May
I know questions about lead changes have been asked over and over. My turn LOL well i was wondering when asking for the “new” lead do you slightly bend your horses head to that side, kinda like shoulder yielding, or do u keep them perfectly straight. I am over analyzing, sorry guys!
Answer:
Horses naturally have a slight bend to their body when they're cantering - not in the head/neck area but in the barrel area. That's the bend you want to change to get the lead to change.
So… don't crank his head to the side, don't try to move his hindquarters over. Keep your leg firmly on the side you want his new lead to be on while cuing him on the outside with your leg a bit behind the usual position. This gives him a support to bend around (the new lead side leg) while giving him the cue to go forward and to change his bend (the outside leg cue). Particularly with a less completed horse, slightly (slightly!) flexing his neck into the new direction will help.
Many horses have difficulty with lead changing and require more exaggerated movements. The best may appear to the audience as perfectly straight, but it is in fact a slight bend through the barrel.
Answer:
Ideally, when you ask to change a lead all you have to do is change your leg on the horse (if the horse is loping to the left, then you would need to put your left leg on it to change to the right lead). If your horse is bent or leaning it makes it harder for the horse to get that lead changed correctly and fluidly. You want the horse to be straight, not only to get the lead changed correctly and fluidly, but to also prevent the horse from developing bad habits of dropping shoulders and diving in when asking to change the lead.
Answer:
Ideally you should be able to keep straight and ask for it, but I do slightly bend to the inside, or squeeze my inside rein while/right before asking.
Then againt the horse im doing it on is a bit odd lol.
Answer:
You maintain your horse…in other words, keep his head straight, along with the rest of his body and use your leg to move his hind haunches over…right haunch over just before asking for the left lead and vice versa….keep your horse upright, not leaning.
Answer:
When you want to do a lead change you bend their head and and put a lot of pressure on the side your inside leg is on, so yes it is basically like shoulder yielding.
Answer:
i was under the understanding you use leg aids