Instructions
Cue your horse for the canter on the correct lead. If you are tracking to the right in an arena, your left leg is next to the rail and your right leg is to the inside, or middle, of the arena. Ask for the canter by putting your inside leg at the girth, your outside leg slightly behind the girth, and giving a small push with your seat up and toward the inside.
Maintain a steady, consistent three-beat gait with both you and your horse balanced and relaxed. Turn at the arena corner and head diagonally toward the opposite corner of the arena.
Ask the horse to switch leads as you reach the halfway point of the diagonal. Make sure your horse is straight; you want to make your cue at about the same point where you would ask for a simple change (or a change through the trot) -- about a stride or two before the turn. Do not slow the horse down or put too much pressure on the reins. Place your new outside leg behind the girth, new inside leg at the girth, and seat slightly up and toward the inside.
Guide your horse through the turn, and re-establish your balanced, three-beat canter. If your horse didn't change or is off balance, take a few trot steps and ask for the new canter lead. Try again if necessary, and remain patient. Once you master a change to one direction, change directions and repeat the steps, turning to the diagonal of the arena for another figure-eight pattern and asking for the change a step or two before the turn.
Return to practicing the simple change if the horse becomes nervous or is having a lot of trouble. Once you can perform a relaxed simple change with three trot steps or less, try flying changes again.
How to Make a Horse Switch Leads
If you and your horse are ready to execute lead changes, you have mastered a balanced walk, trot and canter, and have been doing "simple" lead changes -- trotting at changes of direction as you ask for the other lead. Watch your horse canter in its paddock to see it switching leads on its own, balancing itself as it prepares to shift its weight for the switch. A rider's poor balance is what often makes lead-switching difficult; the horse is now tasked with managing your weight in addition to its own.