Congrats! I showed a couple of weekends ago and we too were carried on our trot work. We scored a 67 and 64 on third 2 and third 3. Out of four changes we got two clean (one each test) and one late (first test) and then due to be very tired one of those damn skip a change things. The judge said that as soon as our canter work (ie, strength and engagement) equals our trot work, we’ll be hanging in the 70s. I have one more recognized show, next month then a two-month hiatus. Our focus will also be building the strength of our canter. We’re getting there. Cantering squares isn’t so much of a struggle and our canter right is getting much closer to matching our canter left. Is that a bright light I see shining at the end of a tunnel or is that the light bulb that just went off? LOL one way or the other I’m going to see one of them 
Same situation as The_Sandiest_Shoes, we competed at 3rd Level Regionals last weekend, and placed 5th in the class, carried by all work other than the changes, LOL! I have really been focusing on canter-walk-canter the last 2 weeks, and I feel like we are making progress on the L-R lead. It is also really making the canter work nice. My goal is to work and get that lead clean first before working on the R-L. Some days we have rides that I’m encouraged, but then others I feel like we’ll never get there. I’m determined though, and my mare is a tryer, so we keep forging ahead.
Alright…we have officially mastered 2nd level…so we are excited to be entering the gates of flying change hell as we journey into attempting to learn 3rd level!
My mare already has her changes from racing, and can do them clean jumping. I’ve done some here and there and mostly clean, however extremely exuberant 
Her go to is to shorten her neck when tense so I really want to make sure to avoid that.
Anyone have any advice for exercises to start to “prep” to teach the change? Any exercises for the first “tries” also? Things to look out for with her and my position?
By George I think we’ve found the exercise for the FC set up and getting the FC ‘emblazoned’ properly in the pony brain, the ribbon candy exercise! We’ve been doing it in canter/trot/canter where we make our transitions as we go across the centerline. After multiple attempts focusing on true bend, softness into BOTH reins and moving off the new inside leg when asked as we make our ‘set up’ for the transition we can now ask for and get a FC, woo hoo! I mean a real FC that is clean and clear (jump happens and hopefully will get bigger with time and more strength).
My trainer had me do renvers in canter during my lesson last weekend as a set up to FC. I wasn’t riding in my saddle so I was a bit off balance and couldn’t fully find my legs. We got one clean change and a few late behind. After that, she told me to not work on changes until my next lesson this weekend.
So I worked on just holding renvers in canter on Sunday when what does my boy do, a change. I’m pretty sure I touched him with my new inside leg. Switched directions and did the same thing. Oy vey. Now I have to figure out exactly what I’m doing and NOT DO THAT when trying to hold renvers.
Well, Sir Spooks alot is athletic to do all sorts of thing in the counter-canter. He has balked at canter on the long side, can settle into 10 m half circles, quality half pass to the rail and ans ask for the change. He balks in the half-pass knowing what is coming and goes to walk despite my aids. I’ve had to train half-pass to simple change to him to be confident half-passing to the wall, which he’s really correct in. He anticipates EVERYTHING.
I’ve worked half-pass to bend change to change, but my horse doesn’t change. Even in a 10 m circle. He can cross-canter a 10 m circle and a half-pass. It all becomes mentally uneasy for him and pressing him to perform things that require a change of lead becomes stressful for his brain. I again note I got changes as a youngster in the show ring and he does them fine in his pasture. He’s a huge anticipator that can really hinder training. If he had thumbs, you’d need to hide your car keys.
The latest episode of the podcase Equestrian Voices is on lead changes. The guest is Shannon Dueck. Again the emphasis is on set up and making sure has the right buttons before starting to teach changes. She is another one who likes the walk/canter canter/walk transitions for prepping for changes.
Here’s the link in case anyone is interested:
Equestrian Voices on Apple Podcasts
Thank you I will go listen to this! I’ve been working on canter walk canter for MONTHS so that sounds great hahah
I also do walk, canter, walk, counter canter. I think that was in the Amelia Newcombe videos as well. I think those transitions are super helpful.
oooooo that’s a good one. That will be a good one for us to try for a bit, thanks!!
NP!
In the podcast Shannon talks about not worrying that the counter canter is perfect because you don’t want them too comfortable being on the “wrong” lead in this case. So just something to remember!!
My horse will tend to “fling” himself around the short side in the CC but when managed will be very collected. I say this because he needs management in his under-saddle balance and he’s a huge anticipator. Even for my trainer. And he’s Mr. 90%. He’s capable of 100% but will really only offer 90%.
I’ve backed off of asking for flying changes because he was negatively expecting the change and ignoring the aids because he was sure I was “wrong”. That made him mentally upset. I’ve gone back to building blocks that he can easily perform and mentally be OK with it. Meaning, I school alot, these days, of canter in a fugure-8 to trot in a figure 8 because he is just so sure he’s going to canter on the other lead. He offers stuff like this when not asked because he anticipates. We’re working on trot travers and canter aids because he forgot the difference between them - he anticipates so much that he doesn’t always listen to the seat that he is very much in tune with. He thinks he knows what to do next and just does it.
Last week we had a “opposite ride” for a couple of days because he was anticipating so much.and everything I felt he anticipated I didn’t do. I usually don’t let him anticipate but don’t punish for a true participation in the ride, but last week our whole ride was about this. He was anxious despite my praise. Today, he had a week off because of the hurricane, even though I was out there, and when he got warmed up he was all about anticipating rather than what I was asking him to do.
Geez, I think his main issue is anticipation and maybe I need to start a new thread on that.
I tried the canter, walk, counter canter last night and was pleasantly surprised that my girl found it easy and we were successful in doing a tone of these transitions in both directions around the ring.
I think this weekend we will try the changes properly for the first time. I’m going to PIVO so I can review and what not so will share the results haha
My pony POWdER keg has similar issues. He thinks too much and too hard and really wants to give me what he’s SURE I want. I have found that staying away from schooling (more than twice in a row is drilling in my welsh cob’s mind) the flying changes and focus (ad nauseum) on schooling the set-up which has been far more effective in teaching him that he must wait for THE aids for the flying change. I’ll do 20 or more ‘set ups’ and when he’s actually feeling supple and on my seat, I’ll ask and if it’s good then I don’t repeat the request at all and I’ll switch to schooling second trot or something else. Of course, he gets praised out the whazoo if it’s reasonably decent. I may do this exercise and not ask at all. I’ve also used my trail rides (trot and canter most of the 4-5 miles) to ask for the flying change because he’s not anticipating, and I have forward with little effort. This has been working; but I must be honest and against so many who’ve I’ve ridden under have commanded, I HAVE punished him for anticipating IF it’s a skip a change that he performs. Fortunately, this does not fluster my pony in the sense of him getting worse. He’s now gotten to the point that if he anticipates and throws in the skip a change and feels me coming with the ‘come to Jezuz boot’ he switches back (clean of course) as if ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it’. Through all of this effort I’m doing my best to make the aids for a simple change and thus a flying change VERY DISTINCT so that it can in no way be misconstrued as anything else. It’s certainly giving me an opportunity to give my younger horse a much ‘better’ ride LOL>
Your post is timely, I just listened to a RideIQ hack chat last night on setting up the flying changes and it was recommended to do this with the setting up over and over for a horse that anticipates!
Oh lordie, THANKS for this post!!!
I have backed off asking for the flying changes for a bit now. I’ve been riding similar patterns but asking for a trot rather than a simple change or a flying change. “You must be wrong” is what my horse says. I;ve been having to repeat this many times. I’ve been occasionally posting the trot to get him to move forward. He is convinced he KNOWS what to do and I’m working on getting him to listen. I’ll put him in shoulder-in or leg yield to shake things up. He’ll say “half-pass cuz we’ve been doing that lately” and I try to patiently say " No, leg yield, but thanks for asking".
I, too, have been making the aids VERY CLEAR. He’s very good at picking up the correct lead from the trot or walk around the arena when he gets we;re doing this. From the walk in random places, he goes through his roledex of possible responses but I’m being patient and rewarding him greatly when he picks the right repsonse. I mean, I can ask him to walk-canter and he can respond with half-pass, which is clearly not what I’m asking. He anticipates EVERYTHING! I thought I could use that to my advantage with training the changes, but he’s been the most difficult horse mentally. The change aids are very clear and I can ride him around the arena picking the lead. He gets that.
Ugghhh. Thanks for your post! There’s alot in there.
@the_sandiest_shoes and @Hrselvr1982, congrats on the success at regionals! You guys both look fantastic and fancy!
We flung ourselves out there last weekend at third and managed what can charitably be described as mid-60s (same judge so no bronze), but we did not really do any flying changes. We did two things that might be mistaken for flying changes if you were not paying close attention, and 2 “very nice first level changes of lead through the trot” as the judge and my coach agreed.
We are so so close. We had to stop working too hard on the changes before the show to avoid anticipation issues everywhere else in the test, and now I’m on vacation out of state, but coach and I are in agreement in what we need to do as soon as I’m back.
Only bummer is we live in the North and there will be no shows until June. Maybe May if we’re lucky.
That “so close” feeling feels like forever! I’m reminding myself that I too am new at training a horse up the levels like this and trying to remain patient. Mare’s good change is still really good. The skip-change - well man oh man that skip is ingrained. We CAN do the change without it now, at least a couple of times per ride, but not consistently and the acrobatics I have to do to get it there are not what I can do in a test.
I’m considering getting her hocks done - the vet said it was something I could consider when I had her checked last spring. She had them done once before two and half years ago, as secondary lameness to a coffin bruise, and she flexed ever so slightly on the right hock at this most recent spring check. The fact she’s so much noticeably slower with wanting to jump through on that right hind (it’s always been her weak leg) and that she is just so dead-set on trying to short stride and launch herself into the right lead – I’d rather go that route if it’s a physical issue (hesitance based on hock injecting an 8 year old horse).
Would love to hear any other advice on a stubborn skip change - latest clinician said it’s at the point I need to really correct her for short-striding…I know I do but I feel bad, since she then immediately does a clean change after. Tricky trickkyyyy
Just wanted to give my two bits….
I used to have problems with one of my changes for a long time. it always was a bit sticky… then I changed barns and had a huge outdoor arena available. so I decided to use it for improving my overall canter. I increased my canter time a lot.
in fact I simply quit trotting many times. Then I extended canter on bend lines and did a lot of transitions in the canter. And then I started to do the change from a big circle to a big circle… like ten times.
If something didn’t feel right before I did the change, I continued to canter without the change and sped up a little. Then I collected her again and rode the change. I did this for several weeks. It really improved the bad change. The stickiness went away completely. In the moment I am practicing for a freestyle and everybody is telling me I need to ride more forward. And the changes are always at the end of the diagonal after the extended canter. And somehow my changes are getting so much more relaxed and forward…. I think the quality of the canter is really really important for the quality of the change…
for my it’s amazing how different the changes feel now compared to some weeks ago…
Before even when I thought I was riding forward in the canter I really wasn’t compared to now. I gave the aid and then very slowly she did the change. Now I simply give a little aid and I feel something big going through her body 
.
So I would recommend to try to refresh the canter before riding the change.
Thanks @Manni01 for this information! My horse seems to be a fan of backing off of forwardness when something harder comes along. I tried riding him forward into the changes but he really backs off when he thinks they are coming. I tried adding the aids when he doesn’t expect it and that seems make him a bit upset because it is “new”. He’s really a fan of thinking he knows what’s about to happen. He KNOWS the aids but seems overwhelmed by making the correct change. For my trainer and me. He accepts everything else at third/fourth level except fo the changes.
He’s very smart, and I think if he can learn to do them his angst about the will decrease precipitously.
