Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Flying changes: timing the aids

From: "William C. White"

Hi, Jessica. Kyra Kyrklund says to give flying change aids during the moment of suspension of the horse's legs in canter, but I wonder if the rider is really supposed to give the flying change aids just an instant before the horses' moment of suspension to give time for the horse to change during its suspension. Thanks for your help.

Carlton White

Hi Carlton -- I'd have to agree with both of you on this! I'm not being a weasel, really. ;-) I think that the difference you've described may actually be partly a matter of semantics and partly a matter of perception -- I think that if you watch Kyra's riding closely, you will see her shift her position and give her aids just as the moment of suspension begins.

It's the best time to ask -- in fact, it's really the ONLY time to ask. By asking earlier, you will be asking the horse for something that it isn't yet in a position to give you.

Think about the definition of a flying change -- it's nothing more (or less) than a canter transition within the canter. From a collected canter, if the horse is to change cleanly, front AND back together, to a collected canter on the new lead, it MUST make that change during the moment of suspension.

Some of what we discussed about shoulder-in applies to flying changes -- the need for collection (much more pronounced for the changes) and the need to have an educated, athletic horse that is truly on the aids -- and that is not just willing but also ABLE to maintain its collection and impulsion and make the shift just as you ask for it. If you're going to be working on single flying changes, on the rail or on the diagonal, you need a horse that is strong, supple, engaged, straight, and LISTENING TO YOU. If you are going to be working on a series of changes, you need all that to an even greater degree.

The time-lag that we discussed in re shoulder-in can also be a factor in flying changes -- a horse learning its first single changes will need practice to manage a complete change during the period of suspension, and will need to be praised and encouraged to go forward and relax after each change. By the time you are asking for tempi changes, your horse should have had a lot of practice doing single changes, and have developed excellent, almost instantaneous responses.

There's another factor in play here -- the rider's body language. Fit, conditioned, attentive horses can "pick up" incredibly subtle signals, including the involuntary muscle movements that their riders make when they THINK about (for example) a flying change. Part of keeping a horse from anticipating test movements, especially at Grand Prix where the horses do the same tests all the time, involves the rider controlling his own body. Riding at this level demands the same fitness and coordination, and just as good neuromuscular reflexes, as the ones we expect from our horses. The other aspect of keeping a horse from anticipating movements is NOT really keeping him from ANTICIPATING them, it's just teaching him that even when he KNOWS what's coming next, he can't just do it himself -- he must still wait for the rider's signal that says "NOW."

Let's look at a left-lead-to-right-lead flying change, step by step -- what EXACTLY does the rider do? The horse is cantering on the left lead, with a slight flexion to the left, and the rider's position matches the horse's flexion -- the rider's shoulders and hips, as always, are parallel to the horse's shoulders and hips. As the horse the horse takes its last canter stride before the change to the new lead -- right hind, left hind and right foreleg, left foreleg -- the rider half-halts, straightens himself and his horse, and immediately asks (quietly) for a new flexion, this time to the right. The rider shifts his position (again, quietly) to match the horses's new flexion: the rider's outside leg comes forward and becomes the new inside leg, and the rider's inside leg moves back and becomes the new outside leg. The new outside leg asks the horse's left hind leg to initiate a right-lead canter strikeoff -- and at this point, the rider's shoulders and hips are once again parallel to the horse's shoulders and hips.

So I think that your point is well taken -- the rider DOES ask for the change just at the beginning of the moment of suspension, so that the horse can change DURING that moment. And given the horse's ability to perceive subtle, involuntary movements on the part of the rider, it's entirely reasonable to assume that the request for a change EFFECTIVELY begins when the rider prepares to ask. Of course, it takes much longer to READ this than it does to perform it -- we're talking fractions of seconds here, so in practical terms, it may be a distinction without a difference. ;-)

Jessica

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