Trainer Chance O’Neal shows how to prepare your horse mentally and physically before asking him to perform a lead change.
When I start working on a lead change on a horse, I really want to get control of his shoulder. To do that, I have to be able to pick up on a horse’s face and have him soften and give in the bridle. I want him to move in a circle with a correct arc in his body from his nose, through the ribs and the hip.To do a correct lead change, a horse needs to change in the rear before he changes in the front. You’ve got to get his shoulders out of the way to create a lane for the hindquarter to pick up the new lead. To get his shoulders out of the way, you change the arc in his body for the new lead.To get a horse used to changing his arc and moving his shoulders out of the way, I have an exercise I do with him at the trot.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article by Chance O’Neal in The American Quarter Horse Journal
