Do you have a 2nd level freestyle? I am starting to plan one…would be interested in seeing yours!
bahaha I would accept a Flint Medal. Really, he’s 9 and this is my first time with 3rd level work, so it’s…probably not unreasonable to ride the struggle bus for a while.
It’s a complete mystery how people can make up 9yo FEI horses. Witchcraft and wizardry, I tell you.
Or, you know, competence. But that sounds a lot like heresy to me.
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I do not! But I started playing with the idea this fall and riding to some different musics. I would really like to get that Bronze and THEN play with Freestyles at 2nd or 3rd, but at the end of the day, I like showing with my friends and having a weekend away with my horse, so that’s what we’ll do no matter what.
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I found a new instructor and instead of working on the changes, he worked on suppleness. Magically, by the end of the ride, I had clean changes only when I asked for them!
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I’ve done third on a few schoolmasters before but lemme tell you it’s way harder this go around to teach the horses at the same time! I get frustrated then remind myself I’m not a pro 
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I didn’t work on changes for about a month in January because the weather/footing were too inconsistent for progress to be made. Last week I started playing with it again and he doesn’t seem to have forgotten anything. I found the tight serpentine exercise that I posted above really useful for encouraging him to keep his croup down and start the change from behind. On Thursday while warming up for a jump school I asked for one each direction while changing directions across the diagonal and got them both with no drama! He’s also been tidier about his leads over fences. Then yesterday in our first dressage lesson in over a month, after some really exceptional trot work for this little TB, he ended with the best change he’s ever offered! It was in his tough direction too (right-to-left, when he tends to dive left with the shoulders and spin the haunches out to the right).
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After having a mostly tough ride (just felt tricky getting her really off the leg and carrying herself without hanging or breaking to trot), I somehow ended the ride with two forward, clean changes, no hop. Just trying to meditate on what I did right lol.
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THIS! We struggled with changes for YEARS. Mine changed behind by bucking/kicking, but was always late in front. So we stopped and rethought the whole approach.
First up was neck and shoulder softness. Worked on that in true and counter canter. Check.
Second was response to the leg. Any pissy reaction to my leg was punished with a hard stop, a growl and a retry. Check.
Third was many many MANY t/c/t/c transitions, focusing on a prompt supple downward, only a few steps of trot (think 4-6 steps) and a prompt upward.
Lastly, the t/c/t/c was done all over the arena in different patterns, changing from true to counter, and varying the combinations in unexpected places. So we could change true/counter/true/true/true/counter/counter/true for example, in any spot in the arena. And then every now and then I’d give a h/h as if going to the trot, then give the change aid. And I’d get super clean non-dramatic ones. Big praise, but then just continue on with t/c/t/c to finish off.
Try it, it works crazy well…
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+1 for trainer giving that as homework to prepare for changes. (This was our homework while she’s down in Aiken for part of the winter, had another trainer visit in the meantime and said this was definitely the right direction to go)
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Well, I know what I’m doing in my ride tonight.
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I thought I did too! The gale force winds had other ideas. LoL. Stayed topside for the win last night LoL
I have started and shelved the changes on my current horse so many times I’ve lost count. This is a first for me. Usually it’s easy or at least easyish to put changes on a horse I have started. This one? Not so much. We are making progress though and this thread is keeping me going and keeping me going back to exercises to prepare her better.
Thanks to everyone for sharing here!
I have a little chestnut OTTB mare that throws her head up into your face in tantrum and reliably throws in a flying change every time. Flying changes are her form of attitude. She does them for fun. Does them out of anger. Does them even on the lunge line.
Certainly does not do them when asked.
Then there’s the short stocky mare. With a counter - canter that is so balanced she doesn’t ever, EVER, see a reason to change. It’s quite shocking really.
Thinking I best be sticking to trails. No one needs to see me ride , right ?
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Well I was going to start prepping for the Third Level change required in Test 1 but now I’m not sure! I think I’ll stick with Second Levels Test 3 instead, and chase the freestyle qualifying scores, not yet for Third Level yet. Anybody else riding with the RideiQ app? I didn’t even feel ready for Second, Test 3 until I started riding with it a couple of months ago. It so helped my riding that I was going to go for this lesson next.
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I’ll have to check that app out. I could go show Third right now but I doubt we’d qualify so we’re staying home and improving things before debuting. I’d like to put together a second level Freestyle but not sure where to even start! I think at this point I could do the Freestyle and do Third as far as holding a counter canter but that can change on any given ride.
I did hold off on teaching changes until after we were done at Second last year and while I’ve already qualified for Regionals at Second the goal is to just show Third if we manage to qualify.
LetItBe
I had a horse like this that would counter canter all day and found no problem with being on whatever lead you picked. Therefore he also saw no point in the change and he definitely threw rodeo antics to make his point about it for about three years before we finally got a reliable change.
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Oh my goodness, you and I are in exactly the same place! I’m using the app to make sure I strengthen my mare’s hind end with all the shoulder in, haunches in, leg yield work, etc.,with the aim of showing in Second level, Test 3 this spring. If I can get an over 60% score (or maybe it’s 63%…I have to check again), that qualifies me to prepare and ride the First level freestyle, so that I can start chasing the freestyle bar, in addition to the bronze medal. If you have a score of 60% (or 63%…I have to check) in First level, Test 3, then you can prepare and ride a lower level freestyle but that doesn’t count for the freestyle bar, so I’m focusing on getting the score that allows me to at least prepare a freestyle at First level. I need to watch my pennies so I’m focusing on the milestones that I really need only, i.e. First, Second and Third levels. If I do get the score I need in the Second level, Test 3, then I’ll immediately start preparing a First Level Freestyle and will work on moving up to Third level too, because I already have one qualifying score at Second and the right score in Test 3 would give me my second qualifying score at Second. I bought a booklet at beginthedance.com to learn how to prepare a freestyle and it has been super helpful. I also downloaded an app called BPM Tap to find out my mare’s beats per minute at each gait, then found music for walk, trot and canter that matched my mare’s BPMs at each gait. It has been a blast putting the music together for the choreography I picked from the booklet! Let me know if you have questions; I’ll be glad to help since I’m in the midst of it myself!
Just thought I’d let you all know I broke my horse’s brain yesterday. It has been a struggle to get the canter back to workable (adjustable, balanced, etc.) this winter due to different footing and being indoors. OMG, not the dreaded indoor.
So we finally got there in the past couple of weeks - lateral suppleness maintained, check; longitudinal suppleness, check; adjustable from working to pirouette canter, check; transitions between canter and all other gaits balanced and lovely, check.
Hokay, so time to add the counter canter back in … BRAIN BROKEN! LoL. “There MUST be a change coming so I’ma just futz with my feets a bit and do this gait that is unidentifiable to anyone but me.” “No.” “YESSSSSSS!” “Please don’t.” “YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!”
I guess I know what my homework is for the next little while 
Who would like to bet against me that we finally get it sorted and are just about to start playing with changes again when the weather breaks and we get to go outside and the change of footing sets us back again? (footing outside is MUCH better, but it will take adjustment time because it is deeper)
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Ride IQ is amazing. I ride with Gina when I can, so having her on there is amazing to keep me going between lessons.
This weekend I used the intro shoulder in/travers to half pass and we did our first half pass ever!! and it wasnt too bad!
Ride IQ is freaking amazing and way more people need to get into it!
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