how to teaching flying changes?

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Cinders

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was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how you go about teaching flying changes? for quite a while now i ve been trying to introduce them and pony can quite easily canter across the diagonal and change legs with 1 stride of trot in between. Tonight i put a pole across the diagonal and tried to ask her to change legs over the pole, this failed miserably lol she just didn't seem to understand and kept landing on the same leg.

its not like she cant do them as when we're sj she's been know to do them occasionally of her own accord when we land on the wrong leg.

what are the aids and how do people start introducing them?
 
To teach it initially-Just kick hard with the outside leg when you change direction, tweak inside rein. Keep kicking with the outside leg till it happens! They soon get the gist..
 
You change the bend so that they are flexing the way you want them to change on to, then put on what would be the new outside leg to "push" them onto the other leg.

Don't think that makes sense haha but say your on the left lead, you flex them to the right, then put on your left leg.

I have a video of an exercise I did when I was teaching my boy if you want to see? However luckily Bailey knew what I wanted and changes from behind, wheras some horses are a lot more difficult!
 
oops think i ve been making it harder by asking wrong! lol i was flexing but pushing with the inside leg, this is all new to me as well!

emma- would love the see the video please!
 
or try counter canter around the outside of arena with slight outside bend, then ask for change in corner as you would ask them to pick up correct canter lead, with slight inside bend. eventually u should be able to do it straight!
 
I went to a Mary King lecture-demo a while ago and she teaches her babies by cantering them on a smallish figure of 8 with a pole in the middle, and really emphasisng a change of bend as you go over the pole and asking for a change with very precise and clear (and strong if necessary) aids. Haven't tried it yet as I have no pone, but it seemed to work for her!
 
This was looked at 3 days ago with a very good video link by CS.
I suggest you go there. As the quality of the canter, and straightness need to be upmost. the horse must not dive from one shoulder to another and that is the danger of doing them on a bend.
Pleasr go to this post the video link is exellent and some good explainations.
 
Can't add to what anyone else has said but I will just say make sure you have established counter canter before you start teaching flying changes - otherwise if you teach changes first, when it comes to doing counter canter (you need it for dressage and eventing dressage tests) you will find it really difficult to teach, as your horse will be changing all over the place xx
 
i found with my babys i started with putting a jump (like a little cross) on the E to B line and cantering over on a figure of 8 and really changing the bend and applying a lot of pressure with my outside leg worked.

Then reduce it to a pole, then nothing and then eventually on the straight side by just changing where your legs are.
 
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