The intuitive response, when your flying changes aren’t going well in your dressage tests, is often to ride more of them. The instinct makes sense – practise the thing that isn’t working – but it’s rarely where the fix actually lies.

“Very rarely is getting a flying change, or fixing a tricky change, about doing more changes,” says Becky Moody. “It is nearly always about improving the canter.”

This is the bit that catches most riders out. The change feels like the problem – it’s late behind, or your horse runs out the front door, or swaps and then immediately falls into trot – so the change is where they put the work. But the change is a symptom. The canter underneath it is the actual job.

“It’s the quality of canter, every time”

The canter you need for a change is not the same canter you might ride elsewhere. It has to be collected but full of energy, straight, balanced, and – most importantly – adjustable.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean the problem is with the rhythm of the canter,” Becky says. “It’s very often the straightness of the canter, the balance of the canter. And for me, the adjustability of the canter. I think you have to be able to have a horse that is collected, but stay full of energy.”

A useful image: watch a top showjumper coming into a big vertical. The horse collects, but the energy doesn’t disappear – it gathers. The hindquarters come under, the frame shortens, and the canter gets bouncier. That’s the feel you want before a flying change Becky says. Not slow. Not steady. Loaded.

The springboard step

Here is Becky’s most useful idea, and it isn’t in any textbook.

“I like to have a springboard step,” she says. “The horse doesn’t change on the first part of your change aid. You have a springboard step – it’s like a spring then change, not just a change.”

Translated: your aid has two parts. A preparation stride, where you ask the horse to gather and bounce, and then the change itself. The whole sequence has the rhythm of “Are you ready? Change.”

This is the difference between a change that arrives flat and late, and one that lifts cleanly through the body. Riders who get into trouble are usually applying the aid in a single motion – leg on, change, hope. The horse hasn’t had a chance to load the spring first.

It’s also where anticipation comes in. For Becky, a horse learning changes should be thinking about what’s coming next – not nervous, but expectant.

“You almost need to create a degree of anticipation,” she says. “The horse is a little bit like, ‘Oh, what’s coming? This is good fun.’ Instead of you cantering across the diagonal in a lovely, nice, balanced, steady canter and then putting a change aid on, and the horse is like, ‘What?’”

Don’t lose the counter-canter

A common trap, once a horse can do changes, is that they start offering them unprompted. The rider asks for counter-canter, and the horse, helpful and over-keen, swaps.

“I’m quite a big believer that when you start teaching the horse changes, you shouldn’t stop being able to ride counter-canter,” Becky says. “You should be able to be like, ‘Now we’re doing counter-canter. And now we’re going to do a change. And now we’re doing counter-canter again.’ They have to be listening to what you say.”

The discipline matters because, in a test, you’ll be asked for both – sometimes within strides of each other. A horse that assumes every straight line means a change is a horse that will throw one in at exactly the wrong moment.

Build the change before you ask for it

Long before the change itself, the foundations need to be there. Canter-to-walk and walk-to-canter transitions are the bedrock – clean, on the leg, with no drift through the shoulders. The horse should be able to come back to walk with the outside hind genuinely stepping under, and step up into canter on a specific lead from a specific aid, without hesitation.

A good marker: can you ride around the outside of the arena and pick up eight to 10 walk-to-canter transitions, on the correct lead each time, on a straight line and in balance? If not, that’s where the work is. The change will come from this groundwork, not from drilling changes.

The walk half-pirouette is also useful here, because it asks the outside hind to stretch and step under, and it sets the horse straight before coming back into canter – the same body shape, in effect, that you need before a change.

An exercise: the figure-of-eight at the short end

When the foundations are in place, Becky’s go-to exercise is a small figure-of-eight at the short end of the arena.

“Imagine there’s a row of poles across the 10m line at the short end,” she says. “Then you’re doing your little figure-of-eight within that 20x10m box.”

You come out of the corner as if to ride a 10m circle at M, then take a small diagonal line across the centre line back towards the short side, change rein, and pick up the new circle on the other side.

The point of working in a small box is that it stops everything getting away from you.

“One of the most common things when both horse and rider are learning about changes is that everything gets a bit too forward and away,” Becky says.

“Doing it within a smaller area helps keep everything organised in a positive way without the rider having to do so much with their hand.”

The hand is the giveaway. A rider whose changes have unravelled is usually a rider whose changes finished with both reins pulling. Working in a smaller space buys you the discipline of riding the change with the leg and the seat, because there isn’t room to ride it with the hand.

A note on poles

Poles get used a lot for teaching flying changes in dressage, and they are a lot of productive exercises – but Becky uses them sparingly.

“I’m not a fan of the pole,” she says. She’s used one once, with a client’s horse that genuinely couldn’t grasp what was being asked. “We did what we could to help make it easier for them. It definitely got them more understanding of what we were trying to do.

“Then the changes were late behind, but at least it was doing changes, and we were then able to work on it. It then came back to the quality of the canter.”

Which is, of course, where everything in this piece comes back to. Poles or exercises won’t fix a change if the canter underneath isn’t right.

Build the canter. Then the change will be there.

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US dressage rider, trainer and author Jane Savoie, who passed away in December 2020, explains how to ride the flying change and what skills the horse needs to have established before you to introduce the movement

In order to learn how to ride a flying change, it is important to understand what the movement is. In the flying change the horse remains in canter, but changes the canter lead during the moment of suspension, when all four feet are off the ground. When competing in dressage it is important that changes are made cleanly, with both front and hind legs changing during the same moment of suspension.

A commonly seen mistake is when the horse changes in front in one stride and then behind in the following stride. This is less important when jumping, but the sooner the change is completed, the less balance in the canter will be lost. Cantering disunited to a fence is not giving the horse the best possible chance of cleaning that obstacle without incurring faults.

Preparing for flying changes

Before trying to teach a flying change the horse must be able to:

• Produce a good simple change of lead (canter/walk/canter). The downward transition should be a clear transition to the walk, with no dribbly trot steps. Shorten the canter with collecting half halts before you ask for the transition. If the horse is travelling too fast he will lose his balance on to the forehand in the downward transition. The upwards transition should be quick off the leg without being rushed or explosive.
• Be balanced in counter canter. Develop the counter canter until the horse can comfortably maintain it without tension on circles and lines. To test the horse’s balance ensure you can extend and collect in the counter canter without the horse switching leads.
• Be comfortable in collected canter. As the flying change is another canter stride the quality of the canter is vital to its success. The canter should have big, round, expressive, “off the ground” strides. Any tendency towards a canter that is four-time or flat will not give the horse time to change his legs in the air. Develop and maintain the quality of the collected canter by working on exercises that increase collection such as shoulder-in, travers, frequent simple changes of lead (five strides of walk and five strides of canter), and collecting half halts.

Understanding the collecting half halt

During a collecting half halt the rider should close their legs, push with their seat and close their outside hand for a moment. This engages the horse’s hind quarters and encourages them to wait and “sit” on their hocks.

Ride three collecting half halts in the canter, while thinking about reducing the amount of ground your horse covers with each stride by about 50% but maintain the same rhythm and tempo. During the short, engaged strides, pick a spot on the ground and imagine that you’re cantering on top of it for three strides. Then, go forward for several strides, and ask him to collect again for three strides.

How to ride a flying change

The timing of the aids is very important in riding a successful flying change. Give the aids as the horse’s leading front leg is coming forward. You need to give the aid before the period of suspension because it takes your horse a moment to ‘hear’ your request and another moment to carry it out.

You can practice the correct timing of the aids in the walk and then the canter by watching when the horse’s inside front leg comes forward. Each time you see it coming forward, say out loud, “Now, now, now”. In this way, you learn to coordinate your voice with the inside front leg coming forward.

For a flying change from left to right:

• Seat: Push your right seat bone forward toward your horse’s right ear.
• Right leg: Close your right leg on the girth to ask your horse to go forward during the change.
• Left leg: Swing your left leg behind the girth to signal the new outside hind leg to strike off into the new lead. (Don’t hold this leg back. Pretend your leg is spring-loaded so you give a quick aid.)
• Left rein: Close your left hand in a fist to keep the left hind leg on the ground and maintain uphill balance. Imagine that you’re closing and opening your hand so fast that you can snatch a fly out of the air.
• Right rein: Soften your right rein so you don’t block the new inside front leg from coming forward.

I like to introduce flying changes on a 10-meter figure of eight. Ride simple changes of lead in the centre of the figure of eight. Repeat until the horse understands and anticipates that he’s going to change leads. When you feel him anticipating, give the aids for the flying change instead of doing the simple change. If he changes, praise him a lot. If he doesn’t then stay calm and repeat the process.

Now you know how to perfect your flying changes, why not sign up to Horse & Hound’s eight-week e-training plan to give your training focus and perfect your flatwork basics?

Flying changes are unavoidably cool. I can still remember attempting my first – getting a friend to film me on their pixelated flip phone, beaming a stupid grin at the camera as my little pony leapt into her change and promptly bombed off. We’ll ignore, for now, that she was two strides late behind.

But there’s no doubt they can feel like a mystery until you get that “aha” moment where it finally clicks. And because every horse is different, there’s no single foolproof way to teach them.

The good news is there’s nothing magic about them. A flying change is a natural movement – your horse already does them loose in the field – and with the right foundations, most horses can learn to do them to order (making you look suitably cool in the process).

Here’s what a flying change actually is, how to ride one, and how to start teaching your horse – without flinging your entire bodyweight to one side as I did.

What is a flying change?

A flying change is when your horse switches their leading leg in canter, in one smooth motion, without breaking to trot or walk in between.

A quick step back, in case it’s useful: in canter, your horse leads with one front leg – it reaches further forward than the other, and you’ll feel that shoulder come through underneath you. On a left lead, the left foreleg leads; on a right lead, the right. Which lead you’re on matters for balance, especially on turns and circles, where you normally want the inside leg leading – so on the right rein, going clockwise, you’ll be on the right lead most of the time, and on the left rein, the left.

Canter has a three-beat rhythm, and after the third beat there’s a brief moment of suspension – a split second where all four feet are off the ground, and your horse is, fleetingly, airborne. A flying change happens in that instant. Your horse rearranges their legs mid-air and lands on the opposite lead, so instead of leading with the left foreleg, they’re now leading with the right. Done well, there’s no stumble and no change of rhythm – just a clean skip from one lead to the other, as if your horse has hopped across in the air.

You’ll come across flying changes in pretty much every discipline:

• Dressage: they appear from advanced medium level upwards, ridden on straight lines and, higher up, in sequences down to one change every stride (tempi changes).
• Showjumping: essential for jumping a course smoothly. A horse that lands on the correct lead – or changes to it – can balance through turns and meet the next fence in rhythm, without losing time or scrambling.
• Eventing, showing, and general riding: anywhere you’re cantering, turning and needing your horse balanced, a change keeps things tidy and comfortable.

For a lower-level rider, it’s less about the wow factor – although that’s cool, too – and more about control. A horse that changes lead on request is one you can balance and steer through anything, whether that’s a jump-off turn, a dressage centre line, or just staying upright out hunting.

How to ride a flying change

Assuming your horse already knows how to change (see the next section for teaching it), here’s the sequence of aids. The key thing is that a change is prepared, not just thrown in – you set your horse up, then ask.

1. Establish a good canter first. Balanced, active and collected enough that you feel you could ride a few steps smaller at any moment. A flat, strung-out canter has nowhere to change from.

2. Prepare on the approach to the change. Sit tall, half-halt to gather and balance the canter, and make sure your horse is straight – not falling in or out through the shoulder.

3. Change your leg position. Say you’re on the left lead (left foreleg leading) and want to change to the right. Your left leg, which has been at the girth, moves back behind the girth, and your right leg comes to the girth. This new leg position tells your horse which lead you now want.

4. Change your weight and hips. As you swap your legs, allow your seat and hips to follow – so your weight shifts subtly to the new leading side. Keep it quiet; it’s just a rebalancing, not throwing yourself across the saddle.

5. Ask in that moment of suspension. Apply the new outside leg (the left, now behind the girth) with a clear but light aid, ideally timed to the moment your horse is about to spring into the next stride. That’s when your horse can swing their legs through to the new lead.

6. Keep riding forward. Ride positively out of the change on the new lead. The most common mistake is to ask and then freeze or pull back on the reins – we’ve all done it, but both stop your horse jumping through cleanly.

The rhythm to aim for is almost “prepare… now go!” A change asked for in one flat motion tends to come late or flat; a change that’s set up first has time to jump through the body.

How to teach a flying change

Before you teach the change itself, the foundations have to be solid – it’s not as exciting, but this is the most important part. Rushing to the change before these are in place is the single most common reason changes go wrong. Your horse should be able to:

• Pick up either canter lead promptly, from a clear aid, on a straight line.
• Ride balanced walk-to-canter and canter-to-walk transitions without falling onto the forehand. (“On the forehand” just means your horse is carrying too much weight on their front end, rather than pushing from behind. You’ll feel it as heaviness in your hands, your horse tipping downhill or leaning on the reins for balance. What you want instead is your horse staying light in front and stepping their hindlegs underneath themselves – think uphill, not downhill.)
• Hold a counter-canter (cantering on the “outside” or “wrong” lead) in balance. This teaches your horse to stay on the lead you’ve asked for rather than swapping whenever they fancy.

Once those are established, here’s a simple and reliable way to introduce the change:

1. Use a change of direction. Ride a shallow loop, a figure-of-eight, or come across the diagonal – anywhere your horse is naturally changing bend and direction, so a change of lead makes sense to them.

2. Establish a clean canter, then rebalance. As you approach the point where you’ll change direction, half-halt and collect the canter, so your horse is balanced and listening.

3. Ask as you cross the line. At the moment you change direction, change your leg and seat position and apply the new aid. Because your horse is already changing direction, switching lead feels logical.

4. Reward the attempt. Even a scrappy first change – or one that’s “late behind” (the front legs change but the hind legs lag a stride) – is worth rewarding. You’re building understanding first; the cleanliness comes with practice and strength.

5. Keep it occasional at first. Ask for one, make a fuss of your horse, and move on. Drilling changes over and over tends to make horses tense or anticipatory. A few good attempts in a session are plenty.

If your horse finds it genuinely confusing, some riders use a raised pole or cavaletti on the change line to encourage your horse to jump through and swap behind – but I’d say use it sparingly at first, and only if plain riding isn’t getting there.

Above all, don’t panic if the first attempts are messy. Late, flat or over-excited changes are completely normal early on. They clean up as your horse’s balance and confidence improve – which, as any good trainer will tell you, is really where the whole thing lives.

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Being able to change your horse’s canter lead while in the air over a jump might seem daunting, but it’s a necessary skill if you want to ensure a smooth jumping round – and be competitive. Plus, horses do flying changes naturally in the field all the time. Use this figure of eight jumping exercise to master lead changes in the air at home so you can save vital seconds when it counts.

Aim

• use a four-fence set-up to practise and improve lead changes over a fence

The setup

You will need: four fences – you can use cavaletti, full jumps with wings, or ground poles – and cones or markers if you have them.

Setup: construct two sets of two fences at right angles with a distance of approx 20m between the points of each set as shown in the diagram. You can set the fence at whatever height is appropriate, or even start with poles on the ground.

If you have cones, place them as a guide about 10m from the point where each set of two fences meet, at each end.

How to ride the exercise

• Once warmed up and ready to jump, in left lead canter ride around the cone to the first fence (red) – follow the black line in the diagram above.
• Change lead in the air. By looking round to the next fence in the sequence (yellow), the natural shift in bodyweight and direction sends the message to the horse to land with the new leading leg. If you and your horse have not yet established changing leads over fences, see “tips and troubleshooting” below.
• Go round the outside of the other set of fences (blue/green) on the right leg.
• Jump the next fence (yellow), changing to the left lead in the air.
• Go round the cone and repeat. After a rest, repeat on the other rein.

For a more testing challenge, you can come inside the second set of fences making a tighter circle (following the white line), increasing the focus on your rhythm and balance.

Do the same over the blue and green fences to mix it up. Just switch the direction of the set-up, starting on the left of the diagram above, so that you jump the blue and green jumps and go around the yellow and red ones.

Tips and troubleshooting

1. My horse won’t change leg

All horses have a favourite leg to land on, so training them to land on a particular lead takes practice, starting by making sure your aids are super clear and consistent.

Do not lean into the new direction as this can throw your horse off balance. Instead, sit straight and balanced, looking ahead in the new direction.

Support your horse with the new outside rein, and put the new inside leg on at the girth while opening your new inside hand in the direction you are turning.

2. Course-building tactics

If you build one set of fences small and the other slightly higher, you can start over the small set and not have to dismount to adjust before jumping the bigger one.

3. Mix it up

With this set-up you can also practise riding dog-leg turns.

4. Keep it smooth

Being able to change legs in the air will save you time and enable you to produce smooth, rhythmic rounds in competition. Keep thinking ahead, preparing for the next fence as you jump each one.

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Jumping a great round is about much more than just clearing the fences. How you get from fence to fence is a key part of the round, and flying changes can enhance that. In this article from the H&H archives, H&H asked eventer-turned-trainer Tracey Dillon for her tips on teaching flying changes

Watch any top showjumper and you can’t fail to notice how smooth their rounds are; their horses landing effortlessly on the correct lead or doing a flying change as needed with ease.

Having your horse on the correct lead helps maintain a fluid, powerful yet balanced canter, which is essential when tackling bigger tracks. This is something which can be taught to most horses, says trainer and former international eventer Tracey Dillon.

“There are elements to jumping a good round which can be divided into ‘nice to have’ and ‘must have’ — and as the tracks get bigger, flying changes move from the first category to the second. Either that, or you need to be able to counter canter your horse effectively to maintain a good canter,” says Tracey, who used the latter when jumping a former racehorse right up to Foxhunter level, as the horse struggled to canter in balance on the left leg in the early stages of his new career.

“The quality of the horse’s canter is absolutely crucial; without power and forward movement, you’re not going to get the jump in the stride you need and it will be difficult to do a flying change.

“So any plan to teach your horse flying changes has to start with ensuring you have the power to take the horse through the energy and effort required to shift the balance of half a tonne of bodyweight from one leading leg to the other,” says Tracey.

In preparation for teaching flying changes, Tracey advises focussing on canter to walk, and walk to canter transitions, using a half pirouette to aid the transition back into canter.

“This gets the outside hind leg stretching, as well as getting the horse straight through himself to allow the balance to be level when changing leg,” she says.

Teaching changes for dressage

When training horses to do flying changes for dressage or other flatwork, Tracey advises using the same method, but focussing on teaching specific leg aids for left or right canter.

This ensures the horse is very clear, when the flying change aid is applied, which canter lead is required.

“Flying changes for jumping are about being fluid with the horse forward and in an uphill canter afterwards. It isn’t essential that the front and hind legs change at precisely the same time — after all, you’re not being marked on it — but for dressage the lead change itself needs to be precise.”

In this scenario, Tracey advises using the method above (canter/walk, walk/canter and half pirouette training) and getting the horse to the point where it can be ridden round the outside of the arena and complete eight to 10 walk to canter transitions onto the correct lead as requested by the rider.

“You have to be at the point where you can achieve this perfectly, on a straight line and in a balanced and fluid fashion, before moving on to ask for a flying change,” warns Tracey, who adds that if the horse still struggles to grasp what is being asked having got the stage above, a pole raised at one end can be used to aid the change.

“Poles are a common way of teaching lead changes for jumping, but can be useful here too.”

Teaching flying changes over a pole

When training jumping horses to do flying changes, raised poles are a good way of encouraging the horse to land on the correct leg or to change as required by the rider.

“Start with a couple of poles in the arena; one raised left to right, the other right to left. As you canter over the poles, open your hand and turn the horse in the desired direction to encourage him to change leg, first one way then the other.”

Skilled riders are able to influence the leg the horse lands on by subtle shifts in position while jumping the fence, but for less experienced riders or horses which repeatedly land on the same leg over a fence, a landing pole is a great way of getting lead changes, says Tracey.

“Using a small cross pole or upright of about 80cm, place a slightly-raised landing pole nine feet behind the fence. This encourages an elevated landing stride.

“A placing pole used at 90 degrees to the landing pole is another way to reinforcing the horse to land on the correct lead. Again, aim for that elevated landing stride and make sure you open your hand and turn the horse’s head to the side required to help him find the right way.”

Whatever the method used, Tracey emphasises the need to avoid disturbing the quality of the canter when asking for flying changes.

“A powerful, forward canter is what you’re looking for — don’t let achieving a flying change interrupt that. You can always use counter canter in the ring until you’ve perfected lead changes at home.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Flying changes are a challenge to master at the best of times, but what about when you don’t have legs? Grade III para rider and European gold medallist Erin Orford, who had both legs amputated aged one, fills us in on how she trains her horses, with and without wearing prosthetic legs

“I have been riding without my prosthetic legs for a couple of months now; Dorset Orthopedic are making me new riding legs, but it’s a very long process and Covid has brought additional challenges, so I thought I’d try riding without legs for now,” says Erin Orford, who won European team gold and individual bronze in 2017 and team silver at the World Equestrian Games in 2018, both with Dior.

“The biggest difference to me when riding without legs is the weight as the legs are quite heavy so they can throw me around in the saddle and I’ve had to work hard on my core to compensate for this. But the adjustment is probably not huge for the horse because I have very limited use of my legs when I do ride with them – the majority of my aids come from my seat and weight, and my thigh.

“I recently competed my up-and-coming horse LJT Diamond Crusador, aka Loki, in able-bodied dressage for the first time. We did two elementary qualifiers before Christmas and I put my legs on for the show and he can adapt easily as the aids are very similar,” added Erin, who scored over 77% to qualify for the regionals at elementary. Erin, who trains with fellow para medallist Sophie Wells, would love to compete at prix st george level in able-bodied dressage alongside para classes, having already competed up to advanced medium previously.

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“It’s really interesting riding without legs as it shows how much can be done from the seat and weight distribution, for example lifting my pelvis to allow him to come through on the new lead when doing changes. Loki can feel a bit of pressure from my thigh as a horse would do ordinarily; I don’t have the obvious aid of putting my leg back, but he can feel my thigh, and we have been teaching him the higher level movements using some voice aids as well, just to give him a bit more support as he is only just eight.

“Even though I have less, what I do have I have complete control over, so I can make my aids very specific and it gives me a different feel to be able to influence the horse in a better way. As long as he is responsive and in front of the leg to go forwards for himself – which they all should — I can influence the rest.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

FEI 5* Olympic dressage judge Stephen Clarke was president of the ground jury at London 2012 and a member of the ground jury at the Rio Olympics four years later. He has officiated at a host of major championships and was recipient of the Queen’s Award for services to British equestrianism in 2011. Stephen competed at international level for many years and was reserve rider for the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Training the stars

Many years ago, I had a wonderful young stallion called Hermes. This horse had natural balance and a charming, if slightly laid-back, personality. He learnt most of the exercises very easily, with the exception of the flying change to the left. He was always obedient to the aid, but was often slightly late to change behind. However, as he developed his physical strength and collection, his flying changes became one of his best features.

Riders often struggle with the introduction of flying changes. Problems can stem from incorrect training in collected canter and, usually, a lack of activity, balance, straightness and self-carriage — the qualities of collection — within the canter itself.

Often, when a less experienced rider is training their horse to make a flying change, problems can arise through a lack of understanding of the necessary qualities listed above. Once the canter has been improved, any issues are not usually difficult to solve, as long as the rider prepares and positions the horse correctly, and understands how to create the necessary “instant reaction” to the aids, which requires split-second timing.

Prepare in advance

1. Before introducing the flying change, be sure you can make an instant and fluent canter strike-off, to true and counter-canter, from trot or walk on curved and straight lines. Counter-canter should be balanced with a degree of collection. Simple changes must be balanced and straight.

2. Transitions between paces and “gear changes” within the paces are a vital tool to increase your horse’s reaction to a half-halt, which develops activity and balance.

3. Lateral work in the canter (shoulder-fore positioning and half-passes) helps to give you the necessary control and influence over the shoulders and hindquarters, so you can position the horse correctly before asking for a flying change.

4. There are different ways to introduce a flying change, but my preferred method is to change from counter to true canter. If you are, for instance, on the left rein in counter-canter (right fore leading) use the left leg to create activity and put the horse more into the right rein contact. Then ask for a soft positioning to the left with the left rein and give the flying change aid with the right leg, as the horse is about to come off the ground in the moment of suspension.

This is best done on the short diagonal passing over the centre line, as it encourages more activity and collection. The long diagonal may invite your horse to become longer and flatter.

Continued below…

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Consider this…

• Many riders find it relatively easy to reach medium level, but then often find out the hard way that they’ve not quite achieved the qualities and reactions, within the collection of the canter, needed to be able to perform the flying changes with ease and fluency. In this instance, it’s necessary to take a step back in the horse’s schooling to improve the canter.
• If your horse is behind the leg, on the forehand, crooked or
  against the hand, then it will be impossible to produce the flying change in the correct way. Revisit some of your earlier training to ensure that the basics are in place before you continue.
• Be patient and avoid being tempted to progress to more complex movements before you and your horse are ready, as mistakes are often time consuming to rectify.
• Don’t be afraid to seek help — a pair of eyes on the ground can be a useful tool.

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At last weekend's British Dressage national convention at Hartpury College (19-20 November), Gareth Hughes gave his expert advice on perfecting simple and flying changes. Here's what we learnt...

1. Simple changes don’t scare people. Flying changes however… a different matter.

2. The changes are all about the canter and your ability to adjust and balance it.

3. Simple changes: your expectation should be dictated by the horse’s ability to collect. Start with gear changes in the canter, then ride walk canter, canter walk. T create the collection, into the downwards transition, ask for walk with the hand and canter with the leg.

4. If a young horse reacts and makes a mistake, don’t punish him. He’s offered a reaction and that’s what we want. Are you finding that he’s late behind as a five-year-old? Don’t panic. But what it does tell you is that he needs to be more forward in the collection, so isn’t yet ready to do more changes. It tells us that the canter isn’t quite finished enough for us to keep asking for changes.

5. Don’t panic if things aren’t perfect.

6. When riding a young horse with a good basic canter just ask for a flying change and see what happens. This isn’t training the changes, it’s just checking the horse’s reaction to add to your knowledge about him. Do they go up, do they go flat or do they buck you clean off? Watch out, as that can happen!

7. All else being well, focus on the changes in the horse’s six-year-old year as that’s when they have the balance and engagement required and you have enough influence over them to tell them what’s right and what’s wrong.

8. Young horses must accept the inside leg as there’s nothing worse than being in a test and thinking, ‘I’m fine as long as I don’t touch the horse with my leg’. The more knowledge you can put into them, the more control you’ll have.

9. One of your most useful tools is patience, but you have to be pro-active at the same time. For example, if a horse is tense in the walk in the simple change, then don’t pick up the canter again until they have accepted the inside leg and are offering a good, relaxed walk.

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10. As soon as you find that the changes over-ride your control of the canter, stop doing them and go back to training and improving the basic canter.

11. There’s one thing you can never do enough of: transitions.

12. If a horse gets strong or anticipates, try riding the changes out of counter canter on the diagonal and landing in counter-canter. The horse doesn’t expect it, so you should have more control.

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Hello my gorgeous readers!

I hope you have all had a great weekend.

So last time I left you, I had just got back to Denmark from my clinic in South Africa (SA), via Dubai and England. I feel that my second home is an airport, even more so now than when I worked for Qantas as cabin crew!

These last two weeks have been full on here at Hoffmann Towers, including the sale of our lovely eight-year-old gelding, by Blue Hors Romanov, to a super home.

Since getting back from my clinic in SA, I have been training hard, as have my horses — of course always allowing time for a little party now and then.

The next month will be all about the training and then I will be aiming to get out to some competitions in January.

Dressage International Dompadour (Poppy) is growing up and we have nearly nailed the flying change. It is so important to keep sitting on your inside seatbone (the one on the side of the leading canter leg) until after you have made the change.

I didn’t realise until the other day that I haven’t been strict enough with this aid and now can really notice the difference. I love those little light bulb moments!

I have started teaching her half steps via long reining too (see picture right and top). This is very much helping with getting her to take a bit more weight behind and not run into the hand so much.

Next stop, grand prix! Ok, maybe a few gaps to fill in-between.

My four-year-old, Ramour (pictured left), by Skovens Rafael, is coming on well. He does have lots of developing and strengthening to do, but is a super chap.

He has a very willing nature and learns quickly. I really find when you are working with a horse who has a good temperament, it definitely does help with their training and you get that feeling that they want to work with you.

I do love how consistency pays off (so long as you are asking the right questions of course and sticking to the system).

My little dog Pringle (pictured below right) is well, though she does not care much for the change in weather. Her routine has altered in that she will be out on the yard in the mornings and do the odd bit of rat or mole hunting and then by lunchtime has retired to her bed until the next day.

It was a good friend’s 40th birthday party (I feel young again!) on Friday (pictured below left) and after driving an hour north in the wrong direction, due to a GPS malfunction, I eventually arrived two hours later.

I was so tired when I arrived and thought I would stay for a couple of hours and then head home… Well that plan failed and we ended up partying until the wee hours of the morning. I had two hours sleep as I then had to get up to get back to the yard — love horses!

Do you know, sometimes I think we don’t realise how lucky we are in many ways back home in the UK.

Farriers, equine dental technicians and chiropractors are so expensive over here compared to England, and good ones are not incredibly easy to find. Naturally, I did find the good ones and they are super!

However, I recently had a saddler take measurements of Poppy as I’m trying to get hold of a Fairfax Saddle. He is from Copenhagen, so quite far from us in Soholt. Anywho, he said he would order it and that he should be back out in six weeks to fit it. This was 10 weeks ago and I have left about 100 voicemails to no avail — saddlers are not easy to find either!

Having said all that, I do still love Denmark and Hasse is still amazing.

Well my lovelies, I have had a good morning schooling my horses in the forest. Monday = forest day. Now for a spot of lunch and more organising for my next clinic back home in a couple of weeks. Ooh and booking a bus ticket to Copenhagen for Friday — I have an actual real date (well, third one) and he is a firefighter!

Until next time,

Shaun xx

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Flying changes can be a challenge for horse and rider, but Olympic gold medalist Carl Hester explained his training philosophy for them at the British Dressage national convention at Hartpury in November 2012.

H&H dressage editor Alice Collins was at the convention and shared Carl’s tips with dressage enthusiasts who were unable to attend via H&H’s twitter. Read more dressage training tips from Carl Hester

Flying changes

Read more dressage training tips from Carl Hester

US dressage rider, trainer and author Jane Savoie, who passed away in December 2020, shared some useful exercises to help horses that tend to change late behind in a flying change

When learning this movement, some horses find it difficult to change both front and hind legs simultaneously during a single stride, resulting in a flying change that is “late behind”, meaning the front legs change first and the hind legs switch a stride or more later. While this isn’t a problem for jumpers, in dressage this error will be heavily penalised.

Exercises to help flying changes that are late behind

1. Counter-flexion

Ride plenty of counter canter, but counter-flex your horse at the poll. Alternate between true flexion and counter-flexion until he feels soft.

2. Counter supple

Supple your horse away from the lead you are on. For example, if you are on the right lead in canter, take his neck 7 inches to the left three times. When your horse can do this easily without stiffening or swinging his hindquarters out, he is ready to start flying changes.

3. Half Pass

Start a canter half pass to the right. Go sideways for a few strides, and then continue to move right, but bend your horse’s neck to the left. Once your horse feels soft on his left side, straighten his neck completely. Ride straight forward, and immediately ask for the change before you lose the softness on the left side of his body.

4. Serpentine

Canter a three loop serpentine. As you approach the center line to start the second loop, slide your new inside leg forward on the girth. Leg yield with a bend for a stride or two toward your new outside rein. If your horse feels stiff in his rib cage and leans on your new inside leg, don’t do the second loop. Instead, stay on the first loop. As you approach the center line again, try the leg yield with a bend once more. Keep doing this part of the exercise until your horse bends softly around your new inside leg. Once this happens, ask for the flying change, and arc onto the second loop of the serpentine. Do the same thing as you approach the center line for the third loop.

5. Haunches-in (a working pirouette)

Ride haunches-in in the canter on a small circle. When you feel your horse lower his hindquarters, leave the circle. Ride straight forward on any line, and immediately ask for the flying change. Do the circle somewhere in the middle of the ring so you can leave the circle at any moment without running into the wall or fence.

6. Engage the inside hind leg

Give three preparatory half halts when the inside hind leg is on the ground. (That’s the moment when your seat is deepest in the saddle, and your horse’s mane flips up.) Take and give with your seat, legs, and inside hand in sync with the rhythm of the canter. Do it during the second beat of the canter so you can influence the inside hind leg when it’s on the ground. After the three quick preparatory half halts, ask for the flying change.

To help you get into the rhythm of giving the half halts and the actual aid for the flying change, count out loud, “One, two, three, change”. For example, if you’re changing from right lead to left lead, give the half halts on the right rein. On the fourth stride, when you say the word, “Change”, close your right hand in a fist again, and also bring your right leg back to ask for the flying change.

7. Use the whip to engage the inside hind leg

If preparatory half halts don’t engage your horse enough, use a touch with the whip in a similar way. Say “Now, now, now” each time you tap your horse with the whip on his inside hind leg. Tap as firmly as you need to get that leg active and jumping. It should feel like your horse’s hind legs are begging to switch leads. When you feel that eagerness, give the aid for the flying change.

8. Haunches-out (Renvers)

Ride to the left in right lead counter canter one-meter away from the wall. Bend your horse around your right leg, and ask for haunches-out. (His forehand will be one meter to the inside of the wall, and his hindquarters will be in the track.) Once this feels easy, keep all four legs in the same position, but straighten his neck. (Because he’s on three tracks in haunches-out, his neck will actually be at a diagonal to the wall when you straighten it.) Close your left leg and push his left hind leg toward your right hand. Go back and forth from haunches-out with bend to straightening his neck. When your horse feels like he’s stepping from your left leg into your right hand, ask for the flying change.

P>Q: I’ve just bought a seven-year-old 15.3hh Warmblood mare for show jumping and dressage. Her schooling is going well and I’d like us to be able to perform a flying change so she can change legs in between fences. The closest I’ve got is to trot a few strides before striking off in canter on the other leg. Can you explain theaids for a flying change and do you have any other tips on perfecting this movement?

Debbie Moore replies: Horses do flying changes naturally from when they are foals. When we ride them we affect their natural balance.

To be able to teach your horse flying changes, you must firstly develop a good three-beat canter with your horse working through his back in a relaxed and supple manner. He should be straight and balanced, showing good self-carriage.

Changes should be taught when you are beginning to teach counter canter, and it is important to never make your horse feel as though he shouldn’t have changed if he does so without you asking.

Sadly, many riders make the mistake of over schooling the counter canter and some may even punish their horse for making a change without being asked. Then the horse misunderstands and starts to become tense and difficult to train.

In order to perform flying changes, it is important to be able to ride good transitions into and out of canter easily from walk and trot. Practise on a straight line transition. Walk into right canter, walk into left canter, walk and repeat.

It is better to have an experienced trainer ride the changes on your horse in the beginning as the timing of the aids is crucial to achieve clean ones. Then, once your horse understands, the trainer should be there to help you ride flying changes without confusing your horse.

A useful first exercise to teach the change is to make a walk to counter canter transition at the start of the long side of the arena.

At the half marker (B or E), half circle 20m across the arena in counter canter and invite your horse to change as he arrives at the track on the opposite side.

Straighten him and, as you bring your new outside leg back and apply pressure, make sure you put your new inside leg forward and think of keeping it off the horse.

This way you won’t use it and confuse him, which often happens when riders are learning.

Timing is crucial. The change should be asked for when the horse has three legs on the ground, just before the moment of suspension in the canter.

We use our inside leg on the horse in the rhythm of the canter – you’ll find you will automatically apply pressure at the same moment as you would for a change.

It is a common fault to panic and ask for the change too quickly, so think slowly, trying to use your legs in the same rhythm when you ask for the flying change.

Read more dressage training tips:

• Learning lateral work
• Riding shoulder in
• Training leg yielding

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Stephanie Cameron’s 15-year-old advanced horse Huntcliffe Marshall tends to lose all forward movement in his flying changes, coming to almost a complete stop. He also throws his head in the air and was late to change behind.

Stephanie was holding the horse and inadvertently making him stop, so I advised her to “think medium” before the changeand count “one, two” before asking for it, to help with her own timing.

He was also anticipating and dropping his inside shoulder, which makes it impossible to change in front and behind. Stephanie had always ridden across the diagonal from marker to marker and Marshall would get to the centre line and start backing off.

The first step was to improve his canter, which was too long, almost four-time and lacking in energy. When you tried to make him more energetic, he became hollow.

I did a lot of work lengthening and shortening the canter and performing canter pirouette and riding forward out of that. This was to get him “sitting” more on his hind end and more balanced and to quicken the tempo to the correct three-time.

When doing flying changes, it is important to be straight, so varied exercises prevented him guessing what was next.

These included counter canter with shoulder-in to get him to relax and go in a new direction; riding across the diagonal with his body straight but with a counter canter bend, not allowing him to guess the change and asking him to continue in counter canter; and riding across the diagonal straight, followed by a transition to walk.

Read Mark’s full masterclass with Stephanie and Marshall in today’s Horse & Hound (6 December 2001)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now