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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