For many horse-and-rider combinations, the flying change is the step after the basics of canter: the horse switches canter lead during the moment of suspension, without breaking into trot or walk. It sounds like a single movement, but the preparation for it largely determines whether it goes well — and whether you'll later have to come back to the common problem of changing late behind.
What a Flying Change Actually Is
In a flying change, the horse switches from left-lead to right-lead canter (or the other way around) during the moment when all four legs are off the ground at once. Front and hind end change at the same moment. There's no transitional step, no move into a different gait — the horse keeps cantering, just with the other leg leading.
That's what sets the flying change apart from the simple change — a change of canter lead through a few transitional steps of walk or trot. The simple change is the building block: a horse that doesn't yet perform it reliably isn't ready for the flying version.
Requirements Before You Start
Teaching a flying change to a horse that isn't ready for it produces a problem more often than it produces a good change. A few things need to be in place first:
- An established, balanced canter — the horse canters on rhythmically by itself, without constant correction.
- Straightness — a horse that travels crooked will also change crooked.
- Good transitions — smoothly from walk to canter and back, without hanging behind the leg or rushing.
- Enough collection — the horse carries itself, with more weight on the hind legs. Without that carrying power, the horse lacks the strength to change all four legs at once during the moment of suspension.
- A reliable simple change — only once that works on request, on both reins, is the flying change a logical next step.
Skip any one of these, and the horse often compensates with an impure change — and that's exactly where changing late behind comes from.
The Aids in Broad Strokes
The request for a flying change consists of a combination of aids given together, timed to the moment of suspension: the new outside leg moves back, supported by a shift in weight and a rein aid that signals the new direction. The order and intensity of those aids, and especially the exact moment you ask, are precision work that differs per horse. Learn this under the guidance of a trainer — asking half a stride too early or too late is usually the reason a change doesn't come out clean.
Changing Late Behind: What It Is and Where It Comes From
Changing late behind — also simply called a late change — is the most common impurity when teaching the flying change. The hind legs then change one canter stride later than the front legs. The horse is briefly cross-cantering: the front end already in the new lead, the hind end still in the old one. To the naked eye, this often looks like a short, stumbling stride.
The causes vary, but a few come up most often:
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| Too little collection | The horse lacks the carrying power to change behind as fast as in front |
| Rushing | Jumps too hurriedly, so front and hind end fall out of sync |
| Crookedness | The horse changes more easily to one side than the other |
| Mistimed request | The rider asks just off the moment of suspension, so the horse processes the aid too late |
Often several factors play a role at once. A horse that already travels crooked and is then also ridden in a hurry will almost always change late behind on its more difficult rein.
Fixing a Late Behind Change
You don't fix changing late behind by repeating the change more often in the hope it improves on its own — repeating an impure change mostly just reinforces the problem. It's a process, not a trick:
- Go back to basics. Work on collection, straightness, and balance in ordinary canter, separate from the change itself. A horse that doesn't canter in self-carriage can't perform the change cleanly.
- Find stillness in the request. Seek out a clear, rhythmic moment of suspension before you ask. Rushing in the approach translates almost directly into rushing in the change.
- Improve your own timing. Give the aids deliberately and in a controlled way, exactly at the moment of suspension. This is where a trainer's experienced eye makes the difference — timing is hard for the rider to feel from the saddle.
- Take a step back if in doubt. If changing late behind keeps recurring, go back to the simple change or even to separate transitions, and build up again. It feels like lost time, but it prevents the horse from ingraining an impure habit.
If you get stuck with this kind of progression more generally, the guide on breaking through a plateau may offer a broader approach.
In Short
- A flying change switches front and hind end at the same moment, during the moment of suspension, without a transition into another gait.
- Only start once the canter is established, balanced, and straight, and the simple change already works reliably.
- The exact aids and the timing of the request are best learned under the guidance of a trainer.
- Changing late behind usually comes from too little collection, rushing, crookedness, or a mistimed request.
- Fixing it is a process: go back to basics, find stillness, improve timing, and take a step back in the progression if needed.
See also: Your First Canter · Breaking Through a Riding Plateau · Glossary for competitive riders · Level: Competing More Seriously