Learning Your Leads

  Learning Your Leads

For anyone who has wondered, how in the world do you tell which lead I am on, this column is for you.

"Hi

I have a question, I am having trouble with my leads at the canter. I can't figure out still how I know I have the right lead, I try to look, but it is hard, I have trouble feeling it to!

Thanks

Deirdre Kolosky

Saskatchewan, Canada"

First, you are not alone in having a hard time seeing your leads at the canter or feeling them at the canter. Many folks share that same problem. The good news is that it is not that hard to solve, once you know a few tricks.

Trick number 1 - work with a buddy. This means that when you are riding, you bring along a friend who is really good at spotting correct or incorrect leads. Put her/him in the middle or your riding arena, warm up your horse and then, while exiting a corner in the ring, ask your horse to canter. As the horse gets on the straightaway, I want you to glance (don't stare or you'll run into a wall) straight down at the fronts of both shoulders on your horse. Watch to see which one is stretching further forward when he takes a step. That is the lead you are on. I want you to call out right lead or left lead after you have looked, continue to canter around the arena and ask your friend to tell you if you were right or wrong. If you were wrong, I want you to look again while still cantering on the next straightaway. Now that you know which lead you are really on, watch that shoulder to see if it is stretching further forward than the other one.

Stop your horse, start the canter again and repeat the exercise for 10 - 15 times. With the help of a friend, you will be able to solve the problem very quickly.

Trick number 2 - use a circle. The easiest way to see what lead your horse is on is to ride in a very large circle. Large because if you are on the wrong lead, a tight circle could force your horse to fall down! Ask your friend to tell you what lead you are on. If you are on the correct lead, start to make a large circle and you will see that when you look straight down so that you can see both shoulders at the same time, you will easily be able to see the inside one stretching further forward with each step. This is a good way to train your eye to be able to see which shoulder is "leading".

Trick number 3 - slow down. In order to "feel" the leads, you have to have the horse really sitting down on his backend (hindquarters) and using himself so that you will feel the push. If your horse is hand galloping around the ring, not only will he be hanging on his front end, but it will be impossible for you to glance down to look at the shoulders because there won't be time - he will be going tooooo fast. The trick is to slow down the canter by squeezing gently with your legs, while holding him with your hands. This is referred to as collection in English riding and can be enhanced by pushing with your seat at the same time as though you were on a swing set. As you get better at this skill, you can almost make your horse canter in place and then it is easy to see what lead you are on because you will have plenty of time to look at it before your horse flies around the ring.