In five-star eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider Laine Ashker’s experience, a lot of riders struggle to achieve collection without relying on their reins. Whether you’re an eventer, jumper or dressage rider, this is an important skill to master because constantly pulling on your horse’s mouth to half-halt can create tension, dull his responsiveness and undermine the lightness you’re trying to create.

“We all regularly perform half-halts—sometimes without even realizing it—but many riders default to using their reins as the primary half-halt aid rather than trying to influence the horse through their bodies,” she explained.

To learn how to achieve collection without using your reins, Askher suggests using a bucking strap, a short leather or nylon strap that attaches directly to the pommel of your saddle via the D-rings. “Bucking straps were originally designed as a grab strap for security, but they’re an incredibly effective training aid for teaching what I call a rein-less half-halt,” she said. “I use them on all of my dressage and eventing saddles because they provide a key tool for developing a stronger and more effective seat.”

The principle is straightforward: When you pull up on the bucking strap, the resistance drives your position down deeper into the saddle. That deepened, weighted seat becomes a clear and immediate cue to your horse that you want him to engage his hindquarters, lift his shoulders and collect his gait, Ashker explained.

“You want to be very strategic when doing a rein-less half-halt. As you can see in the video, when asking for more collection in my horse’s movement, I need a stronger seat with leg connection. So, as I’m trotting, I just pull up on the bucking strap. This brings me down into the saddle, which gives me a more formidable, stronger seat. My horse will start to read this and lift in his gaits. This also really helps to keep your horse’s shoulders elevated, and you can do it at the walk, trot and canter.”

Benefits for Dressage Riders

Collection is crucial for dressage, and as you move up the levels, it’s even more important to develop engagement and impulsion without overly relying on your reins. The bucking strap allows you to teach your horse more collected movements like passage and piaffe without having to use your hands. Over time, Ashker says the strap will also help refine your horse’s movements as he progresses.

“As we’re trotting around you can see that my horse is going nicely, he doesn’t have a lot of tension and he’s up in his shoulders, but his trot could use a little more pizzazz. So, I pull up on the strap to keep my seat in the tack, and he starts to collect more,” she explained. “Then, I let the strap go and try to keep that collection and cadence at the trot. If I need more, I just pull up on the strap again. ”

Ashker notes that not every horse will immediately offer a passage-like response to your rein-less half-halt and that’s perfectly fine. “The goal is not a dramatic reaction but a gradual understanding. You’re trying to build a clearer communication channel where your horse learns that a deep, weighted seat means it’s time to collect and rebalance without any signal from your hands,” she said. “Be patient, reward the smallest positive responses and be consistent.”

Benefits for Eventers and Jumpers

For eventing, your horse needs to be very adjustable across the three phases of dressage, cross country and show jumping, and he needs to be responsive to your aids in different environments. “If your horse understands when you’re asking for collection through your seat, he’ll be much more adaptable across the phases, and you can use the bucking strap to develop this skill through your flatwork,” Ashker noted.

Jumpers frequently need to collect their horses on course, often before a related distance, approaching a combination or rebalancing after a large fence. If you rely on your reins to do this, it can interrupt your horse’s rhythm and detract from his confidence. Ashker explains that by teaching your horse to respond to seat-based collection, you’ll be able to rebalance with minimal or no rein contact, which can be a huge advantage in a jump-off or when riding with precision on course.

Takeaway

The key is to use the bucking strap consistently as part of your flatwork routine, treating the pull-up action as a deliberate, strategic training aid rather than a grab for balance. Over time, your goal is to wean yourself off the strap entirely, but as your horse is learning and you’re developing this skill, use it as a reminder and reinforcement until your seat alone is enough to ask for and maintain collection. That’s the mark of a truly independent, effective rider.

Watch: Rein-Less Half-Halt With a Bucking Strap

In this full video, brought to you by Absorbine, five-star eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider Laine Ashker demonstrates how to perform a rein-less half-halt with a bucking strap aboard her Grand Prix mount Zeppelin to help improve his collection without using her reins.

About Laine Ashker

Five-star eventer and dressage professional Laine Ashker has competed in numerous FEI competitions at the five-star level, including the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI4* and the Defender Burghley Horse Trials CCI5*. The horsewoman, who trains out of her Keystone Acres farm in Chesterfield, Virginia, also won the National Eventing Championship (Advanced Level) in 2013 aboard her long-time mount, Anthony Patch. More recently, she won her first CDI in May 2023 aboard her upper-level dressage horse, Zeppelin.

For more with Laine Ashker, click here.

This video is brought to you by Absorbine.