Natural Dressage Forum Trainer Questions

Featured in Karen’s July 2007 Newsletter

Karen,
We (natural dressage forum) would like to know when and how to start working on flying lead changes. What are the signs that a horse is ready, what ingredients do we need to work on, and what exercises or games will help us get correct changes? Do you wait until the counter canter is established? Is there anyway to play with changes on the ground that encourages the horse to swap from back to front? How can we fix flaying changes that are late behind?

Thank you so much for taking our question!
~Members of the Natural Dressage Forum.

Hi,
Here is your answer regarding flying changes….
Of course you know these are just guidlelines…every horse is different…
flying changes are a difficult movement because unlike things like shoulder-in or collection or extensions, you don’t have many strides in a row in which to play with it. Flying changes are a result of good preparation, clear signals and excellent timing.

the most simple way to think of a flying change is it is a canter transition. So one big prerequisite for flying changes is that your canter transitions in general are at least reliably very good. By very good I mean that there is no confusion about which lead is being asked for, and your horse can do it with balance and not momentum. doing walk to canter transitions will test this. can you get a walk to canter transition where the first stride of the canter is the good canter? Where the horse can step immediately into an energetic and balanced canter rhythm? Here is another test: If you are walking or trotting along and you decide to do a canter depart, how much time is there between when you ask for the depart and when it happens? Is it less time than the moment of suspension in your horse’s canter rhythm? In order for you horse to do a canter transition ‘on the fly’ he must be able to get it done within one moment of suspension.

Another exercise I make sure I can do, is to be able to mobilize the horse’s shoulders. Alot of times horse’s are ‘late behind’ really because they are throwing their shoulders to the lead before you are really asking. Before taking a right lead , for example I just want to check I have the possibility to shift the shoulders one notch to the left (creating a right positioning) and have them wait while I ask the hindquarters to canter depart.

Doing transitions from walk to counter canter to walk to true canter can start to build up the horse’s idea that there is a game about changing leads.
i do counter canter well enough to make sure I have a well balanced canter in general, or that the hrose can stay at it long enough to prepare for the flying change. I don’t drill it in a sense of ‘hey don’t you dare change your lead’ …because later i will want the change…how much counter canter I do is very individual horse to horse.

As far as on line…it is about the quality of the canter transition. My favorite biomechanical canter transition exercise is to go from a stretched, completly relaxed walk to changing my posture to collected and canter depart, then back to relax. there are many ingredients to get that done. really observe your horse…when you suggest canter, what part of your horse”s body canters first? Visualize it must start with the outside hind. and while you are observing…where does the canter depart start in YOUR body? are you leading with your lead hand, the one with the line in it? that would be telling your horse to begin his depart with his head. If I am on the ground and want to suggest right lead, I shift my weight back and then squeeze my left butt cheek to send my right hip forward…same as when I ride.

I tend to wait to ask for flying changes until I am really prepared. Accept the ones your horse offers you if he tries them…if he flips his lead because he is so unbalanced at the canter, it’s ok just know you have more homework at the canter. I tend to wait longer because correcting bad habits in the flying change is difficult…it is only a split second in time…the best you can do is prepare, be clear, have excellent timing, then cross your fingers and say a prayer!

I hope this helps…
maybe I will add this to next month’s newsletter and perhaps I can share your forum with my readers?
enjoy!!

Karen k1