Leads are a balance issue for a horse, and is when the right or left leg of the horse strikes forward during first during the canter. Make sure you know the different types of leads with help from a horseback riding instructor in this video on barrel racing.
Hi, I'm Teri Carter of Saddlebrook Stables in Castle Hayne, North Carolina. And I'm going to talk to you today about the importance of the correct lead during barrel racing. Leads are a balance issue for a horse. A lead is when the horses right or left front leg strikes forward first during the canter. It is a very importance balance issue. If you are turning right, you would like for the horse to be on the right lead; if you're turning left you would like for the horse to be on the left lead. Most barre3l patterns start with the right barrel, so you would want the horse to be on the right lead in order to optimally go ahead and turn the barrel at a high rate of speed without the horse being off balance. On the way to the second barrel you would the horse to do a flying lead change or switch leads because the horse would need to turn the barrel to the left. So it would need to be on the left lead. On the way to the third barrel, you're turning left again so the horse can remain on the left until after it crosses the finish line. Again, this is a very, very important balance issue. The way to achieve your correct leads is to cue withe opposite leg. So if you want the right lead, you cue with the left leg, if you want the left lead you cue with the right leg. This is the importance of leads during barrel racing.
