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Jul. 13th, 2009 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI had a really good ride on Goof after work today. I've been working on various and sundry things with her since forever (At least since she was a four year old. She's like eleven this year, so it's been a while.) and today I asked Trysta to look at her and see if things were coming along.
When you're riding a horse, you really can't see what they look like or what they are doing. Good riders (not me) can feel what the horse is doing but I'm not that good. I need to have someone else look at me and tell me is going on. Also, for me personally, I have never ever been able to get someone to explain how to tell what lead a horse is on (cantering) while riding the horse. The question "Can't you feel it?" is not helpful. No, I can not. Can't. Kinesthetics is not my strong point. I do not have any useful kinesthetic sense here. So, to know what damn lead my horse is on, I have to have a spotter to look for me and tell me what the hell lead the horse is on. I also needed a spotter to look at my lateral work (leg yields and stuff) and see if my horse's legs were crossing over sufficiently to get "good effort" marks. And a spotter to see that her HQ were not moving extensively when I was asking her for pivots on the HQ. Again with the kinesthetics.
For the non-horsey among us, a lead is the "leading" leg when a horse is cantering or loping along. The gait pattern is either Left Hind, Right-Hind-and-Left-Front, Right Front (so the horse is on the RIGHT lead) OR it's Right Hind, Left-Hind-and-Right-Front, Left Front (so the horse is on the LEFT lead).
The linked video shows a horse TROTTING to the right (legs work in diagonal pairs), then CANTERING to the right about eight seconds in. At that point, the horse is on his RIGHT LEAD. You should be able to see that the RIGHT FRONT LEG works by itself. (When your horse is cantering on a circle, it is correct to have the INSIDE LEG be the "lead" leg for that circle unless you have specifically asked the horse to do otherwise.) Then, about 33 seconds in, the horse starts TROTTING again and starts going around to the LEFT. After that, he picks up a CANTER to the left and is on the LEFT LEAD where the LEFT FRONT LEG works by itself. That, there, is leads.
I have never been able to see leads. I can, if I want, lean really far forward and peer down at the ground over my horse's shoulders so that I can see the front feet hitting the ground. This is VERY SUPER BAD equitation and should not be necessary for telling what lead a horse is on... but prior to like this week, I could not even tell what lead we were on while staring at the front feet hitting the ground. (This is like being an English major who graduated from college without reading any Shakespeare. Ever.) I could see OTHER PEOPLE'S leads but when I was aboard a horse, I could not tell what lead that horse was on.
This past weekend, I took some quality time and cantered Goof up the hill past the pear tree. I asked for what I thought would be a left lead (I know the alleged commands to request a lead. My horse has no freaking idea what those commands mean because she's never been taught them, but I know the commands to give.) and I stared over her shoulders at the front feet to see what they were doing. And then I took her back to a trot and asked for what should be a right lead and then again stared over her shoulders at her front feet hitting the ground. Nick, being a tolerant sort for all manner of shitty equitation, didn't kill me while I was staring at the ground over her shoulder as we zipped along. (She's an Ayrab and a fairly peppy mover even at the best of times. We were definitely zipping along.) The feet, it seemed to me, were doing DIFFERENT THINGS when I asked for an alleged LeftLead and an alleged RightLead. As I was running out of hill, it came to me that perhaps the front feet were changing patterns in response to different commands. Hrm. There are only two ways to arrange feet for proper canters, so I felt encouraged on the lead front.
I made Trys spot leads for me. I put Goof on a 20-meter circle to the right and I asked for a right lead. Got it. I took her back to a trot and asked for a 20-meter circle to the left, cued for a left lead, and got it. (Nick does not like the left lead as well as the right but she apparently takes it on command. I need to spend some quality time with her in a ring working on canter departures -- "less frantic" is one goal and "repeatable leads" is the other goal. If I get leads down, I am automatically ahead of half the people out there.) Righty-ho, then. We have leads. We did like three steps of trot on the circle before I asked for a canter, so it wasn't like she did lots and lots of circle first. It was pretty minimal circling. I was not brave enough to check my lead skills on the straightaway but they'll probably come online with a bit of practice if they aren't there already. Also, I think I know what to look for in the "peering over the shoulders" department. I'll see if I can try to translate that to something a bit less shoulder-peer-y as time goes by. But anyway. I have known what leads were since I was eleven. At this late date, some twenty-eight years later, I feel like I can actually see them on a horse I happen to be riding.
Lateral work should have the horse's legs crossing. See here for an example. If you're asking for a leg yield and you're NOT getting the horse's legs crossing, you are not doing it well enough. If you're doing shoulder-in, you hold the horse crooked and move him in a straight direction... and his legs cross to get the job done. Nervous or unsure or unhappy horses do not cross their legs for lateral work... so getting to see legs crossing for lateral work is an indication that you're improving your horse's relaxation and stuff. It's a good thing. Nick's legs didn't cross this past winter... November or whatever, Nick was still stepping side-side without crossing. Now, she gives in and crosses nicely. (This is still at a walk but we're getting a lot better. I'm going to start flat work figures at the trot this week... but there's not a lot of point in trying at-the-trot what I cannot do at-the-walk, which is why the delay.)
And finally, turning on the hindquarters. Here's the video which shows a plain-headed unremarkable horse doing an absolutely perfect turn on the hindquarters for a kid who is riding the horse bareback with a halter. Regardless of what he looks like, this horse KNOWS how to do a turn on the hq. The inside hind foot does not freaking *move*. Someone, somewhere, put some serious freaking training on that unimpressive-looking horse and he's sane enough to not-kill the kid sitting on him. Nick is not that good yet but she's getting a lot better. We're continuing to work on it... she understands to rock her weight back now and it's coming along nicely in both directions. I remain hopeful.
And finally, she was less pressed about the amazingly scary jumps today. It needs another day of schooling but then I think she'll start to solidify on the new standards and I can start moving them around again. No point in laurel resting, here.
When you're riding a horse, you really can't see what they look like or what they are doing. Good riders (not me) can feel what the horse is doing but I'm not that good. I need to have someone else look at me and tell me is going on. Also, for me personally, I have never ever been able to get someone to explain how to tell what lead a horse is on (cantering) while riding the horse. The question "Can't you feel it?" is not helpful. No, I can not. Can't. Kinesthetics is not my strong point. I do not have any useful kinesthetic sense here. So, to know what damn lead my horse is on, I have to have a spotter to look for me and tell me what the hell lead the horse is on. I also needed a spotter to look at my lateral work (leg yields and stuff) and see if my horse's legs were crossing over sufficiently to get "good effort" marks. And a spotter to see that her HQ were not moving extensively when I was asking her for pivots on the HQ. Again with the kinesthetics.
For the non-horsey among us, a lead is the "leading" leg when a horse is cantering or loping along. The gait pattern is either Left Hind, Right-Hind-and-Left-Front, Right Front (so the horse is on the RIGHT lead) OR it's Right Hind, Left-Hind-and-Right-Front, Left Front (so the horse is on the LEFT lead).
The linked video shows a horse TROTTING to the right (legs work in diagonal pairs), then CANTERING to the right about eight seconds in. At that point, the horse is on his RIGHT LEAD. You should be able to see that the RIGHT FRONT LEG works by itself. (When your horse is cantering on a circle, it is correct to have the INSIDE LEG be the "lead" leg for that circle unless you have specifically asked the horse to do otherwise.) Then, about 33 seconds in, the horse starts TROTTING again and starts going around to the LEFT. After that, he picks up a CANTER to the left and is on the LEFT LEAD where the LEFT FRONT LEG works by itself. That, there, is leads.
I have never been able to see leads. I can, if I want, lean really far forward and peer down at the ground over my horse's shoulders so that I can see the front feet hitting the ground. This is VERY SUPER BAD equitation and should not be necessary for telling what lead a horse is on... but prior to like this week, I could not even tell what lead we were on while staring at the front feet hitting the ground. (This is like being an English major who graduated from college without reading any Shakespeare. Ever.) I could see OTHER PEOPLE'S leads but when I was aboard a horse, I could not tell what lead that horse was on.
This past weekend, I took some quality time and cantered Goof up the hill past the pear tree. I asked for what I thought would be a left lead (I know the alleged commands to request a lead. My horse has no freaking idea what those commands mean because she's never been taught them, but I know the commands to give.) and I stared over her shoulders at the front feet to see what they were doing. And then I took her back to a trot and asked for what should be a right lead and then again stared over her shoulders at her front feet hitting the ground. Nick, being a tolerant sort for all manner of shitty equitation, didn't kill me while I was staring at the ground over her shoulder as we zipped along. (She's an Ayrab and a fairly peppy mover even at the best of times. We were definitely zipping along.) The feet, it seemed to me, were doing DIFFERENT THINGS when I asked for an alleged LeftLead and an alleged RightLead. As I was running out of hill, it came to me that perhaps the front feet were changing patterns in response to different commands. Hrm. There are only two ways to arrange feet for proper canters, so I felt encouraged on the lead front.
I made Trys spot leads for me. I put Goof on a 20-meter circle to the right and I asked for a right lead. Got it. I took her back to a trot and asked for a 20-meter circle to the left, cued for a left lead, and got it. (Nick does not like the left lead as well as the right but she apparently takes it on command. I need to spend some quality time with her in a ring working on canter departures -- "less frantic" is one goal and "repeatable leads" is the other goal. If I get leads down, I am automatically ahead of half the people out there.) Righty-ho, then. We have leads. We did like three steps of trot on the circle before I asked for a canter, so it wasn't like she did lots and lots of circle first. It was pretty minimal circling. I was not brave enough to check my lead skills on the straightaway but they'll probably come online with a bit of practice if they aren't there already. Also, I think I know what to look for in the "peering over the shoulders" department. I'll see if I can try to translate that to something a bit less shoulder-peer-y as time goes by. But anyway. I have known what leads were since I was eleven. At this late date, some twenty-eight years later, I feel like I can actually see them on a horse I happen to be riding.
Lateral work should have the horse's legs crossing. See here for an example. If you're asking for a leg yield and you're NOT getting the horse's legs crossing, you are not doing it well enough. If you're doing shoulder-in, you hold the horse crooked and move him in a straight direction... and his legs cross to get the job done. Nervous or unsure or unhappy horses do not cross their legs for lateral work... so getting to see legs crossing for lateral work is an indication that you're improving your horse's relaxation and stuff. It's a good thing. Nick's legs didn't cross this past winter... November or whatever, Nick was still stepping side-side without crossing. Now, she gives in and crosses nicely. (This is still at a walk but we're getting a lot better. I'm going to start flat work figures at the trot this week... but there's not a lot of point in trying at-the-trot what I cannot do at-the-walk, which is why the delay.)
And finally, turning on the hindquarters. Here's the video which shows a plain-headed unremarkable horse doing an absolutely perfect turn on the hindquarters for a kid who is riding the horse bareback with a halter. Regardless of what he looks like, this horse KNOWS how to do a turn on the hq. The inside hind foot does not freaking *move*. Someone, somewhere, put some serious freaking training on that unimpressive-looking horse and he's sane enough to not-kill the kid sitting on him. Nick is not that good yet but she's getting a lot better. We're continuing to work on it... she understands to rock her weight back now and it's coming along nicely in both directions. I remain hopeful.
And finally, she was less pressed about the amazingly scary jumps today. It needs another day of schooling but then I think she'll start to solidify on the new standards and I can start moving them around again. No point in laurel resting, here.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 12:10 pm (UTC)It took me ages and ages to figure out how to tell a cantering lead. My instructor would yell at me and I'd confess that I couldn't tell and she'd make me lean ALLLL the way over while cantering to see wtf was going on. Over and over and over. ;_;
Therefore, leads are dumb and the horse should just canter however it canters and not all prettily like stupid show people want it to ^_^
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Date: 2009-07-14 05:01 pm (UTC)I am in the annoying group that can feel leads without looking, born of loooong practise and being made to ride with my eyes shut.
Which is a good exercise if you can get it. For those of us not naturally kinaesthetic, it helps (some people, me included) with the concentrating on feeling / analysing what's actually happening under us.
The leg coming further out thing is mostly an optical illusion.
When you lean forward to look, you are tipped further forward as the foreleg for the lead that you are on comes down, thus making it seem like the leg is actually further forward.
So if you are in left lead canter, the right hind pushes off and up, then the diagonal pair of left hind and right fore moves, keeping you feeling level/up and then the left fore moves and the horse is balanced only on that leg for a moment, and gives the appearance of being further out in front of the horse.
The other way to look at it is that the shoulder that drops back to you just before the moment of suspension and the next bound forward / upwards push is the leading leg.
I personally like to focus on which hind leg pushes off - if it's the left, then it's right canter and vice versa.
YMMV on how helpful these descriptions are. I hope they are not annoying at least.
Also, in case nobody ever bothered to say, (and I once had a student working at quite an advanced level who had not ever had this explained) the reason for leads is so your horse doesn't fall over when doing small circles / turns at speed.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-18 12:31 pm (UTC)Canter leads are way more clear to me these days. Apparently once you can see them, you keep on being able to see them. I think my problem with leads was that for years, I expected the "lead" leg to happen "first" in the footfall pattern. It does not. It happens last. What happens first is the hind leg/rock-back thing. Then there's the two-legs flat part. Then there's the tilt-forward part, which is the lead leg hitting the ground. It's at the end of the cycle, not at the beginning.
As for why we need leads, I've spent enough time with timed event horses and their automagical flying changes to have a handle on the usefulness of leads and turning.