RIGHT AND LEFT HANDED HORSES

[TEXAS]

Have you guys ever considered horses are naturally right or left handed and the reason some bloodlines do well in other countries is they run clockwise and we run counter clockwise... therefore less energy is used and more natural movement is displayed in the turns.. therefore that good come from behind move in the turn... ????

Horses that run out on the turns are usually in the wrong lead and can not control the inertia of the turn... and usually end up hurt... same reason front wheel drive cars are not used by Nascar...

So, do we start putting left or right leaded in our sale catalogs???

Ever watch a horse struggle coming around the turn in the wrong lead???

Watch your derby and preakness tapes closely with Smarty Jones and you will see Elliot change leads at the start of the straightaway... and then in the belmonte... he finally wakes up and trys to change his leads as he is being passed... but Smarty had wore himself out continuing on the same lead out of the turn and just did not have the energy to change leads...
changing leads on the straightaways gives the horse a fresh side to maintain his momentum and is responsible for that other gear everyone talks about...

Just watch the jockey's hands and you will see him do a quick left right up and down movement and then play it back in slo-mo and you will see the horse change leads... the good jockeys pay attention to this... others just flog the daylights out of a tired horse.... laughing texas..

[Pete]

Hi Texas,

Interesting question / hypothesis.

It's not uncommon for North American dirt horses to toe out front right. We see fewer European horses but I've seen several that toe out front left.

Toeing out front right might well be an asset travelling counter clockwise in NA (Foolish Pleasure and many others) where that foot might add stability in the turns and left toe would favor clockwise racing.

Perhaps they are left/right handed biased.

Regards,

Pete

[lotsahorsin]

its not just TBs that this can be noticed-but in speed event stock horse events as well. Something I've always beleived-but I could be in a minority

[Colinsb]

It's very noticable over here where every track is different and we have both left and right handed (and straight!) tracks. Certain horses do have a tendency to 'hang' and not handle tracks that go in a certain direction.

[louis finochio]

If the sire of a TB is LH and the dam of a TB is LH you most likely will have a foal that will be LH. Before I mated my Racing Pigeons I mated a LH Racing Pigeon stud sire to a RH hen thus giving their offspring a balance between the two.

[TEXAS]

Louis.... laughing... that was just too cute...

You can watch colts or grown horses running in a pasture and see their natural preference of lead choices... they never miss a beat when making turns ... they move to the correct lead without any effort....

then when you put a rider on them... there is a short circuit.. and they have to be 'taught' their leads... amazing how this happens... texas

[mini's mom]

Isn't there something about how the foal is in the womb determines how it runs - if it lays on the left or right side before birth determines how it runs on the right or left side - and yes if horses are left in their natural state they just run what side they are comfortable on - and they will switch leads on their own when they change direction - and they wear their feet the way they want to ie grass horses have large flat feet whereas dirt horses have smaller different shaped ones -

[TEXAS]

COULD THIS BE THE ANSWER???

"If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body...then only left-handed people are in their right minds."

laughing... texas...

[ZiaLand]

This IS an interesting theory.

In addition to being RH or LH, I wonder if horses are like people in tending to be right-brained or left-brained.

People who are more predominantly right-brain tend to be artists, writers or pursue other creative pasttimes. They also tend to be left-handed. People who are more left-brained are analytical, methodical and good with numbers. Left-brained people also can tend to be right-handed.

I wonder if excellence on the racetrack translates to a right-brain or left-brain bias, and if the lead the horse favors is an indicator of which side of the brain is more predominant. If this theory could be proven, it could add a whole new dimension to pedigree analysis.

Laurie

[TEXAS]

Dressage riders/show jumpers and Reiners are well aware of a horse having a 'stiff side' and difficulty turning in that direction and spend a lot of time flexing the horse from neck to rump by making slow walking turnarounds to get both sides as equal and fluid as possible.

Never can remember the name of the mare that won the derby or one of the biggies and broke her leg after finishing.... I don't have that tape anymore.. accidently got taped over... but I swear she was in the wrong lead and just flailed her leg off (better than saying she wrung it off??) while slowing down in the turn after crossing the finish line...

If you have ever taught a horse correct leads riding circles you will know the sensation in your butt when a horse is in the wrong lead ... it feels like the outer legs are cartwheeling and the horse is being pulled outside the circle... to teach a horse different leads...for a left lead... at a trot tilt nose/head slightly to the right and bump your horse into a lope.. they will surge forward with the left foreleg and be on a left lead... just do the opposite for a right lead.. once they get the hang of it.. you can change leads back and forth at a gallop just by lifting the opposite rein as the cue.. reining gets a little more refined.. you teach a in front of the cinch or behind the cinch bump with the opposite foot... laughing... ... texas

[EK]

Hi Texas,

You have brought up many valid points on the leads of horses. I would like to just add that many horses have their fastest favourite lead. Also if a horse hesitates in changing a lead, this is often a sign of an injury in the specific structure that is peculiar to that lead.

For a jockey to change leads in a horse, a person needs perfect timing. Horsemen who do not do this correctly can injure and even bow horses. That is why a good gallop person who has a clock in his or her head is an essential element in any good stable.


Yours sincerely EK

[chiggins6]

Interesting. When I was 12 and backing and then breezing these ubroke racers for the chick I knew who thought she was a trainer (still don't know if she knew what she was doing or just wanted to breed and race really bad - although, her few youngsters did go on and race) she taught me all about the idea of left and right handed horses, and said that they had to be schooled and trained to not only switch their leads in the right place on the track, and on command from the jockey who paid attention to such things (today I always scrunch up to the TV screen and watch those suckers switch leads just before the turn, then again on the backstretch - you could see it really well in the Seabisuit movie - when he put on the speed at the end of a race, you could see him switch leads and - switch 'gears' and fly), but she said that they should also be schooled to strengthen their "weak" side. I did alot of walking and trotting in (not too tight at first) circles both directions, then, later, she had me doing large figure eights with flying changes (short "racing" stirrups!) with the hand signals just mentioned. Later, I was supposed to do the same at the designated spots on the track we used. Maybe she did know a little about what she was doing!

I guess what I am thinking is, I thought this was "basic training' what everyone did with their little guys LOL!

[monicabee]

Interesting subject.... ever been forced to switch your own "handness" - not just in writing but in in all the things you do, like how you pick up a cup of coffee or reach for a door handle? Its hard! The brain has to be rewired to learn new habits - something to remember when riding a green horse with a reluctance to use its weak side.

Thanks for the quote, Texas (yes, I'm left-handed).

[Ann]

Some how I have to jump in on this. Many, Many years ago I ran into a man named Monte Foreman...a true genius of his time I believe. In fact he father the Reined Horse...now reining. He was an old Calvery man and spent many hours filming and studying horses in their natural state (at play) and horseman putting horses through various manuvers. Much of this done on the King Ranch in Texas. In this study, he discovered horses are by nature NOT right or left sided, it's man who makes them this way. Briefly...horses when running/playing and changing directions...follow their noses...watch them. Man somewhere along the line decided by turning the horses head away from the desired lead and leaning in towards this lead, was the way to get the proper lead. Monte tagged this training process "Horseman's Disease".

I can't give you a riding lesson here but, I will tell you this without hesitation...horses are not ( I repeat) by nature, one sided. I'm lucky to have spent 10+ years learning under Monte's eye and watched hundreds of these so called "one sided" horses come through his clinics and his ranch. His gift to horses was to train riders to do what is natural for the horse. In fact, I viewed a video while in training at Monte's place, of him riding a Buffalo (the only bovine I believe to have gaits like a horse) during a rider Clinic session. No only could this Buffalo easily take correct leads, it did flying changes of leads and hindfoot first changes of leads. Horses are not one sided...people are.

I would go as far to say at this point in my life (I'm 60 and quit training riders and horses 10 years ago) that I can still prove Monte's claim concerning one sided horses. Monte had some wonderful films out many years back and I haven't a clue if they're available anymore. One was Riding By Reasoning, Bits and Bitting and a third one I just can't remember. Sorry to say, I lent my videos out to someone in Okla. and never got them back. Monte's son Gary is still alive and I imagine he would have the masters of these videos.

Does all this equate to our races horses...absolutely...it's as simple as following your nose.

[chiggins6]

Wow, great info, Ann. Makes alot of sense, certainly more than what I was thinking. When I now think about the "sidedness" of the (few) horses I know, this "rider-sideness" has had the most significant impact on creating a weak side. Goes along with TEXAS's observations, too, which I've noticed. Rider impact, more than anything else. Huh.

Thanks,

Cheryl