When doing a half-pass, the horse moves diagonally in a lateral bending, in a forward-sideward manner and looks in the direction it is going.
Shoulder in, haunches in and half pass are related to each other.
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| Doing a half-pass is the same as quarter-in, except that the exercise is not done along the wall bet on the diagonal.This requires that the horse carries itself as the wall no longer supports the horse. Imagine that the wall is on the diagonal and ride hindquarter-in along that imaginary wall. This will result in the half-pass. | In the half-pass the shoulders should always lead, meaning they are always in front of the hindquarter. During every moment of the half-pass, the horse should be able to continue in a straight line in shoulder-in. Then you are sure the horse has had the right shape during the half-pass. For horses that still lack some strength and lose their balance quickly, it is recommended to alternate half-pass with shoulder-in on a straight line. |
One can only start with half-pass when the exercises shoulder-in and hindquarter-in are properly taught to the horse. It is first taught in hand, and then in riding.
As preparation to the exercise, the rider rides a circle to the right or a shoulder-in to the right. The rider then moves his point of weight towards the diagonal and asks the outside hind leg to step under the point of weight.
- The ¼ half-pass leads to the middle of the short side and the horse is less bended in this exercise. The horse goes more forwards than sideward.
- In the ½ half-pass the horse has a similar bending as on a 10 meter circle. The horse goes as much forward as it goes sideward, thus having equal pushing and carrying capacity in his hind legs.
- In the ¾ half-pass the horse is more bended and moves to the centre of the long side. The horse goes more sideward than forwards.
- In a complete half-pass the horse has maximum bending and steps sideward. A little bit of forwards should be maintained so that the outer legs can continue to step in front of the inside legs.
- It is recommended to practice all variations and not to limit yourself to just 1 variation.
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