Young international dressage rider Phoebe Peters picks up some tips for perfecting flying changes from Olympian Laura Tomlinson, as part of a Jaguar Land Rover Academy of Sport mentoring session
Young dressage talent Phoebe Peters and Denford Surprise (Parker) are performing correct changes, but dressage Olympian Laura Tomlinson wants to inject a little more power, impulsion and uphill tendency into them.
She asks Phoebe to ride a serpentine in canter and perform a flying change every time she crosses the centre line.
“Riding serpentines like tight corners gives you more room across the school, and more space to prepare for a big change. If you ride loops, you end up wasting time and losing straightness while the horse drifts around the turn,” says Laura.
“Sometimes Phoebe comes out of the corner with the horse leading with his quarters, because he is flexed a little too much to the inside. I have asked her to come out of the corner with a bit of outside flexion to help keep him dead straight in the body across the middle of the school.
“The straighter the horse is for the change, the more uphill it will be. If he is crooked, he can ‘cheat’ with his back end, putting it sideways instead of bringing it properly underneath him.”
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Parker has a tendency to bring his croup up in the change, which Laura explains is because he is reluctant to completely engage his quarters through the movement.
“Collect the horse around the turn, ride a tight corner keeping the shoulders directly in front of the back end, then use your seat to ride forward across the school for a big change,” says Laura. “This way you’re keeping control but creating more power for when you need it.
“It is important to give with your inside hand for the change, to allow the horse room to come up with his inside shoulder, and create expression. If you are holding too tight, you will strangle the change.”
As Phoebe collects Parker, giving herself more space across the school and keeping a bit of outside flexion to maintain straightness, the gelding responds with a straight, uphill and expressive flying change.