We are starting a monthly contest for fun and a chance for you to win prizes. Offer your advice and we'll select what we think is the best answer and pick a winner. Team AD will announce the results prior to the following months contest. This months contest is a rider having a hard time getting his horse to pick up the correct lead. What encouraging advice would you give him to help him and his horse improve? Let's see what you come up with and test your knowledge against those in the know. Post your answer in the comments box below.
ok lope a circle on left lead stop in centre side pass over to left stop then lope off to right and visa versa but to make sure leg and reins are used correctly ie correct que's are given
ReplyDeleteOk ive seen the video now, try tipping the nose of the horse into the centre of the direction you are traveling in and ask for correct lead as you entre the bend i.e not in a straight line.
ReplyDeleteor ride to a fence at an angle and at fence stop and turn into the fence asking for a lope and circle i.e if you turn left circle left after you have turned or if you turn right circle right
Start with getting the horse to move it shoulders away from the inside rein, counter arc exercises at the trot will help with this. Next the horse needs to respect the riders hands as he is being asked to move his hip and shoulders. Hip in shoulder in exercises will help with this as well as being able to do a proper half pass. (A proper half pass is done with the horses body arced in the direction of travel, A properly done half pass sets the horse up in the proper position to do a lead departure.
ReplyDeleteIf that is to technical run him up a hill and pull him back to the right, :o)
While lifting the left shoulder with the left rein, using the R leg to move the horses hip over to the left at the same time, sitting back, looking forward and cueing to lope with a kiss or maybe a little more R leg depending on the horse. It's almost like you're going to try to side pass over to the left as you cue them
ReplyDeleteThis rider needs to learn to sit in the middle of his horse and needs shoulder and hip control of the horse before attempting the canter depart. horse also needs to be light and responsive in the mouth. Keep shoulders upright, move hips toward center of pen, bend horse around inside leg and kiss and use outside leg to cue for canter on left lead.
ReplyDelete(I assume here that the rider is fairly advanced and knows how to "ask' for the canter, so just a quick "tip" that may help...) Make sure the horse is correctly bent through his body (transitions from small circles-or in the corners of the arena-are helpful in establishing the correct bend) with a little bit of inside flexion from neutral; sit deep in the saddle, upper body close to the vertical; glance at the OUTSIDE shoulder/leg, and when the horse's outside leg goes back under him, ask for the canter using the normal canter aids. (If he gets it wrong, bring him back to the trot right away-regroup, then try it again, making sure YOUR aids are precise and clear.)
ReplyDeleteDo some walk trot transitions, while doing a left circle. while its nose is tilted slightly to the inside. Do some bending to the left at the walk and trot. Then while at the trot pick up your inside(left)rein while putting your outside(right) leg back and apply pressure to push the horse forward into the lope. If he picks up the wrong lead, break back into the trot and ask again. If he still doesn't pick up the correct lead do the bending and walk to trot exercises again.
ReplyDeleteWow all of these comments I gotta agree with. Control of all 5 body parts, centered riding, leg cue and most of all go back to the beginning and slow it down for the horse. I always use a pole and start out at a walk and use my leg cues as Im going over it to pretend Im going to lope off. Figure out where the horses legs are and work from there. Looks like its a green rider and just needs more time in the saddle.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing would be to start asking for the lope prior to the corner - this rider loped coming out of the corner and the horse is hugging the wall and that made him think right lead instead of left lead. The horse needs to think left lead. If the rider tipped the horse's head to the outside and waited for the horse to lift his back (Use the right rein to bend the neck left and the left rein to steer left. About equal pressure on both reins. On a green horse or colt, you may need to bend the horse's head to the right more than on a more broke horse - you keep bending the head right until the shoulder and back move left.) At the same time, bump the horse with the right leg (in the normal position.)You will feel the horse move slightly to the left. When the horse lifts his back, release the hands slightly and let him lope. He will take the correct lead every time if he is in the correct position before you let him lope.
ReplyDeleteTo get good at it, predict which lead the horse will take before you let him lope. Or close your eyes and predict which lead it will be. REmoving one of your senses (in this case sight) makes the another stronger (feel). You will develop the feel for it.
He might find it was easier to get the proper lead when he builds more flex into the horse, the effect of riding back to front. Once that is achieved then cue the right hind of the horse left, tip the nose to the left and the lead change then starts back to front with proper collection. That way lead changes can be done without aids like corners or other barriers. Definitely not something that happens right away as it is posture,position,hand and leg cues.
ReplyDeleteGet better control of the horse's hindquarters. Work on yielding the hindquarters at the standstill, first with the head bent, then gradually allow the horse's head to striaghten out. Get horse to push his hindquarters up to the left or right while walking a straight line. Once this is accomplished, all that needs done is to push the horse's hindquarters up (to the left for a left lead, right for a right lead) and ask him to lope. The horse should pick up the correct lead if you have prepared him properly.
ReplyDeleteThe rider appears to be trying to set up the proper canter depart position of hindquarters to the inside of the lead by pulling the head to the outside. This will work on some horses, but many horses will drop their shoulder in as this hose did and actually do the opposite of what the rider intended. If the rider will first use the inside leg and inside rein to push the shoulders out and push an arch into the horse's body, then release the inside leg and apply the outside leg as an aid and to hold the hindquarters to the inside and ask the horse to lope he should pick up the correct lead. This is of course assuming that the rider has done the proper basic training of the horse to have the horse yielding to leg pressure and moving forward off of his aids when ask.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all have a ground pole set up just inside the large circle you are working him in. Get the horse and you moving fluintly (if thats a word) meaning relaxed regular rythmic jog, light on the hand, deep seat working the horses hindquarters into a rounded back if you can. Ride so you make hime comfortable but with guidance and purpose. When you feel this (after watching the tape its obviously to the left lead he has trouble with), when you are about 10 metres from the pole inside your circle make sure you let him know something is going to happen. (now everyone has there own thing). When you are about 5 metres away commence a tight circle to the left toward the pole staying rythmic and deep seated. Just before you get to the pole make sure you are still in a fairly tight but not uncomfortable (for the horse) circle and that your outside leg (right) is firm behind the girth nudging at the same time as the horses right hindleg moves forward and that your inside leg is nudging hard on the girth as the left foreleg moves forward (same timing for both your legs to be nudging) just as he/she skips the pole, this will bring him up off the ground while he skips the pole, hopefully if you stay calm deep and don't change your nudging he will have to concentrate on your leg pressure and the pole and he should naturally strike of on the left hand lead. If you need to use rein maybe bring your left hand out about a foot from his whither toward the inside which you want him to strike off from and keep the outside rein where it is but at this stage don't bring your right hand reing over the whither. Hopefully he does is right, it might need a bit of practice but when he gets it right keep him going on the right lead for another big round circle then move you weight slightly back in the saddle, lower your heels so you sit deeper and slight tug or two to bring him slowly down to a walk and halt. Dismount and reward him with big hugs and kisses ( maybe not the kisses, i'm a girl). but make him feel he has done something really bonza. You will do it, its just you have to have patience and try to loose track of time and really get into him, he looks scared to me of his surroundings. is he new to the ring. Time and patience.
ReplyDeleteThe rider needs to make sure he has the abilitly to first move the horses hind quaters. (There are several excersises to get this accomplished from the ground and in the saddle.) When he has total control of this then he needs to move the hind quarters first , if like in the video he wanted the left lead use his right leg to move hind quarters , keeping the horses nose bent in slightly to the left( so you can see the horses inside eye) walk a couple steps keeping the right leg off the horse the rider needs to sit back slightly keeping his weight mostly in his right butt cheek, kiss and ask horse to lope off. First get his hid quarters to get the lead then his front. (Make sure you don't let him drop his shoulder.) Smile and have fun.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all i think the horse should know that he has to move away from the leg. Once he knows i would move a lot circles with inside bend. First at walk than trott, than i would start to move from trott to canter always in a circle with some extreme bend to the inside.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've done in the past is: Using a round pen, I have put my horse in a ground driving set up with is head tipped to the rail and had him work in that direction, then do the same in the other direction. After 2 weeks of this I took him to the arena and asked for the canter in the corners. Lifting my inside rein about 2 inches 4 steps before the corner and put my outside leg on then 2 steps before the corner and ask for the correct lead. By doing this I'm setting my horse up for the correct lead.
ReplyDeletestart the canter on the corner, ask for the canter with your outside leg (to start the offside rear foot to change gait)whilst freeing the horse's left shoulder by feeling the right rein will encourage the horse to strike out on the left lead.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm working on this myself. I sometimes get confused. The three step method that seems to help is...
ReplyDelete1. Lift inside rein
2. Use outside leg behind the girth
3. Push with the seat
Good luck to you...and to me!
Hi Everyone! I am very impressed with the answers so far. The correct answer will win a AD "Big Ring" Running Martingale. You can post additional answers if you want.
ReplyDeleteThink Form! AL
When looking at this rider we see he has the ability to ride. What I see horse and rider are the falling 1.The horse is heavy on the forearm 2.The horse is elevate with no collection 3. The horse has no stop. So how do we fix this? The first thing to remember is that horses are bilateral. I would take this horse and rider back to the basics and prepare them for this discipline. I suggest that he start with running martingale and snaffle bit. Start by moving your hands back and forth at the walk and use your boot tops on his side to create forward motion. Then at the ask him to stop, keep moving your hands and use your feet to encourage him to back up. Use your feet at the shoulders and or his side. Once you get him backing in a kind way, start turning him and walk off the other way, this will help get the horse off his forearm back on his hocks. Also be careful not to pull but use the word WHOA. This could take some time to get done. When this is working also check his lateral flexion by turning his head from side to side while the horse is standing still. If he still wants to move off your hand be patient and keep practicing. Then you could ask him to lope, if he picks up the wrong lead, stop. Soften his back and go the other way. Remember to keep moving your hands side to side at the walk. At the lope you would want to roll your hands with the motion of the horse. This helps the rider not to lean on the horse’s forearm and become a better rider. Then when we have the horse loping in the right lead we would make our stride longer and then shorter, slow enough almost that he would stop. If he stops that’s OK, either soften by backing him up and turning him and going the other direction or keep going in the lead that you were in. The tool I would use for this would be a German martingale this will help draw him in and let him out. I believe if the rider spent some time working at this he become a better rider and make his more useful, and happier.
ReplyDeletetip his nose out ask for the canter going into the turn out side leg preasure..
ReplyDeleteHorses are bi-lateral. If you pull the nose over to one side the hips will swing out on the opposite side. This will set up the lead change.
ReplyDeleteBefore asking for the lead change bridle the horse up and drive him into the bit so his back is rounded and he's driving from the rear.
The rider needs to make his cues clearer. Shoulders back and legs down and in contact with the horse. Lift the inside rein slightly with the outside rein at normal height but pulling back towards hip slightly to tip the nose to the outside. At the same time cue with outside leg slightly behind girth and drive with the seat.
This rider is too loose in the upper body. He needs to carry himself more. His inside leg is way to far forward and is blocking the shoulder movement. He needs to move his inside leg into neutral, or heels under shoulder.
I have been working on this too. I learned that if I am looking for the left lead I need to get my left foot out of the way(back more) and cue harder with the right leg. I have tried tipping the head with some success but the leg in the way will make the horse feel boxed in and take the incorrect lead every time.
ReplyDelete