All About the Flying Change with Shannon Dueck

Equestrian Voices

Have you ever whispered a silent prayer to the flying change gods to please let this change be clean? Have you ever felt a twinge of temptation to throw your weight to get the change, or pull on the inside rein?

Flying changes don’t have to be dependent on luck (although luck always helps) – but many of us don’t understand the flying change as deeply as we could.

There’s a LOT to know about the flying change and this in-depth dissection will help you understand, train, and execute the change better – whether you’re a dressage rider, jumper rider, eventer, western rider or beyond. International dressage rider and competitor Shannon Dueck is here to take us to the school of flying lead changes.

In this episode, Shannon and host Caroline Culbertson dive into:

• How changes differ between the disciplines
• The prerequisites both the horse and rider must have before starting flying changes
• How to introduce them
• What exactly are the horses’ legs doing in a flying change, anyway?
• A good flying change vs a great one
• How should it feel? How should you sit? What’s the correct timing of the aid?
• How to get a change you can RELY on
• A great canter exercise to build the canter that you need for a good change