Oh, my. I was in one of the outer circles. I was doing perfect counter canters, and my trainer (and a clinician) thought that flying changes would be easy. So we tried. And now every time I move in the saddle, my lovely Irish horse (who really wants to please) says “now? now? now?” and we have flying FRONT lead tempis. Occasionally, the back end, too. But counter canter? Nope. It took about nine months of just calmly sitting, trying little bits at a time, to get the counter canter back so that we could compete at first level. Now I’m terrified to start again–and won’t until after we’ve finished showing at second level. Sigh.
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With my older horse who took to changes like a fish even with an earth-bound canter (although we did have to fix a late behind lead)…my favorite memory is handing him over to an eventing trainer for a jump school just for fun and as the trainer gets him nice and straight to the first jump, he’s popping one tempis for the last 6 strides.
Wasn’t fun for the trainer but I laughed.
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Thats my future right there…give me tips haha
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Wasn’t trying a change but can’t wait until we are 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRF-zxXn-Wb/?utm_medium=copy_link
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It has been HELL we’ve been struggling with trying to settle the change for well over a year and it’s been soo frustrating!! Have had a few things pop up that have made it more difficult first 1. realize after work on them for about 4+ months that my saddle at the time was no longer fitting and causing back pain which lead to bucking in the changes. Well since then it’s as an option in his mind and it’s been on and off / reappeared in the changes 
. So LOTS Of croup high and jumping all over the place in anticipation. Yes last spring definitely lost the quality of the canter with this work and the anticipation. That’s been worked through and still has to be revisited periodically.
He’s also done the I’ll jump around slam out a croup high change and take off like a freight train afterwards 
. Currently he’s anticipating badly so that as soon as he thinks I’m working on the precursors he stops listening to me doesn’t wait and is a handful our issues are partially in his head and most likely creeping into mine as well.
Went to a clinic with a well known and skilled clinician got some very good thinking outside of the box exercises that have helped to build the strength and some improvement in our attempts. Humorous part : second day of the clinic clinician gets on my big guy and also struggle to get anything like a change to happen so it’s not me he’s for real a difficult one!! My trainer has been saying this to me for a while that he’s just having a hard time and it’s challenging for him so we just keep working on it but it was good to know it wasn’t just myself and my trainer, but also frustrating to not have it be that if you just did XYZ he was golden 
.
Last but I’ll add after getting a new saddle (which has taken 9+ Months to figure out) also putting him on a diet last spring and loosing over 100lbs, X-raying his neck to be sure nothing was wrong, switching Ferriers due to declining angles that were affecting him (this is well on its way to being resolved and has made a big difference), discussing with my vet the various things we had noticed and felt we just before Thanksgiving had his stifles injected because it now seems like there is some discomfort that’s affecting his comfort and thus ability to settle down and do the flying change. He understands what’s being asked that I’m sure of but he’s not clear how to execute it and he anticipates whenever he thinks your setting him up to ask. Im hoping that after all these months all the efforts all the little details that he will get them and on a positive note he feels amazing better then ever with all the changes we’ve identified and made and the strength he’s built the improved balance we are soo close maybe these stifle injections will help him to be more comfortable and it’ll happen. The work on the changes has helped all the other movement and even resulted in the canter Pirouettes be started and developed. Any way it has not been a waist of time. But if you can’t get a single reliable flying change you are trapped at 3rd level even if you can do all sorts of stuff above that level it is the key 
to moving up so nothing else to do but keep trying sigh…
Why haven’t I seen this thread earlier?
My last horse, a perfect little mare, was so easy to teach changes to. She had a pretty solid counter canter and I taught her the changes by cantering down the long side, doing half a 10m circle, aiming for the wall and then doing a simple change. Then, one day, I did this and asked for a flying change and BOOM. I immediately got off (which was the ultimate reward for her). She was so easy! She was so smart and really wanted to understand if you were fair.
My current horse. If human, he’d knock down the women and children in the staircase if the fire alarm went off and he was on a level other than ground level. I actually used to show him at QH shows with a friend of mine. I figured he needed a ton of exposure and none of that would be on his record. He was usually so on edge that he could sometimes pick up the wrong lead but I could ask for a flying change before it was spotted by the judge and got them. I earned a belt buckle! My favorite memories was when I could first actually take the ribbon from the saddle and when I was in an English Pleasure class, the judge walked down the line and said to me “That didn’t look very pleasurable. Are you OK?”
Fast forword several years. He has mellowed a bit with age. He may or may not knock down the women and children in the staircase in response to a fire alarm these days, but that really depends on the day. He’s solid third level except for changes. I tried the same exercise I used to train my old horse. No dice. Changing right to left? “Meh, do I have to work? I’ll just change in front.” Changing left to right “See how good my counter canter is? I can hold it under any circumstance”. Of note, this horse is super sensitive to weight changes and aids. He’s one of the smartest horses I’ve owned but he doesn’t have the work ethic of my previous mare. He just sometimes chooses to listen. Why, horse? WHY?
I worked with a vaquero trained trainer who put changes on two horses in training recently. He notes how responsive my horse is to his aids. When I tried changes with him, I used his aids. More of the same. He stops and backs the horse up and proceeds with haunches in, or something like that. Don’t quote me. My horse would miss the change and then stop and want to back up on his own. Isn’t that harder than actually changing? Why. WHY???
I was able to get clean changes right to left over a ground pole. But then, he just rushed the ground-pole. Rushed. The ground pole. No deal right to left. Why? WHY?
He lives out 24/7 in his own 1+ acre pasture and runs around alot. He’s perfectly capable of doing changes, as evidenced quite often. Why? WHY???
I’m working with a new trainer who says “he’s blowing you off, you accept that?” She really likes him. She has really focused on his hind end strength and overall balance, so he should be able to manage changes if he manages the other exercises. Why? WHY?
I’m planning on asking her to try changes next time she sits on him.
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Got a high-quality clean one each way in a lesson tonight, and with minimal theatrics! To prepare, my coach had me do dozens of reps of trot-canter-trot in true canter around the whole perimeter of the arena. He likes to dive in transitions so the goal was to keep him on the hind legs very consistently. After three or so excellent sets of transitions in a row, she had me pick up counter canter on the long side and then after just a few strides, ask for a change. This exercise got him really listening to my seat and staying up and straight. I think it will be a good method for me to play with. Thank goodness for my wonderful trainer, who has brought so many horses up the levels that she knows all the good tricks!
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After a weekend off, we had no leaping but if I changed direction to counter canter I’d get ‘are we changing are we changing’? So basically did a half turn a few straight strides and quit each way until we could accomplish that quietly maintaining the counter lead. It didn’t help that it was windy and the temperature was dropping a little.
LetItBe
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This is our winter homework and I am in my own unique version of FC hell. I have never taught changes before (nor do I own a horse that knows them)–only ridden a few horses that had changes firmly installed. After we finally achieved the strength and balance to really be schooling 3rd level—my trainer said that we’d teach her changes over the winter. So, our first time was in a lesson, in the middle of doing some exercise in the counter canter —and my trainer just said, “now change your bend” —and boom, my horse does a perfect, quiet, change. Since I had no clue that we were doing “the thing”, my position was stable and I just kept riding correctly and quietly. We did a few more changes that lesson—but now that I knew we were working on them, I started to do all kinds of silly things with my position. Now, as we continue to work on them—my horse seems to be figuring them out and willing—but I keep making a big deal out of them! So that is my FC hell now—ME! I need to be quiet an not overdo my aids (and not lean forward, not twist my shoulders, not make some crazy leg motion, I could go on!) I think I need to start a Ministry for Silly Flying Change Equitation. 
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Can I ask how you got clean changes over a ground pole? I despise changes over a pole and will never use it. I was riding a horse that was taught over a pole and it was quite difficult to fix his late changes. Over a pole generally produces a late change, as in they change the front first and the hind directly after. How do you get them to come through with the hind and do a proper change with a pole? Genuine question, because I’ve completely written it off as a method for a dressage horse, but maybe I’m missing something.
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I will join your Ministry for Silly Flying Change Equitation!
I have one horse that basically came with changes installed in the womb. While teaching him to canter as a 3 year old he found it easier to counter canter and then do a flying change to the correct lead - yes I caught it on video! Now his new game is to slip in some one-tempis before a pirouette. He’s so easy to get changes on my position could be like a wet sock and he’d still do them! So that’s on me.
My other horse is a challenge. He came with a change but was consistently late in front. Everything has to be perfect or he’s off my aide for changes. If he doesn’t change then I try to throw my body at him which doesn’t help. It’s been a long year trying to fix me so I don’t lean forward or exaggerate my leg aid or throw myself sideways. I’ve gotten better and so has he - but it took 6 months.
It doesn’t get any easier once counting tempi changes is involved! I feel your pain! Sometimes even single changes become hard again.
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Yeah, or you get them nice and straight and hit the go button for an extended canter and there are changes happening everywhere.
I found that really getting my horse straight with shoulders and hips square and neck straight gave him an excuse to sneak in some changes since it might be easier than really pushing in the extended canter or sitting in the pirouette. Try a little more positioning with the shoulders to the inside preparing for your pirouette and a little less outside rein - just to shut him down from thinking a change would be easier. I had a tendency to get a one tempi right after the last stride of turning and first stride out from the pirouette - a little to strong with the inside leg to outside rein and in/out he’d go with the lead.
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You’re right, they don’t produce clean changes. Maybe a “not cross cantering for half the arena” change, but not a true clean one.
Even the “put the pole parallel to the long side and go across it almost in leg yield” trick makes hunter changes, not dressage changes.
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Literally just had the conversation about the groundpole method with my (dressage) coach last night and she agrees. She never ever uses that method because it teaches late changes. Which is too bad because my horse will change over a jump/pole no problem.
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I have actually gotten clean changes with a pole but it’s a very specific problem that we were using the pole for and that was to get my horse to focus more on his feet and the pole and not on his anticipation that he was going to be asked for a change and thus completely ignores my HH and blasts through my aids. Used the pole the derail his current evasion was not a permanent and solo technique.
But how did you get a clean change? I’ve not seen a horse do a clean, back to front, on time, through, change over a pole. I mean, it’s possible I just haven’t seen it? …but what is the technique? Or were you just going for “a change” and did this present any issues in your training later with late changes (front then back)?
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I’ve used the change-over-a-pole to externalize my guy’s consternation about being asked to sit on his butt (vs leap like a porpoise). Had my best luck when the 2nd beat of the canter landed over the pole-- inside hind (soon-to-be outside hind) and outside fore (soon-to-be inside fore)-- and have seen disunited changes whenever the pole is crossed in the suspension phase of the canter (i.e. nearest footfall to the pole was inside fore, next footfall is outside hind).
Anyway, in so doing, was able to get my guy to think “actually my inside hind and outside fore don’t have to always link together” and simultaneously the action of having to pick up that outside hind (soon to be inside, etc. etc.) over the pole made it easier to turn into the first step on a new lead.
I wouldn’t use this approach on every horse but it helped my guy (briefly, fleetingly, why-isn’t-this-forever) connect the dots on what the change aids are asking for.
Didn’t touch the changes yesterday or the day before because I have self-preservation and/or paranoia and the canter felt too good to toss in another variable.
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Thank you for so eloquently capturing my process!
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“We have met the enemy, and he is us!”
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