A lot of you guys have been requesting a video on canter half pass. This week, I’m going to show you exactly how to introduce the canter half pass!!
Canter half pass is trickier than trot half pass as it’s a different mechanic . In the trot, they reach with one hind leg and cross with the other, but in canter, they essentially jump sideways! This sideways jump can be difficult for your horse to figure out even if they’re already trot half pass confirmed!
In this video, I’m working with Mercurio – a PRE who is confirmed at 3rd level.
Before you start working on your half pass, it is important that you have a good quality collected canter and that you have the following prerequisites:
- Clean and crisp canter-walk-canter transitions
- Transitions forward and back in the canter
- Trot half-pass.
- Shoulder-fore and haunches-in
Once you feel the canter-walk-canter and the collection are smooth you’ll ride the following movements.
- First, ride shoulder-fore in the canter. So on the left rein you’ll be connecting the left hind to the right rein, pushing the hip underneath them and keeping a steady contact. This straightens your horse and narrows their base of support.
- Next, ride haunches in at the canter. This lets you see how much control you have of the hind legs. If you can’t quite get haunches in, you can a) flex your horse right (still on the left rein) and leg yield down the rail. Or b) do haunches in at the walk, and pick up the canter from the haunches in.
- Ride up the center line in shoulder-fore, turn onto a diagonal line towards the rail and then develop haunches-in on that line. This will give you a canter half pass!!
Be sure to stay following the motion of the canter with your horse and stay sitting on the inside seat bone!
This is a hard movement, I won’t dress it up! If you’re having trouble, go back to the basics or even back to the walk and ride your half pass! This gives you and your horse a little more time to get the aids correct and finesse your technique.
Check out this video where I practice all of this with Mercurio and let me know if you find it helpful!
Thanks for watching and happy riding!
PS- If Canter Half-Pass isn’t for you yet, I have a great FREE Guide to Canter. It’s all about learning how to ride and how to improve your Canter. So if you’re learning your leads or your lead changes, this is a great free guide.
