Counter canter. What is it good for?? Also flying changes.

PapaFrita

PapaFrita

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PF has always been nifty on her feet and finds flying changes a breeze. However, being a clever girl she often 'anticipates' when the change is coming, and only changes in front. When I catch her out and get the chance to apply the aids properly, she changes properly.
Anyway, was watching a training dvd and it was suggested for horses that anticipate the change that one should counter canter on a circle and ask for the change from there.
Fair enough, I though. BUT, it's not as easy as it looks on the DVD, is it? I had to keep my outside (which became inside) leg on to stop her changing, and this meant her quarters were swinging out... How can I correct this and is it worth it?
What are the benefits, if any, of counter canter and how else can I practise flying changes (generally I keep them for shows) without PF getting ahead of herself.
Thanks
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Sorry haven't a clue about changes, as I understand it counter canter is an excellent exercise to help straighten the canter and I suspect that straightness is equally important for changes?

Please do correct me if I am wrong.
 
I often use counter canter with an inside bend to help soften and lengthen the neck! This is also very useful for suppleness.

Counter canter is very useful for balance in canter.

I will often use a change on a diagonal from counter canter to counter canter - tends to be very effective at stopping anticipation. If a horse anticpates changes will ensure they counter canter and then wait for aids before change. Normally by using transitions. (I think sj are very different and are allowed to change where necessary! But I am not sure!)
 
Ive been taught to use counter canter a lot in my flatwork for a number of reasons.

1) Its a vital suppling and balancing exercise which will improve the quality of the canter overall

2) It encourages engagement of the hind quarters which helps gather more and more collection out of the horse in his canter. (That damn "jump" that is oh so important in the canter when moving onto the more advanced movements)

Aside from those two primary reasons, my trainer makes me use it alot as she says it encourages a more independent seat for the rider. It also helps to build your feel as a rider. Being able to ride a good true and counter canter (in terms of us as a rider) therefore makes it much easier to make nice smooth changes of leg and is particularly important when you start moving onto tempi changes. We also use it as a sharpening exercise for the horses. They have more to think about when they are switching between canter leads (even if this is through simple changes rather than flying changes) and helps hold their attention more.

In regards to problems with counter canter.. my trainer always says that people make the mistake of trying to flex too much early on when their horse hasnt yet become balanced enough (well they tend to have a habit of flexing too much full stop - it only needs to be subtle). Also, people can have a tendency of fixing their arm to force the horse into the flexion (which is difficult for horsey initially) which then causes huge problems if they try to turn horsey (e.g. if rider is "locking" their outside hand in an attempt to force horsey into a flexion and then wants to turn to go down the diagonal, things tend to get messy and they end up more nexk reining than anything else)

I was taught not to concern myself overly with the flexion in counter canter initially, but to concentrate on keeping horsey straight through his body (or rather, keeping an eye on the quarters swinging about) and focus on being able to turn easily before worrying about the flexion - even if this came at the expense of the horse flexing in the direction of movement.

In terms of horseys that predict the changes of leg - I have one! I have to be very very strong in keeping my inside leg behind the girth to ensure he doesnt just switch legs. To begin with, I asked for counter canter straight from walk rather than actually changing rein in canter. A lot of schooled horses will automatically change legs if you change the rein in canter. Building up your own position and the horses strength by practicing without that temptation helps immensly when moving on to holding them in the same canter lead through a change of rein.

I also rode a lot of 10 metre loops from the track as these were easier to tackle to begin with than full on circles

Hmm, this was a bit longer than intended
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Unless you're riding a horse that's been schooled a great deal in counter canter, they will find it hard to begin with because it goes against everything they have been taught. Its worth persisting with though. You'll have a much more supple and balanced horse in canter as a result of plenty of counter canter work and it helped my changes so so much.
 
Also, try using 3 loop serpentines to practice. Initially, go back to walk as you go to change the rein and aim for 4 strides of walk before you strike off into canter again. It will give you a lot of practice at changing flexion quite quickly but you must make sure that the horse is straight for those 4 walk strides (using rather tightly placed poles on the ground can help with this).

Once thats going well, aim for flying changes as you go across the school.
 
hi,
counter canter is a very good exerise to help your horse to carry himself,it can be done two ways,the first one is straight and the second one is with a bend on which the horse is cantering(so if the horse is on the left lead he should have a left bend and vice versa)if your horse anticipate the fly changes especially on the diagonal i suggest that you either go back onto a trot before it does or do a simple change and instead of asking your horse to change legs on the diagonal ask him to change on a straight line.asking to do simple changes or to change through trot will teach your horse to wait for instruction later on in time when you will wish to do so
 
One of the best & easiest training videos/DVDs for flying changes & counter canter etc is Richard Davison's 'Dressage for Show Jumping'. His 'pupils' are John & Robert Whitaker. The video covers loads of topics including flying changes, how to do them properly, getting the horse to change both front & rear legs. It covers counter canter & what it achieves. It is incredibly informative. Anyone can learn so much from it....recommended viewing.
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Thank you, that was very interesting
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Do you mean that to start with I should let PF's neck flex outward? Also, how do you stop her bottom swinging out (I expect my leg behind the girth to stop her changing is probably pushing her out as well) Am I making my loops too 'deep' ?
 
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my trainer makes me use it alot as she says it encourages a more independent seat for the rider

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Yep, it is brilliant for making the rider much more aware of their seat and legs position and that they get it right.

As well as improving the straightness for the horse. I always start counter canter using very shallow loops on the long side.
 
Counter Canter - The term used by people who don't KNOW their cantering on the wrong leg
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No seriously, it is a very good way of teaching a horse balance. It is also useful to get the horse listenning to the rider and NOT anticipating the flying change. It's not always desirable to have a SJ'er changing legs on a whim, better that he learns to do it only when asked imo.

Someone asked what the aid was for a flying change. Well, i've always used the following :-

Make sure the horse is well collected and working with his hocks right underneath him, lighten the seat slightly and then apply the normal canter aid for the leg you want to lead onto.
I'm sure there's a more 'pure dressage' answer...but that works for us mere SJ'ers lol!
 
Counter canter is, as someone else put it, cantering deliberatly on the wrong leg. When you first try it, the horse will tend to feel tremendously unbalanced and wobbly, often either breaking back into trot on the corners or, with the more school horses, will simply change legs back to what they know to be "normal"

PF - when you initially start counter canter work, I found the best thing was to NOT concern yourself with the flexion at all. To be correct, the horse should be flexed very slightly to the outside (as opposed to the inside in true canter). But this flexion only needs to be very minor and it will come almost on its own as your horse become more balanced.

So, as you first start counter canter work, dont be too hung up on flexing him to the outside. Just focus on keeping him in the counter canter.

If we want to get very technical about keeping the horse in counter canter, as well as the use of the legs, I depend on my seat quite a lot. Your inside leg will be behind the girth. You need to make sure that its there but not pushing the horse, this is especially important if you're wearing spurs. That leg needs to be more present than actually active. Its a very fine line between keeping the leg there and not using it. My horse also moves away from those leg aids very quickly, and what you can end up with is a banana shaped horse.

Your outside leg is then on the girth keeping the forward impulsion going. Particularly when riding a horse that has a tendency to change legs automatically, I tend to try and push my outside hip slightly further forwards and put slightly more weight onto the outside seat bone. This weight aid should help to keep the horse on the correct lead

You have to be very very careful that your weight aids arent telling your horse to change. Very often when riders put one leg behind the girth, they have a tendency to sit to that side slightly and twist. In this case, that would twist you slightly to the inside, placing more weight onto the inside seat bone which, to the horse, is a very very subtle aid for a flying change!

As the horse gains more balance he should start to self collect more and more, as this happens, flexing to the outside will come easily. When you initially start this work, the horse tends to be so unbalanced that people grab at their outside rein to try force a flexion. If you do that and "fix" the hand, imagine then coming around a corner and deciding you want to canter either a circle or turn up the diagonal... they have such a tight fix on that outside rein that they soon find they cant turn! This is precisely why I dont worry myself over the flexion until the horse is maintaining a nice rhythm and is starting to self collect.

The whole exercise should help you get much more collection out of the canter which will, naturally, help the showjumpers out there (as well as making the horse much more nimble in the jump offs when you know the horse can happily canter on either rein on either leg). For the dressage riders, its a good prerequisite for pirouttes.

The aid for flying changes....

Its important that the horse waits for your aids to change which is where things get sooo difficult for people who have horses that know what they're doing. When first introducing the flying changes, we start with simple changes. These are where you use canter - walk - canter to change the leg. Many horses pick these up quite quickly... its important when you return to walk that you aim for 4 strides of walk where the horse is straight, before flexing and then asking for the canter. If you have a horse who frequently strikes off on the wrong leg, try asking for canter straight out of a leg yield. So, for example:-

1) Pick up right lead canter on the outside track.
2) Turn up the centre line at C
3) Once the horse is straight, ask for walk
4) Leg yield to the right (making sure the horse is correctly flexed)
5) From your leg yield, pick up transition to left lead canter - just aim for a few strides here
6) Return to walk and leg yield back to the left, again with the correct bend
7) Pick up right lead canter straight from your leg yield and when you hit A turn off to the right.

The horse needs to be comfortable with simple changes before tackling flying changes. Many people reduce the number of walk strides between their cantering before starting the flying changes. For example... canter up the long diagonal, walk in the centre for 4 strides, then canter off with your new lead. You can reduce this down to 1 stride of walk. Alternatively, the show jumpers tend to be taught over poles. I find this particularly difficult since Id sooner give the aid alone without worrying about a damn pole on the floor! :P But then im no jumper..

Ok, so aids for the flying changes....

One of the reasons a lot of counter canter works prior to flying changes is that it gives you a great deal of feel. Firstly, make sure the canter is moving forwards nicely and has a good "jump" to it. A horse thats on the forehand isnt going to be making good flying changes. If the canter is "right" then the chances are they will already be in a nice soft contact without the rider "fiddling" with the reins continuously. We're taught to do flying changes by counting the canter strides:-

1) Prepare (half halt)
- be subtle here. Its important that your canter is moving forwards! People make the mistake of shortening their horses up too much and when they do this, flying changes actually become much harder for the horse. Remember the aim of the half halt is to sit them back on their haunches, you dont want them dying under you because the half halt was too abrupt. Might be worth practicing this one without the changes actually!

2) Move the legs.
- Your normal canter aids are inside leg on the girth, outside leg behind. You need to switch these around. The outside leg needs to come forwards and the inside leg slides back. Make sure you arent pushing with the inside leg! You dont want to be pushing the haunches out otherwise your horse will banana and its going to find that very hard to change.

3) Change
- Use the leg. Apply a gentle pressure with your "new" inside leg (the one that is now on the girth), that should be the aid for the horse to change.

There are different thoughts on what to do with your weight during flying changes (i.e. which seat bone you feel most.) Some people say that you should use your weight to reinforce your aid. Others believe that your weight shouldnt switch until after the horse has changed. To be honest, I dont like stressing the weight change in the riders seat too much as it tends to encourage people to start throwing themselves about in the saddle! I tend to shift my weight over after the change, the theory being that you have to allow freedom for the horse to bring its new inside hind leg under (its getting a bit technical now i know
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During the change, I try to be quite giving with the inside rein. The new outside rein can maintain the speed, but if you keep tight hold of that inside rein it tends to restrict the front leg. This is why the preparation work for flying changes needs to be so thorough. You've got to be able to give with the inside hand while cantering and being able to maintain the horse in its current pace and collection. This comes through being able to hold the horse between your back, leg and outside rein. If you're needing to use your inside rein heavily to either ask for an outline or to help keep the horse maintained, then its not quite time for the changes.

Another point. I DONT flex the neck into the new direction when I ask for a flying change. This tends to make for wonky (crooked!) changes in my opinion. Throughout the actual change, I keep my horse straight. Only once the change has been executed do I then shift my weight to the new inside seat bone and flex the horse to that side also. I also dont stress over the horse being on the bit when they're first learning to change. You can soon get them back after they've changed and its a big big thing for a horse to first learn his changes.. theres no point making it worse by having a nagging rider messing with his mouth.

Try to avoid having to slide your legs too far behind the girth. Pushing your leg further back wont make for cleaner changes and it shouldnt be necessary. It will also cause problems later on if you move onto tempi changes, where there just isnt enough time to slide your legs all over the place.

Most of all relax. Theres no need to make a big deal out of changes and the aids can be subtle. It all comes down to the preparation work. The quality of the canter is the all important thing before teaching or performing flying changes.

Many horses are late behind when they first start changes. Keep asking for the change and it should come, but be firm. Back your leg up with a whip where necessary. Teaching changes is a repetition exercise.. just keep practicing and they come with time... but make sure you lavish the praise when they do manage nice clean changes.

On final word of warning and this comes purely from personal experience. Many horses get excited with changes... they can also get their legs in a knot. Numerous horses will kick out behind when they are learning changes (hell, mine still does on occasion, particular if i "ask" to firmly). Be aware of this because it can have devastating effects to arena fencing! :P I use the diagonal for the first changes and dont start asking for them on the long sides until the horse is much more comfortable with them :P

Once the changes are nice.. you could always have a go at tempi changes!

Im sorry
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its a really long post again
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In dressage test counter canter is first introduced as canter down the long side on the correct leg do a half circle of the track return to the long side between for example B and F and countinue down that long side for a few strides on the wrong leg before you ask for trot at the corner. Start with that, and build it up to going around the corner, sounds easy but on a SJ who is flying changed obsessed not that easy.
 
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