rail for two or three strides, bend the horse inside, position the shoulders and then ask for half-pass. So you are actually using the outside leg last.
When leaving the rail at a straight angle, position your inside leg at the girth before the turn.
 
 
 

Frequently encountered problems

  Each horse has a suiting degree of bend. The stronger the neck of the horse is, the
 Greater the bend should be. With a small skinny-necked horse, expect less bend.
 

The bend of a horse is not the same on both reins when it has one strongly
concave and one strongly convex side. In general when stiffness arises, one exceeded the limit of possible bending. During the process of training (limberness, muscle mass, collection, submission…), half-pass becomes easier.
 

My horse twists his head on the side of the half-pass

Very often, the tension of the two reins is not equal. The outside rein is forgotten or the inside rein is too tight. Support the outside rein and use the inside leg while letting go of the inside rein.
 

My horse quickens

You can slow down the movement by slightly turning your shoulder outward. Then let them come back to be parallel with the horse’s shoulders. Use less leg.
 

Stop your half-pass before the rail. Stop going sideways and send him forward 10 to 15 feet before the rail. Start over.
Progressively half-pass all the way to the wall while reassuring the horse.
 

The inside rein can sometimes (with some horses or on one specific rein) be positioned differently. If carried away from the neck, it will spread away from the horse’s shoulder and sometimes help him to half-pass without blocking the shoulders.
 

My horse’s haunches precede the horse’s shoulders

The outside rein (and the inside rein too) must act in the direction in which the horse is going to put the shoulders back in place. The outside rein is often too far back or too demanding. To correct this, half-pass 4 or 5 strides, go straight, half-pass again, go straight…

 My horse’s haunches are late compared to the shoulders

Make your horse more active to push the haunches, slow down the shoulders by moving your outside shoulder back and by carrying your outside rein out a little.

The outside leg aid to ask for half-pass is indeed very close to the aid for the canter depart. If the leg only is used, the horse can be confused.
You must therefore carefully prepare your aids and put your horse in the correct balance.

A canter depart is not asked only with the outside leg. You must also move your outside shoulder back, put a little more weight in your left buttock, lighten the inside shoulder of the horse and move your outside leg back a little or very little. If the horse moves his haunches in, rather use your inside leg to ask for canter depart. The shoulders and the eyes are directed forward, in the axis of the horse.

Unlike the canter, in a half-pass you must look in the direction in which you are going, putting your shoulders parallel to the horse's shoulders. Delicately send your hip and your body toward your inside elbow. To ask for half-pass, move your leg further back than for the canter depart.

At the beginning, you can also use the voice aid. Say, "canter", like on the lunge, for the canter depart. You might very delicately use a crop on the inside shoulder for the canter depart (just the weight of the crop) and on the outside hip for the half-pass.
Also, when first teaching the horse, do not ask for canter depart and half-pass at the same spot in the arena.

Rather ask for half-pass when leaving the rail on the short side of the arena or on a diagonal.
Ask for canter on a circle or on the long side of the arena.

Everything is a matter of tact, especially if your horse is sharp.
If you pay special attention to your preparation, your actions and your balance, your horse will know how to make the difference quickly. Improvement should come fast.

Posture-position / Walk / Trot / Canter / Shoulder-in / half-pass /Flying change of lead/ Tempi changes / The canter Pirouette / Piaffe

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