amen sister! I LOVE riding my horse and hack all over the place, get him ready off the trailer at clinics etc. and school in busy arenas. It’s all mostly good but when he flips the switch it’s so hard to get him back LOL. I realize he needs me to be doing the little things constantly to keep his brain on me. The exercises I have been working on with him keep us both interested!
2 Likes
We went to our first show together this weekend. Mr “I’m in charge of everything and need to be on watch at all times” turned into “well this is relaxing, I don’t have to be on constant alert for threats to the home fires,” and pretty much went to sleep in the arena.
We need to find a happy medium!!!
3 Likes
Wait, what? My mare has a brother?
Funny story, helping a friend this winter with a re-start, her gelding chose each side of the arena to have a good gawk, very much a need to know what’s going on in the surrounding hundred kilometers type of thing. I said aloud each time, “Is everything ok in X county?” When he took a look in the general direction of the county my mare lives in I was all, “No. You’re wasting your time worrying about that area. Madam has it very well covered. She’s probably watching us right now and deciding whether to be jealous or wants to take you under her giant, controlling wing.” Hee.
This is so true.
1 Like
Well we went from late behind comments to a late in front comment. I think we’re making progress:)
LetItBe
3 Likes
We’ve been working on changes about 9 months now. Around March to April we had about 50% clean, but they were often rushed and a bit disorganized. After doing more work with renvers, reestablishing counter canter, and really getting picky about canter walk canter transitions, we now have a solid, late behind, but organized change. He’s on the aids, understands the goal, but it feels a bit defeating. I’m working with a pro who’s confident he’ll get there, but his mother would just like to see the ratio of late changes to clean shift 
1 Like
What’s been really interesting is that in the winter we were getting 90-95% of our changes -some late but acceptably late as my horse is a hunter. In the spring horse bucked me off and I’m still broken so someone else has been riding him. He’s still 90-95% there with my coach but with the new rider he’s missing a lot more because she’s not setting him up 100% in his opinion (he very long!). He’s a horse that’ll teach you how to get them properly rather than how a lot of hunter riders think the correct way is. I mean he could be a lot more generous at a show but you do learn how to do it correctly!
Ok finally I started changes with my younger horse and it’s been interesting. We started over poles and she did them obedient in both directions. The next step was to do them besides the poles. in the beginning she was doing ok and did some nice changes in front of the poles but then she started to anticipate. so in the moment I do it without poles. And that has been challenging 
. After today I believe we have a pretty solid change to the left. She is never late behind and when I turn onto the quarter line she has been doing several clean changes to counter canter…. So that makes me pretty happy 
But to the other side there is no change so far. I tried it in a million ways and sometimes it feels like she is thinking about it, but she only changes over trot so far…. And I know I got a beautiful change to the right some time ago…. So I know she can do it but I probably do something wrong 
. It’s pretty frustrating in the moment……
2 Likes
Have you tried changing on the wall from counter canter to the inside lead?
1 Like
Not yet but TY that’s a good idea and I will try! The beautiful change to the right I got when I changed on the Diagonale and she didn’t change. So I kept her in the counter canter turned on the circle tried to improve the canter and gave her another aid when I crossed the centerline. And that’s when she changed beautifully. I believe I need to stay more organized and simply continue to canter even if she doesn’t change and try again when the counter canter feels good
Just saw this bumped up and I’m joining in as we are embracing Flying Change Hell. We’ve done our homework of counter canter, shoulder control and walk/canter/walk. Finished our show season and ready to invoke chaos.
For us right to left is easier but can be a stride late behind whereas left to right our current struggle is changing behind but not in front. Or one tempis depending on the day.
Here’s a share from this past week of good efforts. Working to solidify these feelings to be more accurate!
1 Like
That looks like a great start.
Breakthrough? Tomorrow and the next day and the next day will tell. I had run through about every exercise and method I knew and had almost given up, but not, my teeth were firmly gritted it would happen one day. I used what I think of as a bizarre exercise and got a clean change in the difficult direction tonight. I called it a day after getting one on the first try … so that should give me plenty of time to over think it and screw it up royally tomorrow 
Exercise for anyone who isn’t part of the group trying crazy exercises (in walk and trot, then I extrapolated to cantering the whole thing to see what would happen) turn right, leg yield right, travers left. Put an up transition (or change) in the travers. My batshitcuckoo mare was all doo dee doo dee lateral work doo dee doo dee change dee doo Dee doo in place of “I have so many legs and cannot possibly untangle them” :o
2 Likes
I’ve spent the last year developing proper flying changes on my horse. He figured out the right-to-left in about a month, and pretty established after two months. But the left-to-right has been a real struggle for him. Lots and lots and lots of simple changes. Lots of walk-pirouette to canter transitions, learned from this thread! Transitions in and out of half pass. Slowly he has put the pieces together, and began trying a clean change left-to-right this summer. But there were still more sloppy moments than good ones. I had to be careful not to get greedy, too-- get one GOOD change and quit. Don’t drill, don’t ask too much, don’t let him get frustrated and try too hard. Lately he has felt really confident and solid in the changes; but without video I wasn’t sure how clean and honest they were.
I’m really proud of Woody’s effort yesterday. We managed to string together three changes across the diagonal, even with his weaker direction. The changes are straight, forward, balanced, and have some lift. We need to work on a little more relaxation, strength and sit, but considering how he wants to anticipate and brace, I’m pleased with the day’s work. He is only the fourth horse I’ve taught “real” dressage changes, and on my other horses I never made it beyond a single change (that was often tense, braced, flat, and/or bucking). Being able to perform a string of changes, and each of them respectable quality, is a huge sense of satisfaction for me, as a lowly eventer!
7 Likes
Those are very respectable! Good for you.
1 Like
We are just starting this 
my guy is naturally lazy and will definitely let you know what he’s thinking. I broke my T12 a few years ago and it never really healed properly, so Im a little hesitant to do what I know I need to. Here is our first try right to left, and a fun video of left to right, when I touch him in the L to R, it’s probably less than a tickle 
It’s weird, he’s better at the change from good lead to harder lead, than harder lead to good lead. But I have excellent help, but…as I’ve become older its just so hard to touch with the whip when you know whats coming after
REC_70CD2D7E-6642-4A87-88BB-FA - Trim
REC_E8A45177-DA80-4AD5-9ED7-0A
REC_E8A45177-DA80-4AD5-9ED7-0A (3)
3 Likes
With the lazy ones, be sure you aren’t unintentionally blocking him by tightening up somewhere while you’re trying to create the energy. Especially on the one side where he’s trying to change behind first. Sure, he might turn/dive a little bit to the right if you allow the front end more freedom but that can be fixed later. It’s a bit counterintuitive (especially when you are worried about your back), but you need way more forward because those kick outs are lazy horse I don’t wanna moves. I went through some of these exact same moves with my youngster last winter! Get the hind end driving more even if you have to give up a little straightness and lift in the front end in the beginning.
1 Like
My horse also is better from “good lead to difficult lead,” however in his case the poor L-to-R change is rooted in straightness. He really wants to curl left and shoulder pop out right, and the misplaced right shoulder was the source of his confusion and inability to change through correctly. Going L to R, he would lean on the right shoulder and swap in front, but the hind end couldn’t come through. I spent a month working on straightness ONLY, not even attempting the flying changes, and that helped so much. We always “think” we are working on straightness, but getting full control of both ends of the horse in all gaits, in all movements, will really benefit the changes. A crooked horse can’t help but be heavy on the forehand, and without lightness the change will always be poor.
For my horse, a half turn on haunches or half walk pirouette to the left, and then straight 1 step (really thinking change bend, right shoulder over in that step!) immediately into right lead canter was super helpful. Turning on the haunches forced me to control the outside shoulder, get him honestly into the outside rein, carry weight behind, then “switch” flexion into new outside rein as I asked for right lead canter. This taught him to step through with the hindleg, lift the inside (right) shoulder, and give him somewhere to go. Many, many thanks to the poster early in this thread who introduced this exercise; I’d never encountered it before, but for my horse it made a huge difference to both build strength and help him understand how to respond correctly to my aids. It also made my changes very straight from the beginning.
I also found that it’s so tempting/easy to want to SHOUT at the horse with your change aids, when they don’t acknowledge the request to change. But ramping up your Ask can often backfire with a sensitive horse. They know you want something, but they don’t know what to do, or can’t do it yet, and “yelling” at them just creates more tension which inhibits the change. Go back, slow down, do more simple changes off a light seat aid to reinforce the concept. One definitive tap with the whip in great timing may be acceptable on a lazy horse, but if you feel the need to tap twice or more firmly, your horse probably isn’t physically able to perform the change you requested. He “hears” you just fine, but he is too unbalanced, crooked, weak, or flat to answer you correctly. Fix the canter, make it better, improve his response to your aids, get the jump, get him straight, before you increase your “voice.”
2 Likes
Hi @blue_heron! This is a very late response but your comment resonated with me. I have a half-spanish warmblood who gets his changes with trainers and is still working on them with me. He is very smart and sensitive and starts to get anticipatory during work. It’s hard to get him to relax once we’ve cantered. We both get bored with the standard “walk both ways, trot both ways, canter both ways and circle sometimes” exercises. He’s even too good at lateral work. We’re primarily hunters but idk how to make our flat rides more interesting for him!! Any tips? Should I try just making it harder and asking more?
1 Like
I’ve been schooling counted changes for the last couple months and it seems like mine go in cycles. I’ll have a ride where they are nice - even the twos and then the next ride, she just wants to ignore my aids and throw a bunch of them in when I haven’t asked, bouncing me right out of the tack LOL. I’ve been really concentrating on sitting back and making sure she’s moving forward and that helps. Little by little.
1 Like
