Horse Leads

Whether your asking your horse to canter or lope, your horse leads with one leg or the other. Which one depends on how he's set up. Is your patience being tried every time you ask your horse to pick up the correct lead? Success is possible, and begins with an understanding of the mechanics of the gait. Both the lope and canter are waltz-like in their rhythm: one-two-three, one-two-three. A driving step from the outside hind leg is the number “one” beat, and it’s that first step that determines which lead your horse will be on. Then the opposite hind and diagonal forelegs create beat number “two.” Last but not least, the final stride is taken by the leading foreleg.

Cuing a horse to pick up a specific lead is a two-step process: setup – request. It’s the setup that determines whether or not you’ll get the right lead, and preparation is the key. Your horse must be working off his hindquarters. He has to carry himself with his back round and his shoulders elevated. His body also needs to be in alignment from poll to tail and bent slightly into the direction of the desired lead.

To ensure your horse is bending correctly, visualize his body as a perfectly straight line with a slight curve from poll to tail. From your view in the saddle, his neck should be aligned with your horse’s spine, appearing to come straight out of the withers. A gentle uniform curve down the length of the neck shows that your horse’s body is bending correctly. Also look to see if your horse’s face is vertical. If it’s twisted at the poll, his body is misaligned.

If lope transitions are new to you and your horse, give yourself an advantage with jog-to-lope transitions. A strong jog will create natural impulsion from the hind end. To pick up the left lead, maintain even contact on both reins, but make your inside rein (in this case the left rein) slightly shorter. You want to bend your horse far enough that you to see the buckles on the cheek pieces of his bridle. Shift your horse’s weight away from his inside shoulder and onto his outside rear leg by sliding your left leg forward to the cinch and applying pressure. Remember outside rear leg, in this case the right hind, is the striking off leg and needs to take the first step. You should feel your horse bend slightly beneath you and shift some of his weight both rearward and onto his right shoulder. If he doesn’t, nudge him with your heel until you feel him take one or two steps away from the pressure. If he continues to be resistant, ask him to move forward and to the right, perform a leg-yield, to add weight to his right hind leg while lightening up the left front.

Next slide your outside leg back to the middle of your horse’s ribcage. Apply pressure to cue your horse to drive his outside hind leg up under his body. At the moment you’re ready to ask for the transition, subtly pull your shoulders back and rock your weight over your right seat bone. Push down and forward with your outside hip with a smooth and continuous rolling motion to complete the cue for the transition onto the left lead. For the right lead, reverse your horse’s bend, the position of your legs, right leg forward – left leg back, and then follow through by driving with your left seat bone.

If your horse picked up the correct lead, pet him and give yourself a pat on the back. If he loped but got the wrong lead, he was probably carrying too much weight over his forehand, specifically over his leading shoulder. To fix it, bring him back down to the jog and use a more active inside leg during your next attempt. A couple of nudges with your heel just behind the cinch will help to lighten a heavy leading shoulder. Never kick your horse with the outside leg. Being too strong with your outside leg will throw you horse’s weight toward the leading leg and prevent him from picking up the lead or the lope at all. Use your inside leg to make corrections, and your outside leg to cue for the transition.

Once your horse is solidly picking up the correct lead on a circle, give a straight line a try. The set up is the same but your horse’s body will be nearly straight. Once you’ve mastered jog-to-lopes on a straight line, step up to walk-to-lopes. Just remember that preparation is the key to getting the correct lead. If your horse is set up right, you’ll get the right lead every time.

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