Canter leads, and the change that comes much later

I get asked about flying changes far more often than the horses in question are ready for one. That is not a criticism of anybody: the change is the visible, exciting thing, and the canter underneath it is not.

But the change is a symptom of the canter, so it is worth starting where the work actually is.

What a lead is

In canter the horse's legs do not move in pairs the way they do in trot. The sequence is three-time, and one foreleg reaches further forward than the other. That foreleg is the leading leg, and it names the lead: right fore reaching furthest is right lead canter.

On a turn or a circle, the horse should be on the inside lead. Left-hand circle, left lead. It is not an arbitrary rule of etiquette. The leading leg comes down last in the sequence and takes a good deal of the load through the turn, and a horse cantering on the outside lead round a corner is balancing against the bend rather than with it. He can do it, but it is harder work and less stable, and a young or unbalanced horse may fall in or break to trot.

How to tell, without looking down

Most riders check by looking at the shoulder. It works, and it costs you something: dropping your head tips your shoulders, shifts your weight, and can unbalance the horse enough to cause the very fault you were checking for. On a green horse it is a real problem.

Better ways, roughly in order of how long they take to learn:

Glance rather than look. If you must use your eyes, flick them down without moving your head. The inside shoulder will be visibly reaching further forward.

Feel which hip goes first. In canter your seat is being moved in a rocking motion, and it is not symmetrical. On the left lead your left seat bone and hip are carried slightly further forward with each stride. Sit still and notice it, and after a few weeks you will simply know.

Notice what the canter feels like on the turn. A correct lead round a corner feels balanced and slightly uphill. The wrong one feels awkward, flat and like the horse is motorbiking through the turn. Most riders can feel that difference long before they can name it.

I have riders count strides out loud in canter and tell me the lead without looking. They get it wrong for a fortnight and then they stop getting it wrong.

Why your horse keeps striking off on the wrong lead

Almost never naughtiness. Usually one of these.

Your position. This is the commonest by a distance. If your weight has slipped to the outside, or your outside shoulder has come forward, or you have collapsed through the inside hip, you are asking for the outside lead with your body while asking for the inside one with your leg. The horse answers your seat.

Asking on a straight line. Canter departs are much easier for the horse if there is a slight bend and a turn to help him. Asking down a long side, straight, gives him no clue which lead you want and no shape to strike off into.

Balance and stiffness. Most horses are better one way than the other, and a horse who consistently struggles on one rein is telling you something about his straightness, not his manners. Sometimes he is telling you something about his body, which is a different conversation and a veterinary one.

Rushing into it. A hurried trot before the transition tends to produce a flat, unbalanced departure that lands on whichever lead is easiest.

The fix is almost always the same: prepare on a turn, sit up and to the inside, keep the outside rein, ask with a light inside leg at the girth and the outside leg behind it, and ask from a trot that is rhythmic rather than fast. If it goes wrong, come back and set it up again rather than kicking on and hoping.

Counter canter is not a mistake

Worth saying plainly, because riders correct it as though it were.

Counter canter is deliberately cantering on the outside lead, and it is a schooling exercise: it asks the horse to stay balanced and straight while his body is arranged against the direction of travel, and it builds the balance and the obedience to the aids that a change later depends on.

So the distinction that matters is not which lead he is on, it is whether he is on it because you asked. A horse cantering counter, balanced, staying where you put him, is doing good work. A horse who fell onto the wrong lead through a corner and is now leaning through it is doing something else.

What has to be true before a flying change is worth asking

A flying change is the horse changing lead in the moment of suspension, without breaking to trot. It looks like the next thing to learn after you can canter on both leads. It is not.

Before it is a fair question, I would want:

1. A canter that is genuinely adjustable. He shortens and lengthens when you ask, and comes back without an argument.
2. Straightness. The quarters stay behind the shoulders. A horse who cants sideways in canter will change late behind, every time, and that is a habit you will spend a long time undoing.
3. Balanced counter canter. He can hold the outside lead through a shallow loop without falling in or swapping on his own.
4. Clean simple changes. Canter to a few clear steps of walk to canter on the other lead, calmly and to the aid, both directions.
5. A rider who can sit still. The change is asked with a small, clear rearrangement of the aids at a precise moment, and a rider who throws themselves at it produces a horse who braces.

If those five are in place, the change is usually much easier to teach than people expect. If they are not, asking anyway tends to produce exactly the faults that then need fixing: changes late behind, running, tension, or a horse who starts swapping leads on his own because he has learned that this is what canter now involves.

Simple changes are the work. They are not the boring version of a flying change, they are what builds it. Every simple change is a rehearsal of the same question, at a speed you can both manage.

The honest bit

Not every horse and rider needs a flying change, and it is worth being clear about that. If you are not competing at a level that asks for one, the balance, straightness and adjustability you would build to get there are worth having entirely on their own. That is the real gain. The change is a nice thing to be able to do, and it is a long way down the list of things that will improve how your horse goes.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know which canter lead I am on without looking down? Feel which hip and seat bone are carried further forward: on the left lead it is the left. If you need your eyes, flick them down without moving your head, because dropping your head shifts your weight and can unbalance the horse.

Why does my horse always pick the wrong lead on one rein? Usually a combination of your position and his natural stiffness on that side. Set the transition up on a turn, check that your weight has not slipped to the outside, and ask from a rhythmic trot rather than a hurried one. If it is consistently one side and getting worse rather than better, have him checked.

Is counter canter a fault? Not when it is asked for. Counter canter is a recognised schooling exercise that builds balance and straightness. Falling onto the outside lead through a corner is a different thing, and the difference is whether you asked.

When is a horse ready for flying changes? When the canter is adjustable and straight, counter canter is balanced, and simple changes through walk are clean on both reins. Those come first, and they are most of the work.

What does changing late behind mean? The horse changes in front on one stride and behind on a later one, rather than in a single moment of suspension. It is usually a straightness problem, and it is much easier to prevent than to correct once it has become a habit.