Canter leads

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Equi

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My instructor noticed as I do my horse picks up the wrong lead on the right rein. I'm not skilled enough to really know what I'm on sometimes I feel it sometimes I don't.

Is there any videos or something that can really get it into my head because I just watched one on YouTube and it was sound advice but I thought the horse was on the wrong leg the entire time! Now I'm all confused.

What would really help would be a video of the shoulders really lol I do have to look down but if I'm not sure what leg I'm supposed to be on it won't work.
 
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Whilst watching horses cantering will help you determine when other people are on the right lead, it won't help you develop the feel necessary to know you're on the right lead. To do this, it's pretty much just practice! You need someone on the ground to tell you if you're right/wrong.
 
Trouble is many people tell me but some are not correct! I do have canter problems in general, mostly due to my lack of lower limb power, so by the time I'm settled into a canter and want to start looking or feeing we've stopped. Whips help though lol
 
equi said:
Trouble is many people tell me but some are not correct! I do have canter problems in general, mostly due to my lack of lower limb power, so by the time I'm settled into a canter and want to start looking or feeing we've stopped. Whips help though lol
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Get an instructor out? I should hope they wouldn't get it wrong, haha!
 
Inside leg should be reaching further forwards than outside leg, to make it easier to see put a brightly coloured overreach boot on one leg so you can differentiate easier.. once you know you are right concentrate on how it feels to develop your feel so you need to look less.
 
No he had a sore stifle before the physio and is ready to be done again but that's not the issue the issue is I don't know what lead I'm on when I'm cantering so if I'm wrong I don't know. He goes on the correct lead and the incorrect one - obviously he will muscle more correct if always on the correct one lol


I have instructor that comes out weekly but haven't got to the point of *really* working on our canter yet she's been teaching me more about balance and collection and getting the back end working better. I've cantered a few times and she's told me wrong leg or correct leg but I don't tend to remember lol
 
Bessi said:
Inside leg should be reaching further forwards than outside leg, to make it easier to see put a brightly coloured overreach boot on one leg so you can differentiate easier.. once you know you are right concentrate on how it feels to develop your feel so you need to look less.
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So if looking down, the inside shoulder would be forward more?
 
There is also a Monty Roberts clip about how to get the right lead which is really good. Worked on Ffin when he was feeling good.




With Kevin I've not open my eyes to check yet!!!
 
Rather than looking, and possibly getting it wrong, go to a good RS and practice on a few different horses. This is a better idea than confusing your horse imo
 
I do plan to have a lesson on a school master type soon. Mines not ploddy but he's not totally sharp either so I do spend some time getting him going more forward (he was used in a rs for a time)

I've tried a few riding schools and honestly the horses are quite hard to get to do anything other than stop. But then again my confidence is a year older since my last riding school lesson. Weekly lessons on my own horse will probably help just as much as bad riding school horses ones. Just need to get it in my head.

I will practice tomorrow and film it and show my instructor.
 
Maybe try doing the transition in the first corner after a long side so that when you come to turn the second corner it will be more obvious if your horse is on the correct leg as he will bend to the inside and turn more easily where as if on the wrong leg he will probably rush, bend to the outside, become choppy and may break the canter if he is not very balanced. You may then feel when it is right or wrong easier when you don't have someone watching?
 
Try asking for canter in a corner and stand up in saddle once you're in canter. You should be able to feel the inside front leg moving more forward and the outside front hitting the ground at the same time as the inside Hind :)

Or as soon as getting into canter do a circle - if it feels wrong and awkward then you're on the wrong leg
 
ponies4ever said:
Maybe try doing the transition in the first corner after a long side so that when you come to turn the second corner it will be more obvious if your horse is on the correct leg as he will bend to the inside and turn more easily where as if on the wrong leg he will probably rush, bend to the outside, become choppy and may break the canter if he is not very balanced. You may then feel when it is right or wrong easier when you don't have someone watching?
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I'll give both above a try. I wish someone would lunge me but anytime someone is there I forget to ask lol
 
Timing is everything. you have to have a good connection with the bit through the outside rein before the horse starts the first beat of the canter and this connection helps to set the outside hind leg on the ground which initiates the correct lead. At the walk or trot as the horse's outside hind foot leaves the ground, You should feel your seat bone slightly lifting. That's the critical timing moment when you should apply a half halt to gather your horse's energy and hold the outside hind leg on the ground. If that makes sense ......
 
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Practice out hacking and look at the shoulder which is stretching further forward. If he has a long mane plait it out the way.

Also my daughter told me last night she now realises what I mean about leading legs and changing legs and she finally understood by skipping (cantering!) around the hall while putting her clean washing away lol. It's the same thing really, when you skip you lead with one leg or the other.
 
I was taught the looking down and seeng which leg was going higher malarkey, utterly useless on a Friesian who has all legs going high! I also studied you tube for a long time, but not the how to videos, just actually watching horses canter.

Once you really understand where all the legs go, you can begin to feel them when you are on board. In the mean time- you know the 1,2,3...1,2,3... Canter rhythm, count it in your head, and imagine which legs should be doing what. You will find the leading leg is the one that hits the ground on 3. :)
 
Well it's not me!

Worked a lot on lateral exercises and tried really hard but nope he will not do it. He did it once and naturally it was the only time thr video was crap and you can't see us lol

Perfect on the left rein.

So I have more of a focus area when the physio or whoever comes. Instructor reckons his left hind side is tighter than the right (can even see this) so advised lots of massaging before a ride and after and work on square turns (which he was even trying to get out of)

So I've a few videos of us to watch intently and try and see what is happening.

So now I don't know who to get - physio, sports therapist or what? If it's muscular my thinking would be sports therapist more?
 
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ahh actually we did get a video of it. So good to really be able to see it. Won't be cantering again until the issue has been sorted though
 
Had similar problem with my horse, constantly picking up wrong lead when he was very green, seemed to be in a habit of picking up right lead whatever rein he was on. I found bending him to the outside helped him pick up the corect lead and asking in a corner. Possibly something you are doing, maybe take you weight of his back and see if this makes a difference. Can tell if your horse is on the wrong lead by looking down at his shoulder, inside leg should strike further forward than outside leg and therefore inside shoulder should be slighty infront of outside shoulder, should also feel unbalanced when on the wrong leg. Try watching videos of horses on the correct lead and others doing counter canter so you can see the difference.
 
I'll give that a try when he's ready to try it again. I know he can do it I've got proof haha so it's a recent type of thing. He's maybe just pulled something. He's not lame or angry at anything and forward in every other way apart from picking up this lead. Goes forward in the wrong lead perfectly lol
 
equi said:
I'll give that a try when he's ready to try it again. I know he can do it I've got proof haha so it's a recent type of thing. He's maybe just pulled something. He's not lame or angry at anything and forward in every other way apart from picking up this lead. Goes forward in the wrong lead perfectly lol
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Yep get all the checks done, maybe something bothering him. Mine was exact same, physio & saddler out etc all said everything was fine. Horses are creatures of habit and he just seemed to think canter meant right lead only, had to make cantering on the left lead the easier option and it seemed to click!
 
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