Many riders have a hard time getting their horses to pick up the correct lead in one direction. There can be many reasons for your horse picking up the wrong lead.

Here are two exercises that can help you with this problem. The first exercise increases bend. The second exercise engages the strike-off leg.

Exercise #1 – Increase the Bend

You want to increase the bend because horses pick up whatever lead they’re bent and flexed toward.

1. Gradually decrease the size of the circle by spiraling in. The pattern looks like the swirl on an all day sucker lollipop. As the circle gets smaller, the bend increases.
2. Keep your inside leg on the girth, switch your weight to your outside seatbone, and leg yield back out to the larger circle with bend. Make sure your horse bends as much BEHIND your leg as he does in his neck.
3. Do the spiral in/leg yield out exercise several times.
4. When you feel him bending well, ask for the canter WHILE you’re still going sideways in the leg yield.

Exercise #2 – Engage the Outside Hind Leg

The point of this exercise is to engage the outside hind leg because it’s the strike off leg for the canter. It’s a good exercise if your horse is lazy with the outside hind.

The exercise is actually a leg yield on a circle with the haunches displaced to the inside of the circle to engage the outside hind leg.

1. Counter-flex. This means position your horse’s head 1 inch to the outside so you see the outside eye or nostril.
2. Ask the haunches to come in while keeping the body straight as you would in a leg yield. This places the outside hind leg more under the center of gravity.
3. Go back to correct bend before asking for the canter. This step (getting correct bend) is vital as horses pick up whatever lead they’re bent and flexed toward.

Jane Savoie
1174 Hill St ext.
Berlin, VT 05602