Articles

Prepare to Position for the Transition

by Robbie Potter

The older I get the more I learn about the magnitude of these words from Ray Hunt. One of the places I feel many people miss out on this concept is when they want to canter on a right or left lead. So many times I see people having issues at this transition simply because they lack an understanding of a horse being on a right lead or a left lead at a walk or trot. Let's say the horse is trotting on a right lead while moving to the left but the rider doesn't recognize this. Then when the horse is asked to canter he picks up the right lead or cross-fires. The next time the rider usually tries to get the "correct" lead by using all sorts of movements and cues. Now the horse is paying a price for our mistake. The result would be much more comfortable for them both if that horse had been trotting on a left lead BEFORE being asked to canter. That way he would be better prepared to position for the transition.