Teaching Your Horse the Art of Flying Changes

Few movements in dressage cause as much excitement, or as much frustration, as the flying change. A clean, balanced change of canter lead in mid-air looks effortless when an Olympic horse performs it down the centre line, but for the rider schooling at home it can feel like a battle of timing, balance and confidence. The reassuring truth is that almost any horse fit enough to canter on both leads can be taught flying changes, provided the basics are genuinely confirmed first.

This guide breaks flying changes down into the building blocks the training scale demands: rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection. It covers how to prepare your horse, how to ask correctly, the exercises that make the change easier to find, and how to fix the faults that cost marks in tests from Elementary through Advanced and into the international tempi changes.

What Is a Flying Change in Dressage?

A flying change, sometimes still called a "flying change of leg", is a change of canter lead performed in the moment of suspension between two strides. The front and hind legs change together, in a single stride, without breaking to trot or walk. British Dressage describes the flying change as "performed in one stride with the front and hind legs changing at the same moment", and it becomes a test-defining movement from Elementary upwards.

You will meet three related movements in UK dressage tests:

• Simple change: canter, walk for three to five strides, then canter on the new lead. Introduced at Novice and refined at Elementary.
• Flying change: a single change of lead in one canter stride. Tested from Elementary onwards.
• Tempi changes: sequential flying changes at a set interval. Four-tempi (every four strides), three-tempi, two-tempi and one-tempi (sometimes called "skipping") appear at Advanced and FEI levels.

A correct flying change is straight, expressive, uphill and forward. Judges assess it on cleanness (both ends changing in the same stride), balance, expression and confidence. A change that is "late behind", where the hind legs change a stride after the front, is the most common fault and costs significant marks.

Is Your Horse Ready to Learn Flying Changes?

Most UK trainers introduce flying changes once the horse is established at Novice level and moving into Elementary work. If you are campaigning affiliated, it is worth knowing what a move up the levels does to your record — our guide to British Dressage points and section eligibility explains how the sections are decided. Crucially, readiness is not about a calendar date: it is about confirmed basics. Before you attempt changes, your horse should be able to:

• Canter calmly on both leads with a consistent rhythm and tempo
• Perform clean transitions: walk to canter, canter to walk, and trot to canter on the named lead
• Hold a reliable counter-canter through a 20m circle without tension or loss of balance
• Move sideways from the leg in shoulder-fore, shoulder-in and leg-yield in canter
• Accept a steady contact without resistance or hollowing
• Be sound, fit and balanced enough to carry weight on the hindquarters

If counter-canter feels difficult, or your simple changes are unclean, you are not ready. Pushing on will create tension, anticipation and the very faults you will spend months unpicking later. Experienced producers are emphatic on one point: the quality of the canter determines the quality of the change. No amount of leg or seat will produce a clean change from a flat, on-the-forehand canter.

The Aids for a Flying Change: Step by Step

Every trainer has small preferences, but the textbook aids for a flying change are consistent across the British and continental schools:

1. Prepare the canter. Ride forward into a slightly collected, balanced canter on the current lead. Shoulder-fore is your best preparation: it loads the inside hind and keeps the horse straight.
2. Half-halt. A clear, momentary half-halt rebalances the horse onto its hocks and gains its attention. The horse should feel slightly compressed and uphill in the stride before you ask.
3. Switch the aids in the moment of suspension. As the leading foreleg reaches forward at the end of a stride, swap your legs: the new outside leg slides behind the girth, the new inside leg comes to the girth. Your seat follows the new lead, with slightly more weight on the new inside seat bone.
4. Allow with the hand. The contact stays steady but allowing. A blocking rein is the single most common cause of a change that is late behind.
5. Ride forward out of the change. The first three strides on the new lead must be clearly forward, confirming the new canter and stopping the horse from second-guessing.

Timing is the hardest part. The aid must arrive in the suspension phase of the previous stride: too early and the horse has no time to organise itself, too late and the change happens behind. Many riders find it helpful to count canter strides aloud during practice to feel the rhythm and place the aid.

How to Teach a Horse Flying Changes: A Progressive Plan

The British approach favours patience and incremental progress. Rushed flying changes are the single biggest cause of long-term resistance, anticipation and crookedness that then takes months to fix. The plan below typically spans eight to sixteen weeks, depending on the horse's age, type and prior schooling.

Weeks 1 to 3: Confirm the Building Blocks

• Daily simple changes through walk on both reins
• Counter-canter loops, shallow at first (5m off the track), progressing to 10m
• Canter shoulder-fore on both leads, on straight lines and large circles
• Canter to walk transitions every eight to ten strides to sharpen responsiveness

Weeks 4 to 6: Introduce the Flying Change

The most reliable introduction is the change across the diagonal. Pick up canter on the right rein, ride down the long side in shoulder-fore, turn onto the diagonal, and ask for the change a few strides before you reach the new track. The fresh lead almost offers itself, because the horse is already heading naturally onto the correct rein.

Other methods favoured by UK trainers include:

• Change on a serpentine: ride three or four loops and ask for the change as you cross the centre line. The bend changes naturally with each loop.
• Change over a pole: a small ground pole on the diagonal acts as a moment-of-suspension prompt. The horse jumps a fraction higher than a normal canter stride, buying more air-time to swap. This exercise appears again and again in modern dressage coaching because it takes the pressure off the rider's timing.
• Change out of counter-canter: ride a half-school in counter-canter, then ask for the change as the true bend resumes. Only suitable for horses with a genuinely confirmed counter-canter.

Weeks 7 to 10: Confirm Both Reins

Once you have a clean change in one direction, work the other rein. Most horses have a stiff side and an easy side, so expect the second direction to take roughly twice as long. Resist the urge to drill: three clean changes in a session is plenty.

Weeks 11 to 16: Build Quality and Refine the Aids

Now work on straightness, expression and reducing the visible aid until the change looks almost telepathic. This is also the time to ask for changes in different parts of the school, such as the short diagonal, the half-school line or across a circle, to break any pattern of anticipation before it sets in.

Exercises to Improve Flying Changes

If you know how to do flying changes in principle but the quality is not there yet, targeted exercises usually help more than repetition. The following build straightness, jump and adjustability, which are the three ingredients a clean change needs:

• Collect and extend within the canter. Ride ten strides of collected canter, ten strides more forward, then collect again. A canter you can adjust at will is a canter you can change from.
• Walk to canter, canter to walk on a circle. Sharp, honest transitions build the carrying power in the hindquarters that lets the horse jump through cleanly.
• Shoulder-fore down the long side in canter. Ride it on both reins until the horse stays straight in front of the aid, then the change simply slots in.
• Counter-canter figures of eight through walk. These sharpen the horse's understanding of which lead you are asking for, which reduces late and disunited changes.

Spend two or three sessions a week on these and only ask for occasional changes. The exercises do the teaching: the change becomes the easy part.

Common Flying Change Faults and How to Fix Them

Almost every flying change fault traces back to one of four root causes: an unbalanced canter, crookedness, anticipation or a blocked contact. The table below lists the faults most often seen in UK Elementary and Medium tests, with the underlying cause and a working fix.

Progressing to Tempi Changes

Tempi changes, sequences of flying changes at fixed intervals, are the showpiece of FEI dressage. They appear in British Dressage tests from Advanced upwards and are a defining feature of Grand Prix:

• Four-tempi (every fourth stride): introduced around Advanced Medium
• Three-tempi (every third stride): Advanced
• Two-tempi (every second stride): Prix St Georges and Intermediate I
• One-tempi ("skipping"): Intermediate II and Grand Prix, where the horse changes lead every single stride

The progression is sequential: master four-tempi cleanly before introducing three-tempi, and so on. Most horses learn tempi work by riding consistent counted sequences, for example canter five strides, change, canter five strides, change, then gradually reducing the strides between changes. The guiding principle is simple: the rhythm of the canter must never alter. The tempi count comes from the canter itself, not from the rider hurrying the aids.

Do Some Breeds Find Flying Changes Easier?

Trainability and canter quality matter far more than breeding, and plenty of native ponies and cobs produce lovely changes. That said, the naturally uphill, adjustable canter of the Iberian horse can make the mechanics come more easily. Breeds such as the Lusitano and the Andalusian are prized in dressage partly for the collection and expression that flying and tempi changes reward. Modern sport horses and warmbloods, bred for rideability and a big canter, are equally well suited. Whatever your horse's breeding, the same rule applies: fix the canter first and the change follows.

Tack, Footing and Schooling Environment

You do not need specialist tack to teach flying changes. A correctly fitted snaffle bridle and a well-fitting saddle are enough. Even so, a few things help:

• A 20 x 60m arena is ideal. A 20 x 40m school is workable, but your diagonals are shorter and the change comes up faster.
• Good footing. Slipping at the moment of change is dangerous and quickly destroys a horse's confidence. Most UK yards now offer fibre or sand-fibre surfaces suitable for change work.
• A schooling whip can serve as a discreet secondary aid, but use it sparingly. A horse that needs the whip to change every time is not yet ready.
• Spurs are only for riders with an established, quiet leg. They are never a substitute for a clear seat aid.

If your horse is shod, ask your farrier to check foot balance before you begin change work. Long toes, low heels or asymmetric balance make changes physically harder and can predispose a horse to strain as it pushes off into the new lead.

When to Call in a Trainer

If you have spent more than three weeks attempting changes with no progress, stop and book a lesson. Common signs you need eyes on the ground include:

• The change is consistently late behind on one or both reins
• Your horse becomes tense, hollow or anticipates every time you turn onto a diagonal
• You suspect a soundness issue: hind-leg discomfort, sacroiliac pain or kissing spine can all present as "won't change behind"
• Your simple changes have become rushed or unclean because the horse is now anticipating

A reputable BHS-qualified coach, or a British Dressage accredited trainer or judge, will usually identify the cause in a single session and save you months of frustration. UK riders can find accredited coaches through the British Dressage coach finder.

Flying Changes FAQ

How long does it take to teach a horse flying changes?

Most horses with confirmed basics learn their first clean change within four to six weeks of focused work. Producing consistent, expressive changes on both reins generally takes three to six months. Tempi changes then add roughly another year of progressive training. Rushing this timeline is the single biggest cause of long-term resistance.

Can every horse do flying changes?

Almost every sound horse that can canter on both leads can learn flying changes. Horses with significant conformational asymmetry, hindquarter weakness or hock issues may find them physically difficult, and these horses can often still produce tidy simple changes through walk. If a horse persistently refuses to change behind despite correct training, a soundness assessment is sensible.

Why is my horse changing behind first?

Changing early behind, where the hind legs swap before the front, usually means the horse is anticipating, often because the aid has been overdrilled in one location. Vary the place you ask and use simple changes to break the pattern before it becomes a habit.

What is the difference between a flying change and a simple change?

A simple change goes via walk: canter, walk for three to five steps, then canter on the new lead. A flying change goes straight from one lead to the other in a single canter stride, with no break of pace.

Are flying changes allowed at lower-level UK dressage?

Flying changes first appear in Elementary tests in British Dressage. At Novice level only simple changes are required, and an unrequested flying change in a Novice test will be penalised. Always check the test sheet for the permitted movements before you compete.

The Takeaway

Flying changes are an elegant test of training rather than a sudden trick. The horses that change cleanly and expressively are the ones whose basics, rhythm, straightness and suppleness, were confirmed first. If you find yourself battling, the answer almost always lies several rungs lower down the training ladder, not in more change repetitions. Slow down, fix the canter, and the changes will follow.

For more on the foundations that make flying changes possible, read our step-by-step guides to leg-yield and counter-canter, and explore the wider discipline in our overview of dressage. If you are working on your own position as much as the horse's training, our guide to the correct riding position is a useful next read.