Teaching a 'know it all!' eventer flying changes- ideas please

[IncaCola]

In anticipation for Tayberry's advanced debut at Aston, i finally took the plunge to introduce flying changes in our dressage schooling. Tay does them easily when show jumping, but from past experience i have found that in dressage it can wind them up and then muck up the counter canter which used alot in eventing dressage as they keep anticipating changes. Decided it was best to start them in a lesson with my trainer so she could tell me how clean they were who suggested we started doing them on the diaganol when crossing the centre line. Tay often feels that day to day dressage schooling is beneath him and can be quite naughty and strong, but he was on his best behaviour that day and after a bit of experimentation of how much aid i needed, he was doing them effortlessly on just a slight shift in my seat bones and repoisitioning of legs and i was elated when trainer said the were very clean and straiaht and a good 8 in tests! We then did conter canter work and i was so relieved he didnt try to add his new party piece in when not asked so all in all a great lesson.....

BUT.... i then had a look at the test i will be doing and he has to do the changes after a canter half pass from the centre line back to the track at B and then counter canter to the next marker. So i thought i should try this out and it did not go as smoothly! First found out that he got very strong on the canter half pass when doing it from the centre line so that is something that needs work, so took this out of the equation and just tried some changes on the long side from counter canter. However whilst he had been so responsive doing it on the diaganol, he at first completely ignored my aids doing it on the long side; he was admanant that he should not break his counter canter! Therefore resorted to stronger aids but this did make him strong and less balanced and whilst i did manage to achieve some changes they were not as smooth and much more tense and i felt him getting quite worked up about it all, which is what i dont want!

Didnt dwell on it too much and hope to go back to my trainer soon but wondered if anyone else had encountered this problem and any tips or ideas of exercises i could do to make a head strong horse do changes out of counter canter. Thanks

 

[seabsicuit2]

What about breaking everything down to the beginning- doing religious, regular transitions from counter canter to a few walk steps, softening and relaxing the walk ( do a walk circle with lots of counter flexion& softening if he won't relax in the walk ) before asking for a walk to canter trans on the right leg, hopefully eventually you would then only be having to do just a step or two of the relaxed walk before going into the canter, then eventually just an half halt/ almost walk, before asking for the change.... That's the theory anyway!!
Also with the canter half pass, to stop him getting strong, are you really really remaining ultra-tall and strong in your core muscles/back, and really sitting right back onto your seatbones- he probably gets strong because he pulls you forward and pulls your whole core forward- as soon as he's done that you've lost him- you have to maintain that strong position yourself and not let him pull you out of it- use a bracing hand if needed, but even stronger / heavier on the back of your seatbones/ core muscles to stop him pulling- try to keep it all controlled from that strong position...
Not sure if that helps, it's tricky to judge without seeing what's going on!
Good luck for the advanced he sounds like an amazing little horse!

 

[IncaCola]

Thanks for that, will definitely give it a go. He is also a little strong in his simple changes when out of counter canter rather than true canter so definitely more practise with that. It is a movement in the intermediate test which we have done countless times this season and he anticipates. Have been very hard working on engaging my core muscles on him and not use my hands as he is a bit of a power house and will lean. Am relatively fit riding 5 horses a day but did take my stirrups away the other day and am still feeling my thighs now! Re the canter half pass, he is much better when doing it from the corner, he just has this tendency to rush when he thinks he is turning down the centre line which is another thing to work on!!!!

 

[deskbound]

How about taking the canter HP from the long side across, then finding a straight line out when you are happy with the HP (c line or similar), then going straight and giving time for change? On diagonal while am sure they are straight & true he might feel like he has more space in case a leg flails out the wrong way (!) & so be more confident, this way by using c line or 3/4 line you have scope for a shuffle sideways / bobble while he gets his confidence rather than being a bit stuck on the side of the school....

Am curious to know if you've already tried / if it works, trying to build same work into mine slowly...!

 

[TarrSteps]

I would second db's suggestion of riding straight out of the hp when you've had some soft steps and then asking on that line. Then you can keep going straight if he's ridable and turn at the wall or you can do a circle in true canter if he needs containing. That way he's having to do it off your aids not in a specific spot, which can make a keen horse tense with anticipation.

It's an experiment with horses like that - some take comfort in a very structured approach, some are better if you take the time and worry more about quality than absolute accuracy.