Cantering on hack, which leg?

[djlynwood]

Cantering on a hack on a straight path, do you choose which leg you strike off on.

Ive just wondered, do you do the same as you would in a school and put your outside leg back or do you just press both legs together without putting your outside leg back.

Hope this makes sense

 

[miss_c]

Depends on how I'm feeling! Sometimes I'll ask for a specific leg and bring her back to trot if she doesn't listen. Other times I'll just squeeze and off she'll go!

 

[Gooby]

I just squeeze with both legs and let him decide!

 

[djlynwood]

Glad Im not alone then with he sqeese and go.

I though I may have been doing something wrong.

 

[LeneHorse]

TBH I'm thinking more about whether she's going to throw a buck than which leg she's on!

 

[merlinsquest]

Merlin nearly always canters on his right lead leg.... so dont bother to ask for anything

He is obviously more comfy on this leg

 

[teddyt]

I always ask for a specific lead, with the appropriate aids for that lead. If the horse strikes off wrong then i will correct him so i get the lead i want. I then vary which lead i ask for, sometimes doing a trot transition and changing the lead on the same canter.

Cantering on the same lead all the time (which is likely to happen if you let the horse choose) doesnt help with suppleness and it is also important to have discipline on a hack. You wouldnt let your horse choose if he will stand or not while a car passes so you shouldnt let it choose the canter lead. Its all the same principle, you should be in charge, not the other way round. If you start letting your horse make decisions then you might not always be safe and the horse needs guidelines, not being allowed to do its own thing sometimes and what you say at others. That is unfair and not good for training.

 

[Pedantic]

If I am going to do a fast canter maybe leading into a gallpop I prefer him to be on his best leg as it is easier for me to sit to, so I will ask him for that leg, if it's just on the sraight and going to be a steady canter I like to work both sides and get him to use either so as to work both sides, if I can see that I am going to be going round a bend further along the stretch I will ask for the leg needed for that particular bend so when I get to the bend we are allready correct, whatever, I normally ask as it's good to use both sides and means I'm thinking about what I'm doing and he is listening to me, same with trotting, I always work both legs so as not to have a favourite, I agree with what teddyt said

 

[Coffee_Bean]

Depends, sometimes I let her decide, but sometimes I ask for one... I prefer right as it's my better rein

Naughty me

But I do ask for left too to balance it

 

[JoBo]

No idea, I just put my legs on, which ever one he chooses. I’m too busy enjoying myself to even notice.

 

[Patches]

I used to let my mare decided, until I realised that I'd built up her left canter so much that right canter failed us in lessons. She was so balanced on her preferred left lead.

Now, as we've been trying to correct the canter in our school work, I have become more aware about evening up the canter out hacking or across the farm land. Infact I am probably asking for right canter slightly more these days, just to try and build it up

 

[Archangel]

When I first started hacking out (trillions of years ago) my instructor always named a leg to canter on (you were in trouble if you didn't get it right) and this has sort of stuck, as has changing the diagonal several times each trot. Sometimes I will just go with the flow if it feels right, I think horsey has to let his hair down too.

 

[Chestnuttymare]

oh heck, it never crossed my mind. I just squeeze and go.

 

[Dizzyblonde99]

tend to ask for a certain lead so that he doesn't get overly exited at the thought of cantering and bomb of into a full gallop!!

 

[tiggerette]

I vary it, making sure that I do the same amount on both legs - it's how you keep them flexible and obidient to your aids. Same principle for trotting, changing diagonals to keep them equally balanced