Cantering on wrong lead?

Question

hi, when you ask a horse to canter, and it leads on the wrong leg, how do you correct the lead without changing back to a trot or changing the rein?.. i got asked this by my o/h and for the life of me i couldn't think what to tell him, (i love horses but its years since i have ridden..) he is a novice.. so since he is taking a interest..can anyone please explain what the rider is supposed to do?

thanks very much xx

Answer 1

What you can do is ask for a flying lead change but for a novice horse that won't answer the problem. You hhave to bring him down to a trot and ask for a canter on the correct lead. By letting the horse canter on the wrong lead your teaching them that its ok to take the wrong lead.

Good exercise to do is, ask for the horses hips to go towards the center of the arena. Its impossible for a horse to take the wrong lead when they're hips are pointed towards the center of the arena. Let the horse canter for a couple of laps and then prasie them for the correct lead.

The job of the rider like I said before is to CORRECT the horses canter within the first 2 strides.

Answer 2

i ride race horses, and we( within the racing community) do it slightly different to everyone else because of how short our stirrups are. if youre on the right lead then just lean very slightly to the left ,at the same time slightly pull the left rein(very slightly so you dont change direction)

if you ride english style youll have to do something with your heel.

Answer 3

Do a half -halt with strong outside leg and shifting  weight to the outside at the same time. Squeeze the outside rein during the change and release it when the lead is picked up. Keep both legs on the horse to maintain forward movement.

At first, it's okay to use a kick from the outside leg to sort of jump the horse into the lead...later just pressure should work.

Answer 4

To change leads, you must change the curvature of his spine.  In other words you must first position him and bend him in the other direction.  At the same time, you, yourself must change your weight and turn with him.  Settle him, let him know that you are asking him to switch.  I wish I could show you.  IT will not happen automatically.  You must practice over and over until he and you both get it.  Try this web site.  Perhaps this will help you more.

http://www.montyroberts.com/ju_ask_monty...

Answer 5

Every horse is different and there are lots of ideas that everyone will tell you about changing the leads. Generaly u bring either your inside or outside leg behind the girth, ant the other leg on the girth 2 ask for canter, and so if it takes off on the wrong lead every time, try to change which way around you use your legs. If its a case of the horse always leading on the wrong leg, doing a small circle in sitting trot and then pushing in2 canter may help, as wel as flying changes. If you do not want to break down 2 a trot, a half halt may be a good idea and then asking to pick up the canter again.

Answer 6

The only way to do it without coming back to a trot is a flying change, but for a novice this isn't a good idea for the rider or the horse.  You will have to come back to a trot and ask again, sit, keep the leg on the inside on the girth and the outside leg behing the girth, also bend the horse to the inside.  Thenother thing to do is to place a small jump on a circle and when jumping the jump open the inside rein in mid air and the horse will land on the correct leg. Doing the same with poles can also work.

Answer 7

its called a flying lead change but before you can do this your horse needs to always pick up the lead you ask(correct lead) and then when he does you can do simple changes and then the flying change its all a matter or slow progress. if your horse has trouble with a particular lead then do a sitting trot at shoulder-in and keeping the shoiulder-in ask him to canter right then and there. but dont do shoulder-in on a circle cuz thei puts a horse off balance and crooked.

Answer 8

Take Him Over a medium size jump and open the inside rein when you are in the air and look where you are going

Answer 9

Give him a nudge with your outside leg - this will make him go faster so he will change his lead. To pick up the correct lead (the rider is at fault for the wrong lead), nudge him with your outside leg in a corner. This almost always works

Answer 10

A flying change, but as he is a novice, and probably on a novice horse, he shouldn't attempt one. They're not easy for experienced riders and they're quite hard to teach a horse, so for now just return to trot, rebalance the horse and strike off again.

ADD: I ride english so I can help (makes a change, everyone on here rides western and my advice is redundant lol!) To ride a flying change you adjust your horse so it is moving towards the new direction (as in crossing the diagonal to change direction when performing a figure of 8) and then give the aid for the canter lead required (consistent contact with your horses mouth, bending it around your 'new' inside leg and applying outside leg slightly behind the girth to move the horse forward). This will tell a horse who knows how to do a flying change to perform it. Teaching a flying change to a horse is different. To teach a horse, you need to work on shorter changes of bend. A good way is to canter a figure of 8 using circles, not diagonals. When approaching X, move forwards to trot, balance the horse and change the bend before asking for canter on the other lead. Repeat this many times (not all on the same day!) gradually shortening the amount of trot strides. Eventually your horse will not require the trot transition and applying aids in the above paragraoh will be enough for your horse to do a flying change! Hope this helps! =]

Answer 11

What you need to do is to apply more pressure with inside leg and rein and move the outside leg further back.

It would be preferable to get back to trot, even if only for a couple of strides.

As you are going into the short corner of the school, go to sitting trot, shorten reins, inside leg at the girth, outside leg back, more pressure on inside rein but not letting the outside rein go, this controls speed and prevents the horse from "falling in".  Ask for canter and if you have set it up right you should get this.

Another way to do it is to set up a trotting pole or small jump say in the center of the arena and trot over it a few times.  When you have both got used to the idea you can now pop the pole and drive forward to canter as you are in the air so to speak.  Be very clear in your mind and your aids which direction you want to be leading in though!

Good luck.

Answer 12

The easiest way would be to do a flying change, but definately introduce a half halt or two prior to asking for a change to ensure that the horse is listening to you.  

Other than that you could put a trotting pole out on the corner, maybe even raise it slightly on one side and then go in at a trot and the horse should naturally take the pole, and then canter on afterwards on the correct lead in canter

When going into canter, again, you could introduce a couple of half halts again prior to going into it and open the inside rein slightly to encourage the horse more.  Also, a couple of nugdges from the inside leg with the inside rein open may also help.  Other than that a little tap with a schooling whip behind the inside leg whilst asking for canter may help.  Be careful though to support the horse through the outside rein to ensure you are not letting him run out.

Have you also considered walk to canter transitions, again, these are quite easy to set up.  

The other thing to do is to ask for canter coming into a corner so when you come out of the corner you are cantering and should be on the correct lead.

Other than that you could try cantering on circles.  

Does your horse canter on the correct lead whilst being lunged?  If he does and does so consistently I would be inclined to think it could be rider interferance - are you balanced and sitting straight when you are asking?  Or are you leaning slightly?  

It may be worth asking a local instructor to come in and help you as there are quite a few variables to this!

Good luck

Answer 13

What are Flying Lead Changes?

A “lead” refers to the leg with which a horse steps out at the canter. When traveling to the left, horses naturally pick up the left lead, and the reverse is true when traveling to the right. A flying lead change means that the horse doesn’t perform a downward transition to the trot in order to pick up the opposite lead; instead, he changes the lead in the air.

Not only are flying lead changes smoother and more elegant, but they serve a valuable purpose. When you’re cantering around a course of fences, for example, you will have to change directions several times, and your performance horse will have difficulty keeping his balance if he has to turn sharply on the wrong lead. The same situations present themselves in other disciplines.

Asking for Flying Lead Changes

In order to teach your performance horse flying lead changes, you must first know how to ask for them. The cue you use doesn’t really matter, as your horse will respond however you train him, but the position of your body makes a big difference.

In order to signal your performance horse for a flying lead change at the canter, you’ll need to shift your weight to the opposite direction of the lead you want him to switch. For example, if your horse is tracking right at the canter and you want to switch him to the left lead, you’ll want to shift your weight to the right. You might also add pressure with your right leg behind the girth to shift his hindquarters left.

Additionally, exaggerated movements are required when teaching your horse flying changes. You might want to physically lift the rein of the lead you want him to pick up to tell him unequivocally what you want him to do.

Methods at the Canter

Once your performance horse understands flying lead changes, you can ask for them on a straight-away or in just about any situation. However, when training him initially, it is best to make it as easy as possible for him to do what you want. For this reason, it is easiest to teach flying changes on the diagonal. Start asking for the change at the center of the diagonal, and aim for him to complete it by the time you enter the turn for the opposite direction.

Some performance horses may have trouble learning flying lead changes if they are unbalanced or under-muscled. It requires a great deal of control for your horse to maneuver his body this way, and he needs to be sufficiently comfortable at the canter to make the change.

In preparation for this type of training, work with your horse on fast simple lead changes (breaking to the trot) and on maintaining forward momentum at the canter. When you first start out, your horse may speed up significantly during the change, but that will ease as he grows more confident.

hope this helps and happy riding

Answer 14

yes a flying lead change. i think someone has explained what it is.

if he is cantering and picks up the wrong lead, for him since he is a novice, i would just let the horse canter but have him change directions, making the horse on the right lead.

Answer 15

well if hes a novice i wouldn't have him do it but you could use a flying change. to get my horse to do one i push my outside leg back and my inside one to the girth with a tiny bit of pressure on the inside rein and it swaps. its usually a lot harder than it sounds though :)