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Originally Posted by delayjf
While it can be difficult at times to watch a horse's motion and determine which is actually hitting the ground first.
It might help to watch a horses head. As he runs down the stetch, a horse on the right lead will appear to be looking into the grandstand or will have his head cocked toward the grandstand
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I agree with the first statement, but not the second. Yes, it can be difficult to watch a horse's motion and understand leads. However, it's not accurate to simply base it on which way a horse's head is turned.
The easiest way to learn leads, is like anything else .. work at it.
As the hooves strike the ground in a stride:
right lead: left hind, right hind, left front, right front.
left lead: right hind, left hind, right front, left front.
Use replays or video tape to go back and watch as horses come out of the far turn, that's the most logical spot where horses will be making their changes. Focus on one horse in the clear and only watch his legs .. watch for the change .. the more you train your eye to see it, the easier it becomes.
And yes, a horse can go around a left turn on the right lead (which would be "wrong"). However, this makes the horse unbalanced and less efficient.
In American racing, which turns left .. a horse will travel on his left lead around turns and on his right lead in the stretch .. unless through fatigue, greeness or some other reasons, like Funny Cide, who changes with complete randomness - and has done so his whole career.
I'm not likely to be as critical of horses that show a tendency to run on their wrong leads .. like people, horses can show a strength on one side over the other. So I'd rather see a horse with a wrong-lead tendency than a horse doing it for the first time today. I'd also rather see the wrong lead tendency in the stretch than on the turn.
