The way the horse performs transitions to the halt and from the halt tells us a lot about his training. Many horses and riders struggle with these transitions. Half halts often don’t go through in down transitions, so the horse inverts or curls up. The halt isn’t square, the horse is crooked, to name just some of the most common problems.
Energy is not an official part of the training pyramid. It’s not really a formal category of training, although teachers will sometimes ask students to ride a more energetic walk, trot, or canter. I suspect that when teachers tell the students to “ride more forward” they often mean “create more energy”, but the word “forward” tends to lead to more speed, rather than more energy or more power.
The closest thing in the official terminology is Schwung/Impulsion, but it’s not quite the same as energy.
Transitions are always vulnerable to mistakes because the horse’s balance has to change from one gait to the next. The energy level is different in each gait. The necessary amount of core muscle engagement is different for both horse and rider. The movement is different. That’s why transitions are always prone to disturbances in the horse’s outline and rein contact. If the horse gets crooked or strung out, or if he loses balance, it will be reflected in the suppleness and the rein contact. Riding a smooth transition means managing all these different ingredients and helping the horse stay straight and in balance. That’s why so many riders and horses struggle with transitions.
Down transitions are often more difficult for horses and riders than up transitions because horses tend to resist more against the half halts in down transitions than against the driving aids in up transitions.
For a good down transition, the combined weight of horse and rider needs to flow through the spine and through a specific leg into the ground, so that the horse can stay balanced, round, and light. If you ride a down transition into a hind leg - which is usually the case - this hind leg should fold its joints as it allows the half halt to go through. If there is any muscle blockage anywhere along the path between the bit and the hind leg joints, the horse will resist against the aids.
