Ashley Donadt breaks down how to ride and trouble-shoot the half-pass, introduced at Third Level. She shows how to ride a haunches-in along the rail and then take that haunches-in on a diagonal to create the half-pass. She also shows a correction to common training problems using her “staircase” exercise—half-pass to shoulder-in—for improved balance, suppleness, and proper positioning.
Donadt is an FEI dressage rider and USDF bronze and silver medalist with distinction. Along with husband/head groom Evan Donadt, she is based out of Donadt Dressage in San Diego, California. Before starting her own business in 2017, she previously worked for David Blake and his wife, Rebecca Rigdon, as well as Elizabeth Ball. Since 2019, she has been training with three-time Olympic medalist Guenter Seidel. She also has trained with FEI Dressage World Cup rider AnnA Buffini and debuted at Grand Prix on Buffini’s schoolmaster Sundayboy.