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Pushing the Barrier by Speed Williams - July, 2008

Rope Horses and the Left Lead

This month I received an email that says, “I have a problem getting my head horse in the left lead and he is kind of rough to ride. Is there any thing I can work on to get him to change leads?”

It is very important for rope horses to take their left lead. There used to be folks who trained rope horses that would never lope a horse to the right. I don’t agree with that because a horse needs to be balanced, able to control himself and be able to change leads. If a steer goes to the left or to the right, your horse needs to switch leads and go to the cow.

First check for any physical problems in his left shoulder or hind end. Most of the time when a horse won’t take a lead it’s because something is hurting him.

Once physical problems are eliminated, get your horse into a round pen and lope him to the left – a lot. If you have access to a Priefert panel walker with compartments it will save you many hours. My walker has paneled compartments where a horse is not tied at all. You can have them lope, in either direction, for as long as you want.

Practice riding your horse and making him take his lead. One way people cheat at this is to ride towards the fence then turn him to the left as he gets there and kick, making him take the left lead. Another thing some trainers do is while loping straight; slightly pull the horse’s nose in the opposite direction of the lead you want them to take. For instance, loping straight and pulling your horse’s nose to the right and kicking with your right foot will force your horse to extend his leg front leg.

It’s hard to make your horse take the left lead from the box. Pointing him towards the chute and aimed at the cow gives you a better chance of him leaving in the left lead. You don’t want to do this at a roping or behind a barrier because his head will block your line of sight and you can’t see where the cow is or where’s he’s going.

There are always some horses that are naturally right leaded and it will take many circles to the left to overcome this tendency.

If there’s something you want me to write about, visit fastbackropes.com and click on “Contact Us.” Send your idea in the email and it will be passed along to me.

For more information about Speed, including roping tips and video clips, visit www.speedzoneroping.com

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