Things are progressing really good with my 4 year old and we are in full Exhibition mode right now.  Still loping the pattern to get solid and make sure everything is working correctly before I add speed.  So heres the thing,  he has a very hard time catching his left lead when heading to the second barrel.  Once he gets it, he keeps it all the way around and to the 3rd.  He is super easy to catch the right lead when we are heading to the first barrel (right turn)  but in order for me to get his left lead I have to slow him way down for him to catch that lead going across and Im afraid Im teaching him to not stay in forward motion if that makes sense??  I have been working figure 8s and trying hard to teach him flying lead changes but he is just not catching on yet.  I do straight barrels all left and he gets it then and does it great staying collected.  Should I not worry and just keep going?  should I switch to the left so he has 2 rights?  Its been so long since I had a gelding I forgot they take a lot more work lol!

Joy Wargo has a great video talking about leads. She states that she doesn’t really stress them and the horse will figure it out:

https://www.trainingbarrelhorses.com/video-vault/barrel-horse-training/leads-and-consistency

They will figure it out.

I have one I started to the left from the beginning.  He’s got an old mouth injury and in general works better to the right in everything, including rollbacks on the fence - snaps right around.  He’s making a lot of progress on the left as we get more in tune and progress, but it’s still his weaker side.

i don’t bother with flying lead changes.  I do work figure 8’s and focus on quickly changing and powering off again.  Rollbacks have helped him figure out a turning motion vs just loping a circle too.

This. I don't focus on leads in between first and second, especially on young horses-- unless they try to turn the second on the wrong lead all the way around. Consistency will teach them to switch. Work on strengthening the hind in, some horses have less confidence/muscle mass on one side versus the other, and that can make them hesitate to switch leads, especially as they start going faster and faster. Making sure you're developing muscle on both sides in the hip will help gain that confidence. Rollbacks are a great exercise too!

I want my horse to change leads coming out off the first barrel.  If they change starting the left hand turn, they can move 3 feet toward the barrel.  So, I just do lead work off the pattern, using the same cues every time I ask them to change.  At first, you will have to drop to a trot and cue for the left lead.  As they speed up, they will change leads leaving the first, just like you've asked them to do in slow work.