Tips on counting tempis

[RTF]

I am prepping for 4th, PSG next year. My mare is fairly solid at changes ( trained her myself) and we are playing with 4’s, 3’s and even 2’s. Three’s, I get the rhythm and they seem fairly straightforward, two’s I get as well… four’s… I am just having a horrible time with getting those. I can get them, but I never really know if I am right on my count. Seems as if I cue a step late and get fives.

Three’s, I ride, change ( cue) one two, change ( cue) one two… twos, I ride, change ( cue) one, change( cue) one. Fours, I try to go change ( cue) one two three, repeat… but I think my brain stops working and I get lost!

Any tips, tricks, or even hearing of someone else living through the struggle, would be great. I am not sure why this is being such a problem. Luckily I have until next summer to work on them. My coach and I do discuss this, he says there is too much time in between the count and that’s why I loose the rhythm.

[dotneko]

Once you get twos and threes the fours sometimes disappear lol. I count change, two, three, four, - two, two, three, four, -three, two, three, four, - four, two, three, four, - five.
My problem was anticipating the next change, not being late to ask.

[joiedevie99]

I think 4’s are the hardest to learn. Try giving yourself actions instead of counts. go, half halt, relax, change, go, half halt, relax, change, etc.

[crthunder]

Fours are the worst! I taught myself fours on my def-trained horse with music…Miss Jackson by Panic at the Disco. I think it’s the chorus (is that what the repeated is called? Ha ha).

sorry no other tips…
becky

[flight]

I did my first PSG on the weekend and found the fours the hardest to get into the swing of too. I used to do the changes like you describe… cue and change close to the same time and I had a lesson with someone that taught me to put your leg back (or get into your position to ask for the cue) the stride before and then ask. So one, two, three (leg back), four/change (leg on an ask for change).
I don’t really count how many changes I do, so my horse did 5 lovely 4x changes and I panicked at the end, thinking I’d only done 3! Poor horse was like “I’ve got this, what are you doing!!” and gave me a 1x change!!
I’ll need to work on actually counting the changes now.

[Hej]

I’m another who found the 4s hardest to count. (Too much time between changes, where am I?!? Which stride am I on?!?)

What worked for me (instead of counting to four) was to count to two twice, as in:

Change - two - one - two / Change - two - two - two / Change - two - three - two / etc.

Something about that count helped me keep the balance and be more confident in my timing of the change aid. Possibly a subconcious half halt crept in there somewhere that was missing in the looong count from one to four :rolleyes:.

Of course, I didn’t figure this out until we were doing 2s ( so easy to count!) and only using 4s in schooling!

[RTF]

I am so grateful to hear that I am not the only one! Really great tips, and I am going to try a few of these ideas over the next week. My coach keeps telling me, it doesn’t matter what you do… if it works and makes sense, then use it. Thank you!

[ThreeFigs]

I’m in that boat, too, RTF! I trained my gelding to (almost) PSG, but never got the scores with him for my Silver. Lousy pirouettes and random flying changes were our downfall. I will be practicing these techniques with my “new” mare…

[theresak]

Sometimes, adding an “and” in between each count and asking for the change on the last “and” helps catch the timing better, especially for the 4s.

[sascha]

Your first change starts your count both for how many and number of strides. So, ONE two three change(i use change for when I give the aid on the last of the set of 4) and then TWO two three change is the next set of 4 strides with your TWO coming on the first stride of the new lead.

It’s exactly the same as counting multiple bars of rest in music. In music we would count 4 bars of rest in 4/4 time as ONE 2 3 4 TWO 2 3 4 THREE 2 3 4 FOUR 2 3 4. So the only difference is instead of saying that last “4” you’re going to say “change” or “aid” or “swing” as a reminder to give the aid to change.

Hope that make sense

[J-Lu]

Well, I think the 4s are hard because the canter has some time to get away from you!

I count “One, two THREE (set up), AND…” (ask for change) then “one, two THREE, AND…”

I think it is easier to establish a rhythm with fewer steps in between the changes, Also, it seems that horses learn what’s going to happen and can easily anticipate changes. I blew my Regional Championships at Fourth because my horse said “oh, here’s the tempi line, let me change NOW, and NOW. I’m so good!” and threw in 3s and 2s much to my consternation. If only we got bonus points…

[purplnurpl]

One, two, three, and
One, two, three, and

I don’t do changes. But I watched a lesson with an UL horse and that’s how the coach had her counting to get it right.
take out the last count and use the word “and”.
ask for the change when you say and.

[Dressagelvr]

Yeah.

one, two, three, and Change
two, two, three, and Change
etc

Your aide is on “change”

[lorilu]

Another rider who is glad I’m not alone re the fours! I find I have to cue the change as I am saying “four”. However he seems to change quicker on one side than the other and that really messes me up… and of course as the line goes on my position deteriorates so… I get four 4’s then a three … or a five… lol

[PonyApocalypse19]

4s are hard. The horses find them had too. I’m currently working with one horse on PSG and right now I’m focusing on canter quality between changes, so he ends up giving me 3s and 2s because they’re easier for maintaining balance between the changes. Sorry for the tangent.
I count using more of a hunter/jumper method. With counting the change as the “landing” stride then going one, two, three, half-halt, change/land. I’ve ridden PSG and I-1 before and I still have a hard time keeping count the number of changes this way so probably not great, but in the moment I can do the tempi count number in the stride count sequence -too much brain power required for that. Another way I’ve seen it taught, is you count out loud across the diagonal or someone counts with you/for you (assuming they’re good at it too!). That way you can get your first stride counted right. I find that to be a lot of the problem - knowing what is considered the first stride of the new count. Visualization is also a good practice. I’ve kept myself up at nights counting strides in my head, lol. I hope this didn’t confuse you!

[Goforward]

4s suck, just move up to I1 :D:cool:
Seriously though, ride some 5s and even 6s. Get comfortable with the long wait.

[RTF]

So many great tips! I am pretty confident that I just cue a split second late on the fours… and the 3’s and 2’s are just an easier rhythm to get in sync with. I keep saying that the more I work at it, the better it will become. When my coach counts for me, it helps immensely… but again I think he helps me cue that split second earlier. I definitely Allow the canter to get away from me too, I get so wrapped up in the changes I forgot to keep a straight, uphill horse in front of my legs. Thanks for making me feel better about this struggle! Next post will probably be on pirouettes!