Flying Change Hell Support Group

[Bluey]

@Carol_O

An excellent trainer I once had said to expect a s#it show, they will run, they will buck… for months, but they will get over it.

Our instructor, a military officer and himself a very accomplished competitor, said that flying changes should be a natural progression of what we do beforehand.
They should happen keeping the same impulsion, not a hair more.
The horse should do it without rushing, falling onto the forehand, tail swinging, kicking, bucking, or any other reaction but a clean change and continuing in the new lead.
He said if any other than a quiet, clean change happened, do not keep that up, do not to practice wrong!
Keep working on preparing for one, so it is right off but one more progression of a natural motor memory installed.

As they say, two horse people, three opinions.

[exvet]

LOL, well in my quest to get more forward impulsion and true jump in the change, my little fire plug-built pocket rocket isn’t rushing, no longer on the forehand, no kicking or bucking AND the changes are clean. The phase we’re going through now is that we LEAP maintaining the connection…not sure how this would score LOL. I mean they are truly clean with NO resistance and on the aids; but It’s definite you wouldn’t miss the change when we do it . I believe that this will ‘settle down’ in time and miles. Oh, the fun of training.

[endlessclimb]

I just wanted to say I love you guys, you look like a great team.

[Zevida]

Very kind, thank you!

[cnm161]

@Bluey

Our instructor, a military officer and himself a very accomplished competitor, said that flying changes should be a natural progression of what we do beforehand.

Much of my dressage journey has been meeting things where they are, not where they should be.

[Curly_Feather]

We are not in the depths of FC hell, more sort of skulking around purgatory. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

https://youtu.be/s0pIaWv9WdU

[CanteringCarrot]

Y’know, it was funny the other day because I found an exercise/some prep that helped us get perfect flying change, but only one. Try another one, or repeat the prep, and you get the ol’ leaping in the air change. Apparently, according to certain equines, this is a one and done thing. Which was fine in the beginning, but um, sometimes you need to be able to do more than one correcly each way

[cnm161]

Had a similar experience over the weekend. Also optional: the training pyramid. In that the straightness I need for, say, half pass or counter canter was actually prohibitive for FCs, and by schooling haunches-in on a 10m circle figure-8 suddenly my changes were clean and on demand and magic.

All of which is to say: this sport is tough, y’all. But also that my horse is The Very Best Boy and deserves all the carrots in the world.

[CanteringCarrot]

@cnm161

Had a similar experience over the weekend. Also optional: the training pyramid. In that the straightness I need for, say, half pass or counter canter was actually prohibitive for FCs, and by schooling haunches-in on a 10m circle figure-8 suddenly my changes were clean and on demand and magic.

All of which is to say: this sport is tough, y’all. But also that my horse is The Very Best Boy and deserves all the carrots in the world.

The haunches in is exactly what ended up working for my horse.

[cnm161]

Is that just a known thing? Should I have been doing this the whole time??? (probably yes, if I’m honest)

[MsM]

Please explain how you work with haunches in. I cant quite fathom how you use it.

[CanteringCarrot]

@MsM

Please explain how you work with haunches in. I cant quite fathom how you use it.

This is taken from a Horse and Hound Article and essentially describes what I do/one way to use haunches in. You could turn this into a figure 8 as well.

5. Haunches-in (a working pirouette)
Ride haunches-in in the canter on a small circle. When you feel your horse lower his hindquarters, leave the circle. Ride straight forward on any line, and immediately ask for the flying change. Do the circle somewhere in the middle of the ring so you can leave the circle at any moment without running into the wall or fence.

I did also see a video awhile back, I think it was an Amelia Newcomb video on flying changes and she also mentioned something about thinking a bit haunches in into the change. I think this was in reference to fixing a late behind change, but I can’t recall.

It allows my horse to get the flexion and power in his hind end, with a bit of jump. The canter is slower and rhythmic, but the hindleg is still quick and active…if that makes sense. It gets him sitting more and me focused on the outside hind, and really riding that.

[Libby2563]

@CanteringCarrot

5. Haunches-in (a working pirouette)
Ride haunches-in in the canter on a small circle. When you feel your horse lower his hindquarters, leave the circle. Ride straight forward on any line, and immediately ask for the flying change. Do the circle somewhere in the middle of the ring so you can leave the circle at any moment without running into the wall or fence.

My coach has had me do that as well! It definitely works to get my not-uphill-at-all TB sitting and using his hind legs better before the changes. The only catch is that asking for more collection does tend to up his tension, so the exercise becomes less useful after more than a few reps.

Now that show season is approaching I’ve backed off on the changes in our dressage work, but something does seem to have stuck and translated to jumping. Lately when warming up to jump I’ve been able to canter casually across the diagonal and get a change each direction. After that he starts to anticipate and we sometimes have to go back to simple changes, but he is tidier about his leads in general now. We can also get changes on demand when galloping but, bless his heart, he does flash back to his race days, think we’re entering the homestretch, and really dig in after a gallop change.

[LetItBe]

We just did something similar in a clinic with Jeremy Steinberg this weekend. Lots of haunches in at the canter, small circles and canter walk/walk canter transitions. These exercises also help with the canter half pass and getting a balanced collected canter.

LetItBe

[DawgLady]

@CanteringCarrot

On the plus side I now know 101 different exercises for producing quality flying changes/trouble shooting flying changes.

Please, please share!

[cnm161]

I just successfully laid down a line of changes although not counting strides, and they were all successful.

Which means that I, mighty amateur that I am, can put changes on a pleasant and uncomplicated horse in the time that it takes the pros to take a talented young horse from unbroke to FEI 4yo.

It’s ok to be impressed by my prowess.

[RJC]

Bahahaha thank you for that. I am, in fact, impressed.

We have abandoned changes to work on the deeper, basic issue of not understanding how to engage his hind end. It involves an actual physical therapist and a special program. He just…doesn’t get it, and I’m not succeeding in explaining it without more help. But hey- better now than later!

[LetItBe]

So I’ve bitten the bullet and entered a show(Third Level Test 3), I am prepared to be marked accordingly for not having clean changes, but I want to see where we’re at with everything else.

The way diesel prices are going my goal of doing Third level at NDPC are slipping away and while I enjoy the show if it’s not affordable to go I’d rather stay home and continue to clinic over the summer with an attempt to qualify for Regionals and my Bronze. And I’m ok if we don’t make it this year to NDPC or Regionals at Third, it’s the journey and we’re both learning the levels as we go.

LetItBe

[iberianfan]

I feel your pain. I just showed in a schooling show to get a measure for where we are. It was good except for left/right change. Late behind in those. I have the added pleasure of a horse that turns into a coiled spring away from home. This was a good outing to try to work through that.
So I need relaxation and a left/right change!!
Good luck with your 3rd level test!

[DMK]

For the record I would like to state that I have not opened this thread until today and I have not been in FLCH (and technically I am not yet there) because it has not been An Aspiration.

I have a Fjord. He is an Earth Bound Fjord. He is an amazing amount of fun in combined driving and we are a bit successful (and pretty damn good at dressage too!). I also ride (and show) in ridden dressage, initially to help out with the day job, but also because it turns out I like dressage.

As I started our quest for second level breed award this year after a shoulder surgery knocked me out one score from DONE last year, not for the first time I pondered the idea that showing his fine self in a FULL BRIDLE would be a lot more fun (see fully torn rotator cuff for root cause analysis). But full bridle is a 3rd level dream, and those dreams involve a lead change. To date, moving from one direction/lead to another involves simple changes (very good simple changes), drop changes, counter canters, cross canters and #whatgaitisthis? At no point have I ever seen him do a flying lead change, even at liberty. And next year he’s moving up to advanced/FEI driving, and I’m at the stage that if he wants to do any of the above and still make time, then I am down with that. So I let third level competition dreams die an official death earlier this year. It would be a lot of fun, but FEI driving is always more fun.

Fast forward to Friday morning, as earth bound fjord galloping in from the field, (and is promptly going to a Betsy Steiner clinic…) when I SEE AN ACTUAL, REAL VERIFIED CLEAN FLYING LEAD CHANGE at liberty. Well you know what that means… where there is one, there is another… So yeah, I’m in flying lead change hell, even if I haven’t actually started yet.