Leads And Horse/Rider Compliance

Although lead changing in races mostly looks automatic except for those occasions when one of them rolls down the stretch on the left instead of right lead, if you're on the ground, trust this, its other than that correct leads just happen.

Four lead changes are required from our animal in every gallop of every day around the track. Calling our equine friends hob knobs of inconsistency would be kind. Let's just observe that getting the correct lead is likely other than on their list of priorities.

This means, of course, that it is the rider of the horse that need make things happen. While there are peripheral things that effect lead changing including speed of the gallop, experience of horse/skill of rider, whether the horse is right or left footed, the point at which the gallop begins, etc, the essence of lead changing is rider motivation and rider control. For the trainer, be assured, these latter two characteristics generally, although other than always, need guidance. The trainer that leaves lead changing to chance is going to get burnt, or, more accurately, the owner is going to get burnt.

So, we get down to an aware rider with knowledge of technique. When the horse/rider pair enter the race track, in this e.g. at the 3/16th pole, at the walk, where does the lead changing idea begin?

If the trot warm up is on the front straight away as it was at the Woodlands, the horse will trot roughly from the 3/16th pole to the wire before commencing it's gallop. We want the horse on the left lead going around the club house turn. Unless we get that lead the whole work is going to get screwed up. This idea of commencing on the left lead is crucial to the 2M gallop to come.

Easy you say? Think about it. Does the horse have a 50% chance of deciding for itself to start on either lead and hence a 50% chance of screwing up the work? In this case the rider is thinking for the horse, and that thought process better be going entering the race track instead of e.g. the rider jawing with a buddy as he enters or any of the many other myriad of distractions plaguing our good pin heads.

The difficulty for the horse is that to get the left lead it must be on the correct diagonal at the trot. If e.g. the horse is on the diagonal that requires right lead, then the right lead is all the horse can get off that particular lead. This is required by rear leg-front leg coordination. You've seen those charts of the horses four legs at the trot. At the trot the left rear and front right will be in coordination. And the four legs will be going in a different sequence depending whether the horse is leading at the trot with it's left or right. Picture the horse going around in a circle. Going around the circle clockwise the horse will be leading with its left at the trot/counterclockwise with the right.;

Thus from walk to trot at the 3/16th the rider need get the horse on the correct diagonal at the trot. Frequently easier said than done. Technique, next post.
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