Hi Cherry,

I am doing 4-H this year. Whenever I ride my 14 year old mare, my instructor says "Wrong Lead". How do I know if I am in the wrong lead. And what IS a lead? How do I figure out how to change leads? I know there are many questions, but I would like to learn. Thanks for your time.

Rachel

Hi Rachel,

By using the search tool on our article page you can find and read these two articles about leads.

Training a Horse for Correct Leads

Riding the Lope or Canter

When you are loping or cantering in an arena making a large circle or oval to the right, you should be on the right lead. When you are on the right lead your horse's right front shoulder and leg will reach the farthest forward.You can tell this by feel as his movement will carry your right leg a little bit forward too. And if you glance down you can see that his right leg is reaching farthest forward - but don't lean over to look down as that will throw you and your horse off balance. Just do a quick glance with your eyes.

Eventually, when your instructor tells you "correct lead !" make note of what that feels like as that is the best way to learn if you are on the correct lead. On the right lead, it will feel like the power of your horse is sending you from his left hind leg to his diagonal pair (the right hind and left front) and then up to the leading foreleg, the right front.

When you work to the left in the arena, your horse should be on his left lead and the opposite of what I wrote above will be true. When you are on the left lead your horse's left front shoulder and leg will reach the farthest forward. You can tell this by feel as his movement will carry your left leg a little bit forward too. And if you glance down you can see that his left leg is reaching farthest forward - but don't lean over to look down as that will throw you and your horse off balance. Just do a quick glance with your eyes.

Eventually, when your instructor tells you "correct lead !" make note of what that feels like as that is the best way to learn what the correct lead feels like. On the left lead, it will feel like the power of your horse is sending you from his right hind leg to his diagonal pair (the left hind and right front) and then up to the leading foreleg, the left front.

To read more, refer to:

Western Arena Pocket Guides
English Arena Pocket Guides
101 Arena Exercises
Becoming an Effective Rider

Best of luck and have a great ride !

Ask Cherry Hill