This lesson is all about developing the adjustability and body alignment needed for beautiful pirouettes.

You will learn how to make micro-adjustments to your horse’s shoulders and quarters, setting you up for both walk and canter pirouettes (as well as preparing you for flying changes at the end of this season). When you can put the shoulders and quarters exactly where you need them while maintaining a lovely shaping around your inside leg, you have everything you need for success. Your horse will learn how to organise their own body, follow your aids, and stay soft and supple.

Step 1: Start on a 15m circle in travers. This is the perfect baseline to test your alignment. If your horse is more advanced, you can go a bit smaller; if they are less advanced, keep it slightly bigger.

Step 2: To make the circle smaller, bring both hands to the inside to yield the shoulders in, maintaining that vital shape around your inside leg. Think of it like riding a half-pass towards the centre of the circle! To make the circle bigger, take both hands to the outside to yield the shoulders out. You only need to move a few metres either way—it is the ability to adjust that is key.

Step 3: Progress the exercise from walk to a nice, bold canter. Do not try to collect the canter yourself at this stage; let the exercise do the collection for you so your horse learns to commit their hind legs. If you lose impulsion, simply ride forward and straight on the circle to reset.

Tracy's Tip: Watch out for the right rein! Horses often try to evade the aids here by swinging their quarters in too far. Keep the travers at a clean 35-degree angle. If they over-swing, use your inside leg to ride forward and straight, then try again. When things get sticky or your horse gets tight, remember it is always easiest to go bigger. This keeps the technical question the same but on an easier line, allowing you to build confidence!

Walk pirouettes are most rider's worst nemesis! In this lesson I will teach you how to nail them, every time.

The biggest mistake riders make is training the half pirouette from the finish point. Because the movement happens so quickly in a test, neither you nor your horse have time to adjust or learn. In this lesson, you will discover how to stay in the movement longer to establish the perfect feeling. Your horse will learn to use their inside hind leg as a pivot point rather than crossing over, stepping out, or getting stuck.

Step 1 (Spiralling Down): Start in travers on a circle and spiral down smaller and smaller until the hindquarters are close to the centre cone. Focus on the inside hind leg and encourage it to step wide towards the cone. Look for a distinct rocking motion just behind the saddle—this "wide step" teaches you the exact feeling of a correct pivot.

Step 2 (The Approach): Approach from a straight line in a collected walk using a shoulder-fore position. A few steps before the pirouette, transition into shoulder-in to shape your horse’s body around your inside leg and flex with the inside rein.

Step 3 (Commit to the Pirouette): Half-halt on the outside rein and turn your head toward your inside shoulder to use your head as a weight aid. At the same moment, use your outside leg to cue that inside hind leg to step wide, guiding the horse's shoulders smoothly around the hindquarters.

Step 4 (Keep Turning): Do not exit after just a half turn! Stay in the pirouette for 1.5 to 2.5 whole turns until you feel that correct swinging motion under your saddle. To exit, look straight down your line and ride forward off your inside leg back into shoulder-fore. 

Tracy's Tip: Do not make the common mistake of approaching your walk pirouette in travers! If you start in travers, the quarters are already off the line, leaving the shoulders behind. You will end up adding way too many steps, and your pirouette will become enormous. Always approach in a shoulder-fore position, transition into a shoulder-in for a few steps to establish your shaping. This keeps the shoulders beautifully out in front where they belong!

Is it a bird, is it a plane? This lesson demonstrates the unfiltered reality of starting the flying changes, right from the beginning!

Flying changes are one of the most difficult movements to teach. I feel it is very misleading when you see training videos on the internet demonstrating flying changes, making it look effortless with horses who are already are established. In this video Raffles is genuinely learning, so expect some 'interesting' interpretations in the beginning! The key to success is consistency. In this lesson I will start by teaching you the precise timing of your aids, so you are clear and consistent every time you ask your horse to do a flying change.

Step 1 (Learn to Count): Find the rhythm of the canter by counting out loud. Start a 4-beat loop (1, 2, 3, 4) every single time the horse's inside foreleg hits the ground.

Step 2 (Time your Aids): The flying change occurs on beat 4. To prepare, slide your "new outside" leg back behind the girth on beat 3. Then, apply the actual cue to change on the half-beat between 3 and 4.

Step 3 (Half-10m Set-Up): Start in canter on a 10m circle. As you return to the track, head onto a short diagonal line. This is the exact same pattern used for simple changes in the Elementary Program, which gives your horse a familiar stepping stone.

Step 4 (Position and Visualise): Ensure the canter is active and uphill with enough "jump". Just before asking for the change, position the horse's shoulders into the "new shoulder-fore" alignment. Look up, and visualise the change happening out in front of you.

Tracy's Tip: Short-coupled, compact horses (like Raffles) often struggle with single changes in the beginning. Because their bodies are compact, they think they need to change in front first or go "croup high" in order to clear space for their hind legs. If your horse struggles or changes late behind, don't panic or get stressed! The great news is that compact horses who find single changes tricky often learn advanced tempi changes much easier later on. Be patient and trust your training!

This lesson will teach you the key set-ups to take the flying changes to the next level.

In the beginning, when your horse is still learning the mechanics of the flying change, the movement happens so quickly that it is incredibly difficult for the rider to feel if the change was correct. In this lesson, you will discover my unique visual trick to spot a "clean" change instantly, alongside a training set-up that gives you all the time you need to organise the canter before you ask for the change.

Step 1 (Spotting a Clean Change): Have a helper stand on the side the horse is changing towards. Instruct them to focus their eyes directly on your lower leg at the centre of the horse. Using only their peripheral vision, they must watch the pair of front and hind legs closest to them. In a clean change, that pair of legs will swing forward together, completely parallel. If they move separately, the change is incorrect.

Step 2 (Leg Yield Set-Up): Start on a 10m circle, then head straight down the centre line. Leg yield back to the track into counter canter. This pattern gives you a massive advantage: instead of rushing into the change at a fixed spot, you can stay in counter canter for as long as you need to sit your pelvis down, engage the new inside hind leg, and re-establish a quality, uphill canter.

Step 3 (Manage the Anticipation): If your horse gets keen or tries to predict the change, stay calm! Simply circle to start again, or transition to a walk, pick up the counter canter, and resume the exercise.

Step 4 (Recognise the Progression): Look for positive milestones. A horse moving from a "croup-high headstand" or a "late change" to jumping both hind legs together - this is a massive win. It shows they are actively trying to figure out how to swing that new inside hind leg through.

Tracy's Tip: Keep your change training playful and fun! You can vary this set-up with half-pass back to the track instead of leg yield, or start from the 3/4 line to make the angle steeper. You can even leg yield in from the track and ask for the change on the quarter line to fix a crooked side. However, never practice a change on a corner. This almost always produces a 'late change' which is hard habit to correct.