Yesterday was the first day I attempted to start teaching my horse flying lead changes. It did not go well. I did what Monty says in the video, I made a figure 8, but instead of changing leads in the middle, my horse just sped up and freaked out. I tried about 7 times, and every time she took off galloping and bucking when I asked for a lead change. At one point, I was forced to do a one-reined stop to stop her, and I had to canter her around the arena for at least 10 laps before she calmed down and stopped cantering frantically with her head thrown up.
What went wrong? What should I do different?
I think the first step is a calm canter. The reaction of your horse is not unusual, they have the tendency to get excited in this exercise.
Rudi
It's cool to find someone else on the university who's teaching their horse the same thing as me! I'm about to start teaching my buckskin, Biscut, the flying lead change after some more with simple changes! This brings me to my question: how is your horse with simple lead changes? Is it possible she didn't understand what you were asking because she doesn't yet associate your cues with striking off on a particular lead? Just a couple of thoughts... :)
I had a similar problem when I tried teaching lead changes to a friend of mine's horse too! Every time I tried to ask for a lead change, all he did was speed up and not change. I tried in using the figure 8, and also a few times with a ground pole in the middle of the 8, but unfortunately I did not have much success. I guess you just have to keep trying and make sure to remain calm and let your horse figure it out! And of course don't forget to reward him/her when he/she does it! I think once your horse gets it the first couple times, after that it'll become easier because he/she'll know what you're looking for and will know what to do, and then all you have left to do is perfect it so that your horse knows the cue and can do the transition well. Also, make sure that you have complete control over your horse's canter before you start trying the lead changes. It is important that you can keep him/her at a nice comfortable pace, as well as speed up and slow down without the horse getting more excited or you losing control. It's also important to be able to stop easily on cue. Last tip I'm going to give is make sure you've got it right too! It's always possible that you're the problem, not your horse. Try to do everything with your own body so that it will favor what you're asking for. In this particular case: make sure you've got your legs in the right place, but also use your body weight to help you get that lead change!
Oh, actually one more thing: I don't know if it helps or if it's a good idea, but maybe you could also try doing the figure 8, and then not stopping at the end of the diagonal if the horse does not do the change. Once again, I don't know if it's a good idea or if it'd work, but maybe if you keep going on your new circle in the lead you were already in (which'll know be the wrong lead), the horse will do the change (after all, it is more comfortable for them to be in the correct lead on a circle).
Good luck :)
This is great - I tried to do flying lead changes with Nicky a few days ago and had exactly the same problem as she is very sensitive to the leg and she got completely confused and excited when I put my leg on gently to ask her to change. She was ruoghly ridden western style before she came to me and dressage has been a challenge as she is so leg sensitive. Usually I just sit very still and calm while she is cantering so that she doesn't get excited. I am taking dressage lessonswith her at present and my instructor has told me that prior to attempting flying lead changes in a figure of eight at canter I should make the figure of eight into two adjoining circles with a few paces that are straight at the centre. Then you canter one cirle on the correct lead drop back to trot for a couple of paces in the centre then ask for canter on the other lead on the second circle. The idea is that you can eventually reduce then remove the trot section and the flying lead change should happen! I have tried this with Nicky and because she has been doing well with the few paces of trot the other day I thought it would be fun to see if she was ready for the flying change in the centre with no trot. She can do flying changes on her own accord, However she is still confused with my change of legs and not ready so back to cantering circles with a couple of trot paces in the centre of the 8 for us! Nicky is a bit of a special case and I am no expert either so I hope your horse masters it quicker.
Meant to say thanks heaps LindaR for your comments! They have really helped and I am probably the problem! Nicky is very happy to counter canter and when I have tried to just canter the figure of eight she just does the second circle in counter canter no worries! She has had a seedy toe on one front hoof and when it has been a bit troublesome she has changed leads on her own accord so I know she can do flying changes - it is really just a matter of keeping her calm enough so that she can understand what I am asking her to do without her going into panic mode. Your suggestions are great!
Love all the tips! Just one other idea.....when doing simple changes as Maggie describes with a few paces of trot before asking for the next lead, rise to the trot on the outside foreleg instead of the inside foreleg. This will mean you are sitting when correct hind striking leg is on the ground and thus can re-emphasize the correct lead with your bottom as well as all the other correct aids.
Great Rahni - thanks for that! Another thing to try!
I am glad i could help you MaggieF! Your suggestion is actually really good too, i totally forgot about that one myself when i was writing my previous comment! You can actually adapt that suggestion to suit whatever makes you and your horse most comfortable, like as in you can do it either so that the few paces in the middle are in trot, or in walk, or even that you stop the horse completely! I guess you just have to try lots of different ways to find the one that works best for your horse :)
Ummm....Well, since I own an OTTB, I guess you could say we don't have her canter under control. Canter for her means gallop. Some days are better then others, but her canter seems most affected by the weather.
Hot weather = lazy western pleasure horse
Cold weather = Berserk ex-racehorse
I've owned her for 2 years now and that something we've never gotten under control. I just gave up on trying, because it was/is clear to me that her emotional baggage is too great for her to calmly canter with me riding.
Funnily enough, when I long line or in-hand canter (I didn't say I wasn't nuts), her canter is always calm and beautiful. She does have a really great stride....when she wants to.
Could she be in pain? I've had the chiropractor out before, but I'm not really sure if it helped or not (100 degree weather).
Sorry to hijack your thread but I need to post a new topic and I cant see where or how to post one?
Danielle - You have to scroll waaaaay down at the very very bottom. There is will say "new post" in red letters. Click it and get started!
Nadine your comments have made me think of the current challenges I am having with the ex race horse. It seems that it is very hard for these ex - racer to learn to canter in a controlled way. He too just gallops when asked to canter.