My horse and I have been preparing to start the flying changes for a few months now, perfecting simple changes on three loop serpentine and 10 meter circles.
Yesterday we were riding in the field and we went for it- and got our first two successful flying changes the first time I asked.
Today we had a lovely warm up in the arena and went ahead and asked for the changes and he gave them to me every single time I asked-sort of.
he seems to think an essential part of the move is a crow hop or buck. Changes on front but bucks at the same time. I got one successful change after really focusing on keeping my canter light, active and uphill and quit on that note with lots of happy praises…won’t know if it clicked (at least a little) until tomorrow’s ride.
Anyone have any pointers on this? I’m thinking my timing must be off or there’s not enough sit before the change. Should have a lesson in the next few days but wondering if anyone has some words of wisdom to share in the meantime? Thanks!!
You’re probably making the canter too little if it works in a field. It should be more forward than your normal canter. 
I thought that too. But bigger canter equaled bigger buck today…but I’ll definitely take your advice and head back out to the field tomorrow and see what we get.
Both directions? Sometimes, this is a sign of soreness somewhere in the hind end, but often you’ll have one side where the buck is worse than the other unless it happens the soreness is bilateral (IME less common than one-sided issue).
I wouldn’t drill a new thing three days in a row, especially when you seemed to have a full understanding in the first session. If it worked in the field, stick with it there once a week for a few weeks before you try to change anything.
Thank you! That’s an excellent point. I’m thrilled he’s willing and trying his best… so I will resist the urge to try again for a few days, then give it a go during happy forward canter in the field.
Also, just be aware of where your leg is when asking. I had a jumper/eventer who did lovely changes (and could do three tempis) as long as you were very precise in your aids, but if you were a little too far back with your leg, he would buck every time. Ticklish, I guess.
I wouldn’t worry! It’s common for a lot of horses to think they need to do a sort of buck in order to get the change. The good news is that the horses that buck into the change are usually not late behind
I would reward him if he changes and keep riding without making any fuss over the buck. He’ll figure out quickly that he doesn’t NEED that extra air time to change his leads behind.
This is what I was hoping! Lol he offered the change like such a gentleman every time he was asked but that funny hop behind was so perplexing. Thank you for the insight
This is a very common problem and one that I have been dealing with, with my horse. This is normally a result of not enough sitting power in the canter or a crooked horse, even if just slightly crooked. I have gone back to really working on making my collected canter more secure with a lot of transitions within the gait and exercises to encourage engagement of the inside hind leg. Now that you know that your horse has the inclination for a change, I would go back to really working the engagement and straightness of your collected canter, otherwise this issue will be persistent for a while.
I do lost of exercises that really encourage the outside shoulder to stay in alignment and to truly take the weight behind. Shoulder-in in collected canter and then straighten and ask your horse for more canter, back to shoulder-in. Ride a diamond shape on your circle line and ask for a 1/4 pirouette feeling on the “points” of the diamond. You will basically live in shoulder-fore/in. Half pass to shoulder-in, to half-pass to shoulder-in, etc… These are just a few of my go-to exercises. After some time, you will see that the changes will start to happen without the buck or the horse coming croup high.
Really helpful thank you!
In my experience when they change in front but have to buck/hop behind it is a symptom of not being underneath themselves (sitting) enough for the change (obvs pain being excluded).
Forward means nothing without having their hind end under them. That is where the jump and collection comes in. Exercises from above post, tons of transitions and tons of being able to put the shoulders where you want. As they get stronger it gets easier.
When you ride more forward and energetic does the canter get flat? If so try riding in shoulder fore building to forward canter, ride straight, come back to collected canter by using shoulder fore (helps w/ engagement).
I agree with this. I cannot see what is exactly going on with the OP’s horse, but I know if I do not have my horse correctly underneath himself, he throws in a buck. When I am correct, and he is correct, the change is correct. If I get just a little sloppy or haven’t prepared him well, I may get a buck/hop.
Showed my trainer the changes yesterday (just two at the end of a nice lesson) and she said the hind end popping up is nothing to worry about, that he’s just doing the movement the way he thinks he has to to at the moment, and it will go away with practice. She was actually pleasantly surprised that he was doing them cleanly and I was thrilled by how much the crow hopping had already improved overnight.
Apparently this was the norm for a couple other horses that are in the barn when they started, one of which is now a GP change machine.
Much relieved to hear its more common than I thought and SO excited about his progress!
