I do not have a photo nor do I have any video. You will just have to trust me on this.
In my Thursday lesson Belinda has us work on leg yielding in trot and canter. For the canter work I would depart from the walk to the canter. If I engaged Biasini with a concerted push from the inside of my ankle and then gave him the aid for the canter depart he would sit and come up in front and spring into the canter. No pulling down, no pulling himself into canter with his front leg. Boom! Canter!
For the exercise we would leg yield away from the rail, just two strides, straighten and then leg yield back to the rail. Evenly on both reins and responding evenly to my leg aids on both sides. Toward the end of the lesson I asked for a flying change after we finished the leg yield.
I got the best flying change I have ever had from Biasini. Belinda and I both agreed that was a high point to end the lesson on. I turned to Belinda and I said: “That was a Statesman flying change!” “Yes, it was,” she replied.
Statesman is Naima Moriera Laliberte’s horse. He has huge and expressive flying changes. They are fabulous. Here is a photo.
To have Biasini give me such a buoyant, energized and airborne flying change made my day. Later barn manager Carl asked me how my lesson had been. I said :”Biasini gave me the best flying change I have ever had from him.” I didn’t know that Belinda was standing behind me when I said that. “Yes! He did!” She said.
So there you have it . This is the moment of pure joy for me in this weeks’ riding work. A Statesmanlike Flying Change.
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