For those who have done changes through the trot, please talk to me about your aids and how you ride them.
My motivation is purely curiosity, as my first two dressage horses did them super easily off leg position and the correct change that created in the seat, and #3 needs a more deliberate setup similar to how I ride green flying changes. Just different, so I wanted to hear about how others ride them.
You ride them how your horse needs a canter depart ridden at that stage of his training. That will be more deliberate on a green horse and more subtle on a school master who is warmed up and on point. So on one horse you might need to set everything up with bend etc and on another horse you might get a canter transition just with your pelvis. There is no one answer.
Thanks for basically restating my question.
Anyone care to share how you ride them for your horse?
Funny to see this because it’s exactly what I was working on with my horse this morning in preparation for showing First-3. She can tend to get flat and string out, so what I’m working on is to start pushing her a little off my new inside leg just before the down transition, and then riding the trot steps with a little feeling of shoulder-in to the new direction before asking for the canter depart.
Similar for me! The outside aids on the first lead are key to ensuring in the downward she is in the right place to change leads.
Ensure I have a nice forward canter with good engagement. Downward transition initiated from the low back and “closing” feeling of seatbones, supported by inside leg to maintaining bend and active inside hind. Outside leg and hand guard. Hands are mostly passively receiving. If I feel stiffness, I might engage primary bending to loosen jaw. When in the trot, immediately shift the bend to the new inside. I might encourage a leg yield step to engage new outside rein, inside hind leg. New inside leg at the girth, new outside leg slightly behind, inside leg squeeze nearly in tandem with inside hip scooping up for the depart, moving very slightly to the inside in the depart.
With a greener horse, I might manage it a little bit more, give some more trot steps, initiate more energy with my seat into the upward.
I’ve been working on changes of leads through the trot with one of my TBs who tends to want to travel on the forehand - specifically, pulling along on his inside shoulder rather than pushing from behind. He won’t get heavy in the bit, so if you don’t know, you won’t know – but I’ve found transitions have really helped engage him behind and help lift that shoulder up.
(Some of this might be me-specific, because I am working on my position after years of only riding green horses and never sitting on a schoolie unless it was something I made myself)
To start, I will get a good forward canter rhythm on a 20 meter circle – say I keep it at A. I will circle once, making sure to lift my hands and keep them above his withers. Between the corners K or F, depending on my direction, I will begin to halfhalt and ask for a bit more step under while beginning the change of bend. Corners are where you set up the rhythm and prepare for the change - NOT in the middle of the ring. The trick to a good clean transition is to set up the canter beforehand. Don’t do the transition if you don’t have the right rhythm. It’s the same for jumping – if you don’t have the correct rhythm to the fence, the jump will suck. If you have the right rhythm, the jump is effortless.
At K or F, I will look at the opposite corner and carry my hands and feel my seatbones. I will close the muscle of my thigh to signal to my horse to slow down off of my seat (he is very seat-sensitive) and pick up my hands especially that outside rein (can you tell I tend to carry my hands too low?!). He will break to a trot and my goal here is his straightness. I will post two strides, then sit two strides. During this time, I have set up and changed the bend with some inside leg(sometimes even a one-step leg yield). Once I am sitting, think about looking in the direction of the new bend, signal your canter depart, and use the corner to set up a good rhythm once more.
I do long diagonals versus a true figure eight - which I find is a great exercise once the horse understands diagonals. With figure eights you have much less time to set up the perfect transition up and down – and I’d rather work on setting up the transition to be perfect versus fighting time and distance.
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