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Lead on your horses2007-11-24 21:18:20

My horse wount pick up his RIGHT lead. I have tread tering his hed kiking him lunging him and doing small seculs. When i lung him he will pick up his lead but whem i am on hem he does not. My traner does not even no what to do. I need help because i am going to show him in a little bit.

Answers:

The first thing I'd look into for this horse is how the saddle fits and if you are riding in balance or if you are somehow off-balance or shifting your weight. A horse that picks up the lead on the lunge but won't under saddle may be sore or uncomfortable when under saddle.

If that checks out, then try the following:

If you can control the horse's hindquarters, you can control which lead she picks up.

Work on teaching her 'haunches in' in both directions. Once she will reliably respond by moving her hindquarters to the side, then start asking for the proper leads.

For example, to pick up the right lead, you will ask her to shift her hindquarters to the right. As she does so, pick up lightly on her forehand so she doesn't drop a shoulder and squeeze with your left leg. Done correctly, the weight distribution of the horse opens up the inside shoulder and the horse will strike off into the right lead 99.9999% of the time. It's almost impossible for them not to. At first, your horse will have her hindquarters shifted to the inside quite a ways before you ask for the lead. As you progress, the hindquarter shift will become almost imperceptible until all you will need to do to change leads or pick up a lead is use your leg.