Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Jay said;

> Because the horse is pushing off on the inside hind leg,
> ?and the rider's weight is rising, it is much easier for the
> ?horse to "lead" off with his inside front leg at the same
> ?time that the inside hind leg is thrusting his weight forward.
Ummm....in a balanced canter transition a horse "leads" with its outside hind.? 
In a canter stride, the "leading fore" is actually the LAST leg to hit the 
ground before the moment of suspension.

It IS possible to get a horse to "fall" into a canter onto its inside foreleg, 
but to get the horse to strike off into the canter with balance, it needs to 
push off into the canter with its hind leg, and if the horse is on the correct 
"lead," the hind leg that it pushes off with is the OUTSIDE hind (which is why 
the "english" riders that Jay refers to in her post are taught to use their 
outside legs behind the girth to ask for a canter transition).

But she is right that it is easier for the horse (and rider) to get the 
"correct" lead in the canter from the "correct" diagonal in the rising trot.? 
But this is because it is easier for the rider to give the cues and for the 
horse to make the move if the rider isn't coming down into the saddle when 
asking for the transistion--instead the rider comes down into the saddle AFTER 
asking for the transition as the outside hind hits the ground as the first part 
of the canter stride.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


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