Flying changes?

Kokopelli

Kokopelli

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I started teaching my horse flying changes the other day and he picked them up so quickly!

I started off doing simple changes across the school, (canter walk canter) and once he got down to one step of walk I put a pole across the middle of the school and was changing over the pole, he was brill with this aswell picked up so quickly and does it literally perfectly.

He was even smiling afterewards,
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Then the other day I went through it again and he was doing so great I decided to take the pole away and try and change again and did I do it, no! I was doing the exact same thing that I was doing over the pole but I just must be doing somethign wrong.

Any tips? I have never had this problem before whilst teaching flying changes, should I just keep doing them over the pole and try on the flat again?
 
I don't put the pole in the middle of the arena when teaching mine, I put it going into the first bend where they should be changing legs. Remember to make your aids very clear when asking him to jump the pole so he should hopefully twig what the your legs are asking him to do! Good luck!
 
leave the pole in the middle of the school, but ask for the change towards the end of the pole, and move further and further out, so you end up doing it next to the pole.. does that make any sense?! :p
 
As above, but I would be careful about relying on the pole for too long as sometimes it can encourage them to change late behind IME. But well done so far :D
 
JessandCharlie said:
As above, but I would be careful about relying on the pole for too long as sometimes it can encourage them to change late behind IME. But well done so far :D
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Exactly. I taught my boy flying changes this way but he was like "Wtf? Where is the pole?!" for a while after I took the pole away and seemed to get a bit muddled when I asked. It is easily rectified by repeating the change until the change is smoother though as once they have the initial co-ordination of the legs and the changing motion, its a case of practice makes perfect! Maybe try one day with the pole then the next without. If you can have an assistant to move the pole out of the day during the schooling session, this should speed up the process even more as the horse will not continuously be going over it. Hope this helps - your horse is stunning btw. :)
 
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Not a bad idea moving him along the pole, we hacked today so no practicing but I will definatly aim to try that next time I'm schooling. Thanks for the advice guys :)
 
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