The rider's driving aids are insufficient and the horse never allows the half halt to flow through its body. The horses develop a block somewhere, the neck, the back, the mouth, wherever, and that takes away the freedom of the pace. Through' is not a hard concept. Hans Heinrich was for many years a rider in the famous Verden auction team, and now runs the Riding Club at Hoya, just half an hour from the centre of Verden. He regularly represents the Hanoverian Verband at clinics in the United States.
Most horses possess a side that is stiffer than the other.
This stiffness leads to crookedness in the paces. In dressage competitions, the judges deduct a fair number of points for crookedness. If the horse is stiff on one side, he will not be able to trot down the center line without drifting. In circles, his hindquarters will swing out and he will find great difficulty in bending through his neck and body. He may rush in his paces or he might go too slow to avoid stretching his stiff side.