Creative 3rd/4th level training exercises?

[HafDressage]

So sometimes I feel I'm lacking some creative effort in my rides. Often I find myself doing the same exercises over and over, which is not ideal bc my horse is already so minimal in the effort department that it would be much better to mix it up more. So, just looking for some creative/interesting/different/forgotten exercises to spice things up.

We have working piros, a single flying change (with a little variance still), and can ride 2-3 changes on a line (often easier than the single change). Canter half pass is tough for us.

SO, Whatcha got for me?

[Ponichiwa]

Some of my favorites:

Canter half-pass:
- Ride a halfpass from centerline to wall, and hold the counter canter. Turn down either the quarterline or centerline (if you've got a really strong counter canter), and half pass back to the wall. Repeat. It's good for building strength and fluency in the halfpass.
- Halfpass stairstep. 5 steps halfpass, 5 steps SI (or straight ahead). Goal is to be able to move between halfpass and SI without the quality of the canter changing at all.

Flying changes:
- 20m circle. 1 change every quarter. For extra difficulty, count strides between changes and ensure that the count doesn't change each quarter. For extra extra difficulty, execute the above in a medium canter and aim for 3-4 strides per quarter.
- SI in counter canter to flying change. Really builds expression in the change. Danger: during the change, haunches can swing wildly to the outside to avoid being very straight in the changes.

Pirouettes:
- Hexagon in canter. Should be 2-3 strides per "side" with one stride of turning. Surprisingly difficult to keep symmetrical. Once you've got that down:
- Square in the canter. 2 turning strides to get 1/4 turn; keep the same number of strides between quarter turns. Once you've got that down:
- Triangle in the canter. 2-3 turning strides to get 1/3 turn.
- Walk pirouette transition to canter pirouette to medium canter. You'll get a lot of sit into the canter strides but the medium canter out of the pirouette can help refresh the energy level so you don't get stuck.

[khall]

HI on the circle (T and C), transitions within and between gaits in lateral work, half steps to canter, RB to canter. W piri to medium trot, CSI through short side to medium trot (or SI through short side to medium trot), canter plies (sp), SF in canter, R in CC, moving from CSI, to R to SI to HI W and T. HI spiral in on circle, SI spiral out, Spanish Walk, half steps, HP zig zag T'/C?, counter flexion in T and C, counter bending (CSI in T possibly C HARD)

[tlkidding]

As someone who made this mistake - if you are getting slow or late behind changes, make sure you always have someone who can watch you and let you know what it looks like. It took me 6 months to clean up a slow behind change because I couldn't tell (still within the same stride but slow).

Ride an alternating SI/HI down the rail or quarter line in canter a few times, then go for a few steps of HP. Riding this exercise on the quarter line will really show you if the shoulders are pushing out in the HI, which can be hindering your HP. If you are struggling, take it down to the trot to really control the shoulders and hips.

Ride a lot of walk/canter/walk transitions all over the school, but especially on straight lines out of a corner or circle - make sure you can keep the horse totally straight through all of the transitions. I started schooling multiple changes on the short diagonals (ex: K to B to H with a change on each short diagonal line), then on the quarter line.

For the pirouettes, I found they improved a lot when we started working on the half steps. I'd do the half steps under saddle, then go into the canter and work on the pirouette canter. The pirouette canter is a lot, lot less canter and way more on the spot than I ever imagined when I started schooling them. A full pirouette is supposed to be like 7 or 8 strides I think, so school the pirouette canter building up to 10 strides on the spot without turning. Alternate this with canter on the spot 3 steps, out 3 steps, on the spot, etc. Work down so you can control the out to only 1 step before going back to on the spot - this will really test how effective your leg and seat aids are. Also, sometimes canter on the spot and gallop out - if that first stride out is not a gallop, the horse has dropped behind the leg.

[lorilu]

Love these ideas. thanks! JUST what I need!

WHat about some exercises to build cadence in trot?
L

[tlkidding]

Love these ideas. thanks! JUST what I need!

WHat about some exercises to build cadence in trot?
L

Start the half steps.

Ride a volte from the rail, ask for the half steps when you get back to the rail, then try a few steps of added cadence out before another volte.

I did a tiny bit of clicker training with the spanish walk and kicking a yoga ball and those helped him figure out how to lift the forearms and articulate the shoulders.

My biggest breakthrough to add cadence/start passage was when the herd thundered down the hill next to the outdoor during a rehab from an injury. He started dragon snorting, flagged his tail, and bounced around. I actually put my leg on instead of stopping him, which is what I'd normally do, but gosh darn it we were in the middle of our 5 minute trot interval and I was not going to stop. He had already activated "prance mode" and I just legged him on until he dropped out of it after a few steps. From then on, when I could fee him getting bouncy with excitement, I could add leg and get a few cadenced/passage-y steps at a time.

[lorilu]

thanks! I'll see if he will play with a yoga ball..... We have P/P..... he actually USES passage as an evasion on occasion....... I have started playing with SW in hand but have not yet successfully transitioned to under saddle. We are mostly doing it in place now - not quite "walking" yet.
I guess what I need is to figure out what I need to do to turn on that cadence within a trot without getting "passagey". I'll try the volte off the wall - I can see it working.

[piedmontfields]

I have been checking back on this thread and trying some elements. I appreciate that those of you further down the path of dressage education share these ideas here.

tlkidding, I have taken advantage of similar situations to play with a more cadenced trot. I have felt like there is a way that I need to show my horse that she has "permission" to be this bouncy. Does that make any sense?

[Chisamba]

I use many transitions to medium trot to develop more cadenced work. I got the idea from a Shannon Peter's video which I cannot find on you tube anymore