Flying Changes: A New Strategy

Izzy and I have been working on the flying changes for a what seems like a long time. We made really good progress during the spring, but then the wheels fell off the bus this summer. I wasn't discouraged as I long ago accepted that dressage is a journey with a lot of twists and turns.

Sean Cunningham, owner and trainer at STC Dressage, has shown me a lot of different exercises for helping the horse to understand the aids for the flying changes. First and foremost is that the flying change is just another canter stride. Another important element is straightness. Once those two ideas are in place, the rider cues the horse - in my case, I simultaneously switch my seat bones, sweep my new outside leg back, and half halt with the new outside rein.  

January 2022 - I really need to get some new pictures!

For most horses, simply setting them up correctly will eventually get you the change. Speedy learned very quickly, but then he had to learn to wait. As soon as we would cross a diagonal, he would get very strong in the bridle and try to change as quickly as he could. I never discipline my horses for an unasked for change, but I did have to try to teach them to do it on my aid. Speedy eventually figured it out.

Izzy has not been nearly as easy to teach. As soon as I straighten him, even down a long side, he gets very anxious about even the idea of a change. He'll either plow through my aids in a quasi-bolt, start swapping leads, or fall into a trot. I've learned that he needs to feel very secure, balanced, and in control before he'll do a change. I can't rush it.

A few years back on Speedy.

With Sean's help and a bit of my own creativity, I now have a pretty good list of ways to tackle the flying changes. In no particular order:

• Cross the diagonal and ask for the change when he's soft in his poll.
• Cross a shorter diagonal and then ask for a change.
• Ride a tear drop back to the rail and ask for the change.
• Leg yield to the rail and ask for the change.
• Half pass to the rail and ask for a change.
• Counter canter down the long side and ask for the change in the corner.
• Do simple changes at the center line to prepare for a change.
• Set up for a change, and then don't ask for the change.

The last one is what I've been doing for the past few days. On Saturday, it worked beautifully. I crossed the diagonal and set Izzy up for the change by straightening him, but then I didn't ask for it. I just held him in the counter canter and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually, he flicked his ears at me, and did the change.

Do I want him to wait for my aids? Of course! But since he's so worried about it, I decided to let him make the choice whether to change or not. I reasoned that we would either do a counter canter, come back to trot, or do the change. I wasn't worried about the change. I was focused on setting him up correctly for the change so that he was balanced, and it worked!

Speedy loved the flying part of the change!

I repeated the process to the other side, but this time, he let me ask for it. It wasn't pretty of course, but by waiting until he was truly balanced, he was able to do the change without any theatrics. The changes are definitely not confirmed, but I am loving that I can once again play around with them and get it more often than I don't.

On Saturday, the ranch owner watched while I rode. It was really helpful to explain to her what i was doing and why. At the end of my ride, we talked about how nuanced dressage is. There is no end to the variety of exercises that you can employ in a single ride. Things are never exactly the same from one day to the next which makes watching out the window of the journey such a pleasure.

You just never know what is around the next corner.