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 Expert
Posts: 2128
  
| Ive noticed not all racehorses run in the correct lead for the direction they are running. In the racehorse world do they just allow them to run however is comfortable to them? Is "correct" lead even something they worry about? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | Technically if a horse is Galloping it is a 4 beat gait therefore there would be no lead. Only if they were loping which is a 3 beat gait would they have a lead |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | Tb's do change leads. They start out on a right lead, switch to a left lead around the turn, and back to the right lead on the straightaway . |
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  Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | Straightaway racing I don't think they care. But when they are running around a turn they need them to be in the correct lead. They want them to change from the right lead on straights to the left lead in the corners (in American racing) because they will fatigue too much on one lead the whole race. In much of the rest of the world they don't race counterclockwise. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| Fun2Run - 2017-04-25 12:58 PM
Tb's do change leads. They start out on a right lead, switch to a left lead around the turn, and back to the right lead on the straightaway .
THIS!! But, if a horse is so sore that they won't change leads...the jockeys will rarely force them. That's when most break downs happen...the older horses know how to protect themselves. |
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Expert
Posts: 2128
| Thank you guys for the explanations. Always curious about other equine sports. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Fun2Run - 2017-04-25 1:58 PM Tb's do change leads. They start out on a right lead, switch to a left lead around the turn, and back to the right lead on the straightaway .
QH's do too, if they are broke right and galloped correctly. |
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Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Katielovestbs - 2017-04-25 3:22 PM Fun2Run - 2017-04-25 12:58 PM Tb's do change leads. They start out on a right lead, switch to a left lead around the turn, and back to the right lead on the straightaway . THIS!! But, if a horse is so sore that they won't change leads...the jockeys will rarely force them. That's when most break downs happen...the older horses know how to protect themselves.
Yep, thats why I really like to have a rider that will ask for the lead changes when training. I had a nice filly last spring that completely out of the blue would switch to the right lead but switch right back to the left after a stride or two. Took her to the vet and she had a very minor stress fracture in her right pastern. Looked completely sound otherwise, just wouldn't hold the right lead and was very mildly off jogging a tight circle to the right. Scary to think what could have happened if we would have given her bute and run her. |
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