My mare is a four year old thorouhbred welsh pony who is 14.2 hands high. I bought her a year ago as a saddle broke green prospect. I have only been riding for 3 years but debated it and talked with a trainer who thought I would be able to handle her. So far training has been very simple and she is a very fast learner. We had come to the point in out training where flying lead changes would be next. I had delayed them. I started out with simple changes which i practiced once each direction for maybe 3 times total. We had a show and i hadn't practiced simple changes in over a month. We entered the ring and my horse was popping flying lead changes on my command. She did them once and seemed to know when I asked her to come down to a trot to change she simply switched. She does them at home but not as easily. What made her simply pick up this concept without ever being asked or taught before? Gosh if only all horses were this easy to train!
IdaL.
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 1999 - 11:18 am:
Most horses pick up flying lead change as long as they are somewhat collected and using their hind and travelling with a good frame. I find horses that don't get it usually are horses that don't travel correctly or front heavy or they rushes or they simply don't have the strength. So when you find your horse trained easily it's because of all the good training she has behind her, like accepting the bit, moving off your legs, collection... etc. Congratulations (on wonderful horse, good trainer and all the hard work you've put into it)!