Horses changing leads...

[Skanoochies]

I totally agree with that I am the same with base ball, football etc. That does not answer why you should mount a horse from the left side that is totally opposite from a right/right/ person.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Originally Posted by Skanoochies

I totally agree with that I am the same with base ball, football etc. That does not answer why you should mount a horse from the left side that is totally opposite from a right/right/ person.

How do you get on your bike/motorcycle?

[Skanoochies]

I think we got off track here. This thread was about horses changing leads. My
thought is that because horses seem to not like being mounted from the right side, (show me when you last saw a horse being mounted from the right side) it may have something to do with not changing leads turning for home.

[craigbraddick]

When calling races, I often note horses changing leads within 100 yards or so of the far turn. For some I almost think of it as part of their gearing down mechanism.

I am having lunch with a trainer this weekend at Arizona Downs. If anyone is interested I can ask them.

[plainolebill]

Originally Posted by Lemon Drop Husker

How do you get on your bike/motorcycle?

Try getting on a motorcycle or a bicyle from the right when it's on the sidestand.

[clicknow]

There is no doubt that being on the correct lead is more efficient; however, it may not be as comfortable for the horse, depending on his strength/conformation in different parts of body.

Just like people who over-compensate when our bodies are not properly aligned; human runners who pronate, have stronger leg on one side, have injuries, etc.

Why many good trainers employ chiropractors and acupunturists for their horses.

I have many inefficiencies in my walking and stride due to foot injuries, herniated discs and just age. Keeping it all working in a harmonious manner, plus proper body training, is very likely same things faced by equine athletes. One "part" gets weak or injured, the rest of the body mechanics is going to start compensating for that.


Correcting such things "during the ride" is not going to fix the underlying problem! If horse is "off" in back or front, or in feet or legs, that has to be corrected.

[Tom]

I always bought the suitcase analogy.
Having walked through many an airport lugging a heavy bag, the switch was almost intoxicating at times.

Bit I will be damned if I can ever see a lead change in a race.

[classhandicapper]

If you watch enough races and look for it you will see many examples of horses that were hanging or getting passed suddenly find a new gear, re-rally, and win once they changed leads. So it definitely matters.

The bigger question is whether there is any handicapping value in that information.

I don't have any data on that, but I can tell you that some horse don't change leads a lot of the time. So knowing it didn't in his last race may not matter for those.

Also, if the horse usually does but didn't last time, does that mean he's going to improve a length or so next time when he switches or does it mean he didn't switch because he has some physical problems on one side and his form is on the way down.

It's probably worth studying, but I've never seen anyone demonstrate it matters. Most people probably just make notes and assume they can use it profitably without actually knowing if it helps.

[woodbinepmi]

I can remember my father screaming at the television at Alydar to change leads in the Belmont, might have cost him the Preakness and the Belmont that year.

[Fager Fan]

Mounting horses from the left or “near” side goes way back to the days of men carrying swords on their left hips. Try mounting from the right or “off” side and you’ll find you’ll get entangled in or sit on your sword. So basically, it’s a matter of tradition, and at least for right handed people like myself, it simply feels right to mount from the left side.

Interestingly, it’s only in fairly recent years that we learned we somehow fell into choosing the correct side in which to mount, halter, bridle, and otherwise tinker with the horse. Studies have shown that the left eye of the horse has a stronger connection with the horse’s brain.

Other cultures however have a tradition of mounting on the off side, though that’s not nearly as predominant.

I don’t see how this has anything to do with changing leads. The lead leg does more pulling, so yes, switching leads gives the other leg a rest while using the rested leg to do most of the pulling. Teaching a horse to change leads is part of his early training.

[VigorsTheGrey]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

Mounting horses from the left or “near” side goes way back to the days of men carrying swords on their left hips. Try mounting from the right or “off” side and you’ll find you’ll get entangled in or sit on your sword. So basically, it’s a matter of tradition, and at least for right handed people like myself, it simply feels right to mount from the left side.

Interestingly, it’s only in fairly recent years that we learned we somehow fell into choosing the correct side in which to mount, halter, bridle, and otherwise tinker with the horse. Studies have shown that the left eye of the horse has a stronger connection with the horse’s brain.

Other cultures however have a tradition of mounting on the off side, though that’s not nearly as predominant.

I don’t see how this has anything to do with changing leads. The lead leg does more pulling, so yes, switching leads gives the other leg a rest while using the rested leg to do most of the pulling. Teaching a horse to change leads is part of his early training.

It also makes sense that a horse pull with the leg nearest the rail on turns, such that for races run counter- clockwise left leg leads, and for races run clockwise right leg leads, otherwise one can envision a horse sort of crossing over himself while pulling the shortest distance around turns...

[bobphilo]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

How much of an advantage is it for a horse when it efficiently changes leads down the stretch...as opposed to the one that refuses to make such a lead change? TVG's Rich Perloff, who takes pleasure in pointing out such lead changes, once compared it to a man walking down the street with a heavy suitcase in hand...and then switching hands when his occupied hand gets tired. But that can't be an accurate comparison, because the man's other hand is fully rested when he is carrying the suitcase in the one hand...whereas the horse has to use all four legs, no matter what lead the horse is on. Also...are the horses equally proficient when using either side of their body...or do they instinctively favor one side...as humans do? I know that when I swim freestyle, and start on my right lead due to my right-handedness...switching to my left lead during the last lap can hardly be depended upon to deliver an improved performance.

Is there anyone else out there with enough free time to ponder such trivial matters?

I agree. I know that in England the riders are not overly concerned whether their horse changes leads. I agree. If horse feels its getting tired on one lead then it will change leads on its own. If anything, yanking a horse around to try to get it to change leads before it thinks it needs to will likely mess up a horses action and do more harm than good.

[bobphilo]

Originally Posted by Skanoochies

When I was a youngster I went horseback riding and was told to always mount
from the horses left side. I always thought it was a joke. But it seems to me watching the paddock before the races, all jockeys seem to be given a hand up from the left side? Why is that?

The practice of mounting a horse on the left traces back to the days when men carried swords and since most men are right handed they carried their sword on the left. It's less awkward to mount a horse from the left since mounting from the right would cause the sword to swing around. This becomes clear when you visualize both ways.
This has carried over to why the English drive on the left side of the road. You want to avoid mounting a horse from the traffic side. It continued when cars arrived through custom. I believe this was true in the early days of the automobile in the US but for some reason got reversed here.

Edit - Just noticed that Fager Fan gave the same answer. Hadn't read all the posts before answering. I think that most here agree that a horse changes leads gains some advantage. The bigger question is whether the horse knows itself when it needs to change or must be forced to. I trust the horse to know when one side is tiring.

[bobphilo]

Now that we agree on why a horse changes leads it begs the question as to how this is handicapping factor. Given that a horse knows when it's time to change leads perhaps if a jockey interferes with this timing and actually detracts from a horses performance. Could this actually be an excuse for a poor performance?

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by bobphilo

Now that we agree on why a horse changes leads it begs the question as to how this is handicapping factor. Given that a horse knows when it's time to change leads perhaps if a jockey interferes with this timing and actually detracts from a horses performance. Could this actually be an excuse for a poor performance?

Not changing leads is definitely an excuse but not sure how you use it as a handicapping factor when you can't predict if it's going to happen---unless you just avoid betting horses that continually have trouble changing leads.