Just the first sentence was enough for me to get it. Good visual!
Because we all had a past jumping, my trainer would say to think coffin canter (eventing collection) or riding in to a tall vertical. But a human jumping rope is much the same effect!
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The problem for many riders. In order to have fine control of the horseās body, the rider needs fine control of their own body. Both S/I & H/I are wonderful collecting gaits, both come from a different co-ordination of the riders muscles. The hands do nothing except support the proper flexion. In fact it is a very good habit to drop he inside rein to test the correctness of oneās aids.
Consider S/I&H/I not only movements on a test but really stepping stones to the straightness and gymnastic strength necessary in order to go on to H/I, and changes,
Here again the rider needs core strength to help lift the horse thru the changes.
And remember-Riding is easy, the horse does all the work!!
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Cool, glad the visual made sense 
The jumping horse/coffin canter is a good one too, because you have to make sure theyāre on their hindend, still keep some impulsion, and not totally shut the front door. I actually started dabbling in jumping with my last dressage horse, and I felt like it improved our canter even more. So when the canter quality improves, that helps the transitions, flying changes, etc. IME
One of the exercises I use that helped me a lot is flexing left and right at all three gaits. Pick up contact and ask the horse to flex left for 4 or 5 strides. Straighten for a stride or two and then flex right for 4 or 5. You will find that in the beginning, the horse may lose his balance and fall out of the gait. Make sure to keep him moving forward. As his balance improves, this will become easier. I also do a lot of transitions within the gaits: 4 or 5 strides collected, then 4 or 5 strides lengthen and then back. Lots of shoulder in and leg yields as well. Gaining the balance at the canter is really important for the counter canter.
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If the horse goes on the trot, then he is on the forehand. Thus the answer is
The above move does 2 thingsā¦(a) you ask with the retarding aidā¦horse understands to slow down, then (b) you ask for forward, gets the hinds legs underneath, thus engaging carrying power.
I would also try to do as @outerbanks77 recommends in the following sequence. Come down the long side, somewhere between the centerline and quarter line. When you decide to give the retarding aid when you want a walk, do a 1/4 turn toward the wall, indicate the down transition with your reins, and then relax all aids. The wall helps your hands get out of his face and helps you ride the transition from the seat.
You can start by coming down the centerline, then getting closer and closer to the wall. The wall is your friend.
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Well, weāve overshot the mark, and itās turned into canter-halt, so now Iām working on backing off from that to hit the walk (not jig) sweet spot!
Look on the positive side! You have just learned the aids to do canter/haltā¦the horse is the ultimate teacher. Listen to him.
Or conversely you now know when your aids are too strong, or if you are applying too much retarding aids if you DONāT want to halt.
The good thing is you now know how to do a canter/halt transition which is something you will need when you come down the centerline in canter.
The other learning is that canter/halt and canter/walk are not that difficult. A good instructor can provide exercises that allow the movement to happen.
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I love this visual so much, who knew I remembered so much about jump rope timing! Thanks!
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I have found that gait control is in your hips and the rhythm of the hips. Play with it at the walk, then a quick HH sit and put your hips in trot rhythm. The harder and faster you move those hips will control length of stride and speed. Canter rhythm works the same way. Using your body can control gait and speed with little use of the reins, except to maintain flexion.
This is an older article, but as someone working on connection to solidify 2nd and start thinking towards 3rd, I found it really valuable, especially the discussion of maintaining and shaping the horseās āboxā through transitions: https://dressagetoday.com/instruction/laura-graves-tools-for-more-successful-connection/?fbclid=IwAR3LAO1LdNcB6xHccLDURGFT551fmlJbPY7i2dDml62pttVtROG39P-aMoM
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This, so much. My last lesson we worked on switching between S/I, H/O, leg yields on as loose of a rein as I could and it was so much fun to figure out how much ābendā came from me actually using my hips correctly and truly working back to front. Iād heard that term forever but finally feeling like Iām mostly grasping how to achieve it.
The whole having to do totally different things with both sides of my body isā¦ coming along, although sometimes Iāve been known to completely forget what side is what and what in the world Iām supposed to be doing with each side of myself or my horse. Like, stop in the middle of a leg yield to mentally work out what is left/right/inside/outside levels of confusion.
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After you think, youāve got it all organized, try going up the quarter line switching from, S/I, to H/I to renvers. It will help you to become automatic in your movements.
Best done with a ground person, to keep you honest. 
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This. To have a good C/W transition, you have to be cantering as slowly/same ground cover as a collected walk. Have your trainer walk beside you to help the horse keep cantering as you half halt him back. It takes a LOT of leg until he understands AND is strong enough.
Rubber band exercises - into collection then out again, rinse and repeat - is good to build strength. Itās HARD, donāt over do it, dont work on it every day.
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CC, can you adapt this visual to the W-C transition? I didnt jump rope much, but the visual makes good sense to meā¦ I mostly need the W-Cā¦
Let me give it a goā¦
So W-C, I think the jump roping will still work for that. Again, 2 people are in control of the jump rope and youāre jumping in.
Usually as you are paying attention to the timing of the rope, you naturally start loading your weight in a way that enables you to jump right in when the timing is right. Itās similar with walk to canter. You have to pay attention to the balance and weight loading of yourself and the horse. Is the horse in a āproductiveā walk, in that when you ask for that canter could the horse strike off into the canter at that given moment? Does your horse feel ready? If theyāre behind the leg, strung out, or otherwise not prepared, your transition wonāt be good.
Then as the rider, youāre going to have to adjust your balance and time your aids to ask for the canter and enable the horse to canter.
So when that rope comes around, you both have to be ready at the same moment to ājump inā and I think the word ājumpā is appropriate because you should think of the walk to canter transition as forwards and upwards. Youāre moving up into the canter just as youād jump upward and forward into the jump rope (well, not physically into the rope, but into the rhythm of the rope so you can begin jumping the rope).
Just like with the rope, you should be paying attention to the timing. Where your horses legs are in the walk stride, at what phase of the stride is it best to ask? What will give you the best ājump inā without getting tangled in the rope. Getting tangled in the rope is when your horse sneaks in that one trot step, or that scurried walk step, because the timing, aids, and overall preparation werenāt right.
So you both have to position your weight back slightly, load the hind end, and allow it to push off into the canter. If itās too āin placeā youāll fall short and not make it into the right spot to jump in on that jump rope. If itās too long, uncontrolled, and/or dramatic you will also be in the wrong spot (too far), so it has to be just right. The balance of up and forward with power, because you donāt want the canter to die after the transition either, because once you jump in, you have to keep jumping that rope in rhythm.
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Kindred spirit! My lease horse is very patient with my dyslexiaā¦
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