At long last ... !!!

[DJR]

At long last ... !!!! Jet, my 11 yr old Friesian/Percheron gelding, has been stuck at Second Level since 2014. Why? No flying changes! Not even in the pasture. He'd occasionally & eventually change behind left-to-right, but never the other way. He'd change in front right away then happily canter disunited for as long as he wanted to rather than change behind.

I've been working with a really awesome instructor since 2014 and it has brought huge dividends in all aspects of my riding & my approach to training horses. We've been working on exercise to improve connection & collection, and I've been diligently working on his fitness particularly at the canter. It's definitely improving our basics and it's reflected in my training rides and in my tests when I show (I didn't show at all in 2015 and just focused on training/improving, then started showing again this year with scores in the mid-60s and even in the 70s at Second Level).

Last week, after working on my homework from my last couple of lessons, he gave me two clean-ish changes each way. By "clean-ish" I mean that front & back changed together but with a fair bit of fanfare & hind-end action (i.e., exuberant bucks!). Then, in our lesson yesterday, he gave me three clean left changes (his hard side) with the last really quite decent! WOO HOOOO!! For the first time in my journey with this horse, I think we will make it beyond Second Level! And, quite honestly, once his changes mature more I don't see any reason why he can't keep going up the levels (barring illness or injury, of course), and my instructor feels the same way. SOOOO HAPPPPPY!!! All that hard work is paying off!!

[leheath8]

Congratulations! What an exciting development and how exhilarating it must have been to feel all your hard work paid off!

[Moutaineer]

Wahoo!

[Rosie B]

YAY!!!!! That is fantastic, and a HUGE milestone!!

Thanks for sharing. I'm so happy for you!!!

[Dresseur]

That's awesome, what an accomplishment for you guys!

[Sue B]

That is so cool! Congratulations! You must be over the moon!

[DJR]

That is so cool! Congratulations! You must be over the moon!

I really am! I honestly wasn't sure if he'd ever get it. His hind end just didn't seem to connect to his front for the changes. The last two exercises we tried, though, really helped. One was serpentines with canter-halt-canter soon after the small (10m) loop. This seemed to help Jet figure out how to speed up his hind end, as the halts were as short as possible (more a suggestion than a true halt). When I coupled that with canter LY (steep, working on activated and quickening the hind leg), that's when Jet seemed to have his first light-bulb moment.

I had been trying over a cavaletti but he still wasn't getting it, so these two exercises in particular were very helpful to explain to Jet that he *had* to quicken his hind leg and react. He is such a trier and an honest horse that it was really cool feeling him get all puffed up with pride when he started figuring it out! Love him!

[orono]

That's wonderful, what a huge milestone!!

[StraightForward]

Great work!

[no.stirrups]

Fantastic! It sounds like your determination has reaped many rewards, with flying changes being the most quantifiable. I look forward to hearing about his continued progress. Thanks for sharing the exercises!

[Niki]

Oh awesome!! Huge congrats....you're giving me hope for my clydie x mare. Prior to me getting pregnant n her going to spell we were working towards changes. Not looking forward to the work its going to take to get her that strong again

[HafDressage]

Go you!!! I think that is awesome!

[Quelah]

Congratulations!! Persistence and patience paid off!

[Kyra's Mom]

Yippee Persistence pays off .
Susan

[Chisamba]

Awesome!

[Hayburner]

Congrats!

[piedmontfields]

Such a good update! Good on you for your patience and exploring various approaches. I appreciate you sharing what worked, too.

FWIW, a Friesian in my barn is having some similar challenges. It's clear that there is a big gap between her head and her hind legs. Very different process than many other horses.

[demi]

Nice update and interesting, too. I wanted to see what Jet looked like so I went to the handy "riders and horses" thread! He's impressive as I guessed he would be with that combination of breeds. I am looking forward to more updates and pictures!

[PNG_Pony]

Hooray! Thanks so much for sharing!

[khall]

Well done!

[Flight]

Excellent!!! I still have a pigrooty side with mine, but it's a great feeling to think that you can progress up the levels

[HafDressage]

DJR - Any updates? How has it been going? Fill us in when you have time.

[DJR]

Well, it has been hit or miss. In today's ride for example, I could feel lots of energy behind and he changed through left (hard side) within four strides. But then it was *really* hard to get that hind end engaged & connected. He gets strong in front and blows through my half halts when we're trying to activate behind, and when he's ignoring hh then all is lost re: connection & throughness.

But, he is trying to figure out that hind end! He gave me one clean right change today, for example. So we keep chipping away at it.

We just introduced half-steps this past week and I think it'll be helpful because it, too, requires that he activate his hind end in order to get the feel of it. I think the half-steps will come way more naturally to him, though, than the changes!