Level 2/3 Stage 8
FreeStyle Riding
Beginning Jumping
The Gallop
The Flying Change
When Stage 8 is complete, progress to Stage 9
FreeStyle
- Jumping
- The gallop
- The flying change
Respect & warm up phase
- Ground Skills or Liberty
- Impulsion Program
- General FreeStyle riding
Teaching phase
- jumping
- gallop
- flying changes
1. Jumping
Even if you have no intention of jumping all kinds of obstacles and fences, you need to learn to jump your horse over obstacles. It will increase your riding skills and you never know if you’re going to need this one day. jumping also can teach you to stay on horses when they buck!
Getting you and your horse’s confidence
You may remember the information around how a horse’s muscles are more supple and relaxed when he is left brain. This is how you want your horse jumping and that is what will make him so much easier and smoother to ride.
- Jump you horse over all kinds of things On Line, until he has positive reflexes and jumps without hesitation. Then see if he can jump some things from a walk.
- Ride your horse on a casual rein not short reins. Ride over poles and logs at the walk and learn how to get in harmony with your horse as he negotiates them.
- Build to slightly bigger things but do them all at the walk. All we are asking in Level 2/3 is that you are able to jump up to a height of 2 feet, maximum.
- Once you can do them at the walk, try it at the trot. See what it takes to go over the jump and be in harmony with your horse. If you watch a horse jumping small jumps at the trot you’ll see that he hardly jumps at all. At the canter he’ll give a little more of a hop. You’ll need to be up out of your seat and slightly forward, grab a little piece of mane and leave your reins alone!
If you are in a western saddle, you’ll need to maintain an upright position so the horn doesn’t get you. Instead, make sure your pelvis pushes forward with your horse’s motion as he jumps.
5. Focus straight ahead, don’t look at the jump. Feel your horse under you.
Practice little jumps every other time you ride for a while. Build your confidence gradually.
Pitfalls
- Holding short reins. You’ll jab your horse in the mouth as he stretches over the jump and teach him pretty quickly to hate taking you over jumps! Stay on a casual rein.
- Allowing your horse to run out before the jump: Your focus is important here so don’t look down. Leave him alone when he’s approaching the jump willingly, this is positive reinforcement. Running out is a respect problem and / or a confidence problem. Sort it out on the ground.
Summary
Impulsion is a major key here! Make sure your programs have been solid before commencing and use one or two in your warm up.
Jumping is natural for the horse, maybe not so natural for you!
Learning to jump is important to your riding skills progress and learning to stay on when horses buck.
A horse that jumps in his left brain is much smoother to ride.
Practice On Line first. Until you have positive reflexes…even at the walk.
Use a Casual Rein!
Do it all at the walk, and build from there.
Observe the horse from the ground.
Grab mane, not reins.
A western saddle will require a more upright position.
Don’t focus on the jump, look way ahead.
Jump little things all the time. Build your confidence gradually.
Short reins will cause you to jab your horse in the mouth if you are not skilled at jumping.
Use focus to stop a horse running out at the jump. it is usually a respect or confidence problem, sort it out on the ground.
The Gallop
By Level 3 you should be able to gallop your horse confidently. You should also be able to show that your horse is mentally and emotionally fit enough to do this without getting all right brained and taking off! This is where your impulsion programs should have paid off by now.
Technique & Success Tips
- Keep a Casual Rein position.
- Keep the “hole under your tail” relaxed! If you get a little tense about galloping, your horse will feel the tension and keep getting faster!
- If you have impulsion (as opposed to impulsiveness) you should be able to urge your horse up into the gallop, then completely relax (ie. stop riding) and his RPM’s should slow back down to the canter, trot, walk and halt.
One of the biggest keys to having a horse in harmony with you is that when you accelerate, so does he…and when you decelerate, so does he.
- As you go from the canter into the gallop, the horse’s weight will shift onto his front end (review Weight Distribution & Footfalls chapter). This means that you need to get your weight forward too.
- Choose a medium sized area with a fence around it if you are a little worried about your horse getting too fast. Use a casual rein, don’t hold onto two reins.
- Urge your horse a little faster and allow him to drift back to the canter, then faster again. Keep repeating this until you can go fairly fast and have him come back when you relax again. You don’t have to get it all done in one day, you can spread this over several sessions.
This is something most reining horse trainers know a lot about. They know that they have to install early the willingness for the horse to come back from fast canter or gallop to a medium or slow cater, calmly and smoothly.
Some horses will do this easily, they don’t want to gallop for long. Others are bread to gallop 2 miles without even thinking (thoroughbreds, Arabians…)! In this case, everything you are doing with your horse is to de-program him and get him thinking and tuning into you.
You are aiming to be able to get your horse to come back from canter to gallop without touching your reins, but until this happens you have four phases at your disposal!
Pitfalls
- Getting hold of two reins if your horse gets too fast. Remember: two reins for communication, one rein for control. Two reins used at the same time engages the hindquarters and gives them more power. One rein disengages and disempowers the hindquarters.
Troubleshooting
Your horse gets impulsive
Did you do all your impulsion Program? These really need to be solid. However, if you are having problems as soon as you get into the gallop, try speeding up on a Clover Leaf Pattern. The pattern can help your horse not to get lost.
Stay in a enclosed area, a 100 foot round corral would be a great aid for you at first. Circles help to contain an impulsive horse so limiting the straight lines at this stage will help you get your horse mentally and emotionally right with galloping.
Summary
By completion of level 2, you should be confident at the gallop and your horse not get right brained.
Use a Casual Rein so you don’t subconsciously hang on.
Impulsion means you can take your seat off the “gas” and your horse’s RPM’s come down.
The horse’s weight shifts onto the front end. Review footfalls in the theory section.
Get your weight forward too.
Don’t use too big and area at first.
Urge your horse faster and allow him to drift back to the canter. Keep repeating.
Reining horse trainers know a lot about instilling that willingness for the horse to come bak from the gallop.
Long horses will have more trouble staying left brain.
Aim to go for gallop to canter without touching the reins.
Don’t grab too reins if your horse gets too fast…use one rein for control of the hindquarters .
An impulsive horse could use more impulsion programs at faster paces. The pattern helps your horse not to get lost.
Use a round corral if its a real problem: 100ft
The Flying Change
The flying change is called so because you change leads on the “fly”, without your horse losing the canter.
Flying changes in FreeStyle mode is something you need to be able to do to complete your FreeStyle riding savvy at Level 4. Although shrouded by a great deal of mystery and supposed difficulty, flying changes are an easy thing to execute if you understand the riding dynamics involved. Horses do them easily by themselves, almost from the moment they learn to canter! All we have to do is learn how to cause it, to stay out of their way and allow it to happen!
Preparation
- Harmony when changing direction at the trot
- Sideways Game: in the saddle
- Straight Lines
- Impulsion
- Positive Reflexes in Porcupine Game.
Harmony
If you and your horse still get out of sorts together, when you want to turn and he doesn’t, flying changes will be difficult! You need to be certain that when you indicate a direction change a the trot with your eyes, belly button and leg… the he changes direction without hesitation.
Sideways Game..in the saddle
Flying changes are nothing more than a sideways manoeuvre in the moment of suspension in the canter stride. Let’s review it:
Canter stride on the right lead:
- left hind
- right diagonal paired with left front
- right front
- moment of suspension
then it begins again:
- left hind
- right diagonal paired with left front
- right front
- moment of suspension
The flying change happens in the moment of suspension and if you are on a right lead this is when you apply the sideways cue to the left. The horse will change leads from right to left.
So it stands to reason that your Sideways Game in the saddle must have positive reflexes.
- Focus directly sideways
- Close your outside elbow, hip and leg
- Open your rein, elbow and leg in the direction of travel
- Push your horse gently with your outside leg and every time he responds, release the pressure slightly but don’t take your leg off. You’re going to start getting in time with his response.
- One of the secrets is to make a “fist” with your toes when you want to push him away from your leg. This tenses the muscles from your calf through to your thigh and gives you an effective leg to cue your horse.
If it take more than four ounces of leg pressure to get your horse gliding sideways, you’d better improve it!
Use the four phases, holding your leg a little beyond 4 ounces at phase 3 and then tapping with Carrot Stick or swinging your Horseman’s String between zone 3 and 4 for phase 4. The instant your horse responds, release.
- Go for quality not quantity. Positively reinforce by instant release the instant you feel your horse putting effort in. By always starting at phase 1 and increasing the phases until your horse responds, you will teach him to respond at phase 1. You need to get positive reflexes.
- If you can’t go sideways without your horse wanting to go forwards, you’ll need to work on this a fair bit before trying to lead changes, otherwise your horse will just run faster when you push with your leg to get the change.
- Don’t be temped to use spurs at this level. Although they are nothing more than the Porcupine Game, it’s the level of savvy and feel that needs to be in place before using them that is important. All too often people start using spurs to make their horse respond. This is asking for trouble and usually leads to a dull and resentful horse. Pretty soon you can’t get him to do anything unless you are wearing spurs. Wearing spurs to soon will give you a savvy by pass!
By learning to teach your horse to understand how to yield from steady pressure on the ground first, then on his back, to use the four phases and learn the art of quick release, you will be more effective in developing a sensitive and responsive horse.
Once you have a truly independent seat and you’ve learned how to teach your horse to respond to your leg, willingly, you can start using spurs for refinement. When you have an independent seat, you no longer hang on with your legs in a ‘oh no!’ situation, and you can apply your leg with understanding and justice to your horse. If you can already do the manoeuvre well the spur will help improve your results.
Wait until level 4 for spurs and them we will also advise you the best type to wear.
Straight Lines
When asking for the flying change your horse’s body needs to be going straight. If it’s on a curve it will be harder to ask for the change especially if its already curved in the new direction. This is because the weight is already going to the right, for example, you won’t be able to get a lead change to the right because the horse is already going the way even though it is on the wrong lead. You can get a change when the weight has not changed or is absolutely straight.
Getting your horse straight
See if you can walk, trot and canter a straight line, from one point to another about 50 feet away without touching the reins. If your horse veers of course you have to correct him, this will tell you that your horse is not straight.
Here are some exercises:
- Follow the rail. You learned this program in Level 2/3 to teach your horse to follow the arena rail without veering away from it. It teaches the horse to go straight with help – the rail gives him a guideline.
- Ride from one side of the arena to the other, to a specific point on a casual rein. Wait for a while, then ride back. Keep going back and forth until you can do it without touching your reins. This may take a few sessions so don’t be impatient , build up to it. The reason you need to use a casual rein is so you aren’t taking the responsibility of keeping straight away from your horse. You’re only going to touch the reins to correct the horse, then leave him alone. You can also do this with on or two Carrot Sticks: hold them upright until a correction is needed, make the correction then go back to neutral. if you prevent the horse from making a mistake he won’t learn.
- Get so good at this you can do it at the walk, tot and canter… and over increasing distances.
Impulsion
The final important ingredient for flying lead changes. Its hard to do lead changes on a horse that is running off or not wanting to go forward! When you go and whoa are feeling pretty equal, it will help you to effect the lead changes.
The Flying Lead Changes
Technique & Success Tips
Once again, the video “Natural Leads & Lead Changes” is the best study aid here. It will show you the dynamics, the preparations, and give you plenty of examples from the your horse with only 10 rides on it up!
- The easiest way to start getting flying changes is to be “flying”. This means a fast canter.
- You might want to be in a arena to help contain yourself!
- Put your reins over your wrists so your hands are underneath them. The main reason for putting your reins over your wrists are:
- So you don’t grab the reins if you get tense!
- So you learn to allow your horse to move forward and use your body, legs and your focus more effectively.
- It tests your impulsion! If you have to hold your horse back you are not ready for the flying lead changes yet. Go back and work on the ingredients for a while.
- Start by cantering around in fast circles, then start zig zagging down the arena. If your horse is staying with you, he’ll start changing leads as you zig zag for left to right and right to left. But if he is resisting your change of direction, he won’t do a lead change either. Don’t worry about the changes, just work on your horse being in harmony.
- Focus Focus Focus! To cause a flying change to the left, your focus should be at 11 o’clock high, to change to the right, it should be at 1 o’clock high. If you get much further around than this in your focus, you’ll start to bend your body and lose the connection with your pelvis. This will swing the front end rather than push the hindquarter of your horse.
- The hindquarters is where it all happens, If your horse changes only in front, he really has not changed and he’ll be “cross-firing” or disunited”. In order to get true flying changes, the hind legs must change first.
- Set it up and wait. Carve your “S” Bends or zig zags and don’t even think about the lead changes, keep your focus, keep the canter and just guide your horse through a snaky line. Pretty soon you’ll see that he just changes naturally.
- Think about “pushing” your horse from right to left then left to right, it’s like you jump form one side of his backbone to the other.
- Have your leading hand and leg higher than the other. If you don’t do this, your weight will pitch forward and the horse will start just changing his front end and not his hind.
- Timing: The time to ask for the change is when your hose is in a moment of suspension. At first this can be almost impossible to feel. As you get to know more and more where your horse’s feet are and what’s off the ground when, you’ll get better at feeling the timing. In the meantime, something that can help you is to set up a small jump and when your horse is in mid air, change your focus and push him in the other direction. The jump extends the moment of suspension and makes it easier to feel the right time to push your horse over.
- Make a lead change log: have about 40 to 100 feet of logs lying end to end. Canter your horse zig zag over the log. You’ll find him changing leads just about every time, its a great way to practice! The small jump helps extend the moment of suspension.
Pitfalls
- Looking down! As soon as you do this by sight rather than by focus and feel you’ll mix your horse up and he’ll cross fire! Keep your focus no matter what and teach your horse to follow you focus.
- Leading hand is lower rather than higher. Imagine yourself flying like Superman and you want to fly up to 1 o’clock high. Thats how you tip your body upwards to get the change, simply open and left that side while you close and push with the other. Have someone take a video of you and play it in slow motion and examine your focus and hand positions.
- “Leaning” into the turn rather than “pushing” the changes. This means you aren’t using your legs and hips. By getting on the other side of your horse and pushing with your whole leg and hip you will push the whole horse and cause the lead change from behind. When you lean forward into the change, hands low, you’ll change the front and not the back. To examine whether or not you are being effective with your pushing leg, take a video and watch what it does as you are coming around in a curve, is it wrapped around your horse’s side or dangling out away from it? This leg needs to be pushing from the hip right down to the heel. You could even turn your toes out a bit to get a better connection with your heel.
- Your reins are too long when held over your wrists: check rein length, they should touch your solar plexus and when you lean back slightly, it should cause your horse to back up. If they are too long, you’ll have trouble changing directions on your horse. You better off with them a little short than too long.
- You are holding a short or concentrated rein in two hands. Don’t do this. It will cause you to try steering your horse instead of offering him the new direction. If you can’t do this, check your positive reflexes on turn! You are also more likely to lean into the turn.
Troubleshooting
Your horse runs off when you try to do the flying changes
This tells you that your leg means “go” to the horse rather than “get over”. You need to teach your horse that pressure from one leg does not mean go! A great way to do this is in the Find the Centre Impulsion Program:
- Canter your horse on a circle
- Focus strongly on the centre
- Do eyes, belly button, LEG, rein… and keep your leg on the horse as you spiral in and until you are stopped. Then release.
Do this exercise over and over until you feel your horse just turning when you push and not getting faster.
By keeping your outside (pushing) leg on your horse until he stops you will desensitise him a bit and he’ll realise it means yield and turn rather than go.
Your horse gets faster and faster each time you change
The worst thing you can do is stop! You need to keep doing changes until your horse is …yes, left brain. He’s getting faster because he’s going right brain and therefore getting impulsive, emotionally out of control. If you stop when he is like this he will get worse the next time.
Get yourself in a small arena or a round corral about 75 to 100 feet across. Keep criss-crossing and asking for direction changes and lead changes. Ask for them every couple of strides rather than waiting for 20 strides before asking again. Horses are like snow skis. The more you turn them, the slower they get. If your horse is getting faster, turn more. Keep it up until you feel your horse starting to want to slow down, then melt down to a stop. At this point the quality of lead change doesn’t matter. This is a process of desensitisation and helping your horse to use his left brain. Once he’s not so scared he’ll stop getting faster and faster.
Naturally you are going to need to be a fairly good rider by the time you are doing this. If you don’t feel confident to be flying around, don’t start trying to do lead changes yet. You’ve got plenty to work on ahead of this. In the meantime, lots of bareback riding, get to where you don’t need to use the bareback pad for your balance anymore; and lots of FreeStyle riding over uneven terrain, small jumps and at all gaits.
The front legs change easy but the hind legs don’t
If the hind legs don’t change, it is not a flying lead change. The elements to go over are harmony, straightness, sideways, impulsion… and speed! If any of there ingredients is weak, so will you lead changes be weak. Check also that you are pushing with your leg and hips when you ask your horse to change, if your legs are ineffective you will not affect the hindquarters. Make sure you are sitting upright, weight a little towards the hindquarter and locking your shoulder, hips and leg together like a continuous pole from the ankle to shoulder. This whole “pole” is what will move your horse over.
- try spanking the hindquarters each time you change direction, holding your reins in one hand.
- work on your timing more so you can push your horse over more closely to where he is in that moment of suspension.
An important message!
Having seen many people get stuck flying lead changes, take this word of advice: work not he ingredients not the changes. If the ingredients are right the changes will come! Doing weeks incorrect flying changes will only ingrain the habit in your horse not to change and to get more and more comfortable being disunited! Work on the ingredients, get them great.
Get help. Go to Level 2/3 courses, get together with PNH instructors. This is the shortest way to get results.
Summary
The Flying Change mean you change leads without losing the canter…on the fly.
They are natural for the horse, we have to learn how to cause them and stay out of their way to allow it to happen!
Preparation: Harmony in direction changes at the trot; Sideways Game in the saddle; Straight Lines; Impulsion; Positive Reflexes in the Porcupine Game.
Flying changes are nothing more than a sideways manoeuvre in the moment of suspension in the canter stride.
Get to know that moment.
By pushing your horse sideways when he’s in the air, you can cause a lead change.
Sideways Game in the saddle therefore must have positive reflexes.
If it take more than 4 ounces of leg pressure to get your horse gliding sideways, you have a problem!
Go for quality, get response at phase 1.
Make sure your horse is not thinking forwards or he’ll run off when you push him with your leg to make the change.
With a dull horse, don’t be temped to use spurs.
Learn how to teach your horse to yield.
Spurs are for refinement: Level 4.
If your horse is curved when you ask for the change, he will change the front legs and not the back. This is technically not a lead change.
Getting your horse straight as a responsibility is critical. Do it on a Casual Rein.
Follow the rail, focus games from one point to another at the walk, trot and canter, on a Casual Rein or with Carrot Sticks is ideal. Try not to use them.
Increase distances and accuracy.
Impulsion: One leg must not mean go, do the Find the Centre program to fix this.
Natural Leads and Lead Changes video is great education.
Don’t do them slow, be on the “fly” – a fast canter.
Put your reins over your wrists so you don’t grab them and allow the horse to move forward. It also teaches you to use your body, legs and focus more effectively and test impulsion.
Canter fast circles then start to zig zagging down the arena. If the horse is really with you he’ll start changing leads. Don’t worry if he doesn’t just work on harmony.
Focus high, lift your pelvis and arms.
Push your horse from right to left, and bak again. Jump from one side of his backbone to the other like sideways moves.
Have your leading hand and leg higher than the other.
Time it with suspension.
Jumping your horse over logs will help you feel the moment of suspension, it extends it. Try zig zagging over a long lead change log.
Don’t look down! You wight will be all wrong.
Watch yourself on video. Examine focus and hand position.
Don’t lean into the turn, push the horse’s body without bending it.
Watch your outside leg on video. Is it close to the horse and pushing or dangling loose and ineffective?
Make sure your reins aren’t long. Better of a little short.
If your horse runs off, check one leg meaning! Find the Centre impulsion program.
As you spiral in to the centre, keep your leg on until you are stopped. Then release.
Do this until your horse turns instead of gets faster.
It’s a kind of desensitisation.
A horse that keeps getting faster each time you change needs to do many more changes in a row…until he is not worried about them anymore.
Remember the turning skis principle
Don’t stop until he is left brain.
Your riding needs to keep getting better, keep practicing bareback (not the lead changes!)
If the hind legs don’t change, it’s not a flying lead change.
Check all your ingredients. Make your body like a “pole” that pushes your horse over.
Spank the hindquarters and make changes one handed.
If you are having trouble don’t keep trying to do changes, work on the ingredients, get them great.
Get help from a qualified PNH instructor.
