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| Flying changes are nothing more than canter departs in the air. The canter is a three-beat gait and, for the right lead, the left hind makes the first beat; the right hind and left fore together are the second beat; the right fore leg the third. |
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| This is followed by a period of suspension when all four legs are off the ground, and the horse lowers the hind leg that begins the new lead in the flying change. The opposite footfall occurs for the right lead. Illustrations by Sandy Rabinowitz |
When problems occur during the flying change, the root of their cause can almost always be attributed to a lack of proper basic gymnastic training. The following suggestions may help overcome certain difficulties.
Changing late behind. If caused by dominance--an uneven distribution of weight on the hind legs--it's best to return to the basics. If caused by a straightness problem, the horse's narrower shoulders must be properly realigned with his wider hips prior to asking for a change. This is best accomplished by the use of shoulder-fore. If the late change is consistently from the same hind leg, say left to right, there are several possible corrections.
1. Strike off in left lead canter and ride a lively medium canter across the diagonal. Two strides before reaching the long side ask for the change left to right. The idea is to create sufficient impulsion to encourage the right hind to come through. If increasing the tempo of the canter doesn't work, it then becomes necessary to increase the flexion of the hindquarters.
2. Establish a very collected left lead counter canter--almost in place--four strides in front of the short side, and just in front of the corner ask for the change left to right. The idea is to engage and lower the horse's croup to its maximum by overflexing his stifles, hocks and fetlocks. In this posture, his center of gravity places him in the ultimate posture to spring up and off the ground, facilitating the engagement of his right hind leg.
3. Canter departs out of walk half pirouettes help to lower and engage the hindquarters. This results in their increased thrust and improves the quality of the canter stride. Place the horse on a 20-meter circle in the collected walk to the right rein. Ride a half pirouette to the right and immediately strike off left as you reach the perimeter of the circle. Walk two strides (eight steps), ride a half pirouette to the left and instantly strike off on the right lead. This exercise should be repeated without leaving the circle. The idea is to ask for the strike off when the horse's outside hind is grounded during the second-to-last step of the pirouette as you regain the perimeter. This timing generates more energy from the outside hind, which is transferred to the inside hind, increasing its thrust.
4. If the horse is trained in canter pirouettes, late changes can be corrected by riding a half pirouette in the canter on the diagonal--say to the left--in three to four canter strides, and riding one to two strides straight out of the half pirouette, and asking for a flying change from left to right. The idea is the same as in the walk half pirouette. However, the greater engagement and lowering of the horse's hindquarters brought about by the greater demands of the canter half pirouette will encourage even better throughness of the right hind leg.
Crooked changes can be caused by several different problems. The first and most obvious are haunches that swing from side to side. This fault can originate from stiff hindquarters that cause the horse to raise his croup and shift his center of gravity too far forward thus disrupting his balance.
The problem is best solved by improving the quality of the canter. This can be accomplished by riding a very collected canter to increase the flexion of his stifles, hocks and fetlocks, which will lower his haunches and place him in a profile that will improve his self carriage. The development of the piaffe is also very helpful to improve the quality of the canter for the same reasons.
When the haunches swing only to one side--say the left--the cause comes from a lack of thrust from the right hind. This problem is best solved by cantering along the rail to the right hand and asking for changes. The rail will help restrain his haunches from swinging to the left. Asking for the changes on a 20-meter circle to the left rein is also an effective way to correct this problem. On a circle to the left it's very difficult for the horse to deviate his haunches to the outside.
