No matter where I travel, the most frequently asked questions I get are, “How do I put my dressage horse on the bit…and how do I keep him there consistently?” This concept baffles many riders. My hope here is to simplify the process for you by explaining how to give what I call a “connecting” half halt.
 
First, you need to know that the “connecting” half halt is the SPECIFIC AID you’ll use to put your dressage horse on the bit. It’s an AID just like there is a specific aid to ask for canter or for a leg yield.
 
Now for some information on the half halt:
 
1. The reason we give a half halt is to bring the horse to a more perfect state of balance.
 
2. The half halt is the most important yet most misunderstood concept in riding. It is important not only because it is the aid to put your horse on the bit, but also because it is the doorway through which you do every change of gait, balance, movement, or exercise.
 
3. There is no “stopping” in a half halt. Think of it as a “half-go”. That is, every half halt contains the power, the surge, or the thrust from behind that you’d have if you asked for a medium gait.
 
4. There is one generic, “over-the-counter” half halt. It consists of the momentary closure of seat, legs, and hands.
 
5. The confusion about half halts stems from the fact that there are many possible variations of that generic half halt because you can use your seat, legs, and hands in different ways. To add to the many options available, you can also vary the duration and the intensity of the half halt.
 
6. Different variations of the generic half halt create different results such as connection, collection, or preparation for something new.
 
7. To put your horse on the bit, use the version of the half halt that “connects” your horse’s back end to his front end. For the sake of clarity, I will call this version of the generic half halt, the “connecting half halt”.
 
8. The “connecting half halt” consists of the marriage of 3 sets of aids.
     A. Driving aids (seat and two legs)
     B. Bending aids (inside rein and both legs)
     C. The rein of opposition (outside rein)
 
9. These 3 sets of aids are applied for about 3 seconds. (Not a MOMENTARY closure of seat, legs, and hands!)
 
10. To the naked eye, the aids are given at the same time.
 
11. However, if you had freeze frame photography, you would see:

      A. First, close both calves as if you’re squeezing toothpaste out of a tube to create that surge of power from    behind. (You’ll only be using your legs as your driving aids at this point. I’m purposely leaving the seat out for now to keep things simple.)

     B. Next, close your outside hand (rein of opposition) in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle the energy back to the hind legs.

     C. Finally, give 3 little squeezes and releases on the inside rein to keep the neck straight. (If you don’t use your inside hand, your horse will bend his neck to the outside because your outside hand is closed in a fist for so long.)
 
     D. After 3 seconds, soften everything. Go back to the light, maintenance pressure of legs and hands you had in the beginning before you gave the half halt.
 
12. Put your dressage horse on the bit is as simple as giving any other aid. Don’t make it complicated by searching for exercises to connect your horse. (Don’t get me wrong. Exercises like leg yields are helpful. They give the novice horse or rider the “feel” of connection. But at the end of the day, you need to train your horse to come on the bit from an invisible aid that you can use anytime…like in the show ring!)

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Putting your dressage horse on the bit is really as simple as patting your head and rubbing your stomach.

As long as you know the ingredients that make up the aid that puts your horse on the bit, you can connect him. And the great news is that aid is as simple, clear, and uncomplicated as closing your legs and asking your horse to go from halt to walk.

For the sake of clarity, I’m going to call the aid that you’ll use to put your horse on the bit the “connecting aids”.

The “connecting aids” are a combination of three ingredients that are maintained for about three seconds—the length of time it takes you to inhale and exhale:

Those three ingredients are the:
•    driving aids
•    bending aids
•    rein of opposition

The driving aids consist of your seat and your two legs because any of those aids will drive the horse forward.

The bending aids consist of your inside rein which asks the horse to look in the direction that he is going, your inside leg on the girth, and your outside leg behind the girth. Each of those aids contributes to bend.

The rein of opposition is the outside rein. It’s called the rein of opposition because it opposes too much speed from the driving aids and too much bend from the bending aids.

When you marry those three ingredients–driving aids, bending aids and rein of opposition for about three seconds, you give the cue to put your horse on the bit—the connecting aids.

Yes, it’s important to time your aids. That’s because your horse can ONLY respond to an aid when a hind leg is on the ground—and specifically just before it pushes off. But by giving the connecting aids for about three seconds, you’ll be overlapping the time when each hind leg is on the ground.

So putting your dressage horse on the bit really is as simple as patting your head and rubbing your stomach. That’s because basically, all you’re doing is closing both calves to drive your horse forward as if you’re going into a lengthening. Then you do something different with each one of your hands.  (That’s where the patting the head and rubbing your stomach comes in.)   Your outside hand closes in a fist while your vibrating inside hand keeps the neck straight and asks for flexion at the jaw.

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Putting your horse on the bit has nothing to do with “head sets”. Physically, it’s a round silhouette that occurs when you ride your horse from behind, over his back, through his neck, and into your hands. (And at that point the energy can be recycled back to the hind legs) Mentally, a horse that is on the bit is “on the aids” and anything is possible within the next step.

When you’re working on putting your horse on the bit, remember to always FIRST use your driving aids before you use your reins. You want to create a surge from behind as if you’re starting a lengthening.

Then just as you feel your horse begin to lengthen, close your outside hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle that power back to the hind legs. (You’ll only need to use your inside hand if your horse bends his neck to the outside during the combination of the driving aids and rein of opposition (outside rein).

Always remember that using your hands BEFORE your driving aids (or instead of your driving aids—YIKES!) is the same as picking up the telephone before it rings. Why would you pick up the phone? No one is there!

By the same token why would you use your hands to put your horse on the bit before you’ve first driven him forward? You haven’t created any power to capture and recycle back to the hind legs!

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Don’t get me wrong. We do often flex the horse’s jaw. In fact, his jaw must be flexed for him to be completely on the bit. BUT, the danger lies in flexing the jaw BEFORE you connect him over his back. If you flex his jaw first, he’s not really connected. His face is just “in”. The danger here is that you can fake yourself out.

A horse flexes “in” when a rider moves the bit in his mouth. When you do this be sure you only use ONE rein to move the bit. If you alternately saw on his mouth with your left and right hands, he’ll just bring his face closer to his chest.

You might think he’s correctly on the bit because he feels soft in your hand when his jaw is flexed. But if you go to do something like a transition, you’ll find out that he’s really not on the bit at all.

He wasn’t honestly on the bit to begin with during the transition, he’ll raise his head and neck and look hollow. That’s because all you have control over is a flexed jaw. You need to ride your horse from back to front. Close your legs and send your horse forward through your outside hand to get his back round. And ONLY after you’ve sent him forward through your outside hand should you flex his jaw as the final ingredient of putting him on the bit.

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When your horse is on the bit, here’s what he’ll look and feel like:

• He feels like he’s one unit rather than a jumble of “disconnected parts”.
• He’s more comfortable to sit on because his back is relaxed.
• In trot and canter, he feels like a beach ball bouncing along.
  His back (behind the saddle) is up and swinging rather than dropped and tense.
• From the saddle his neck is widest at the base (just in front of the withers) and becomes progressively narrower as you get closer to his ears.
• From the side, his neck looks longish and relatively low rather than up in the air and short.

And, just as importantly, when he’s on the bit, your dressage horse will feel like he can do anything within the next step. For example, he can immediately go from trot to canter. Or he can immediately go from working canter into a canter lengthening.

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The key to making both you and your horse more comfortable in sitting trot, is to connect him so his back is round. You do that with what I call “the “connecting aids”.

Before you try to give connecting aids, check that your horse “thinks forward”. That is, When you close both calves, does he surge forward? If he doesn’t, give him a couple of taps with the whip or a couple of bumps with your legs to chase him forward. Then, ask him to surge forward again when you close your calves lightly. If he gives you a good answer this time, praise him.

Next, ask him to surge forward again, and after his first two strides, close your outside hand in a fist, and vibrate the inside rein. Keep all of these aids on for about 3 seconds. You’re asking for the surge FIRST so you can be sure you’re riding from back to front.

Later on, you’ll give the connecting aids almost simultaneously, but you’ll still think of them in this order: Close both legs, close your outside hand in a fist, squeeze and release on the inside rein. Maintain for 3 seconds and then soften.

When you marry those three sets of aids correctly, your horse will come on the bit, and, as a result, it’ll be easier for you to sit the trot.

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