Figure 8 Lope: Free Horseback Riding Lessons

Video Transcript

" Hi my name is Sarah Stetner I'm an expert horse rider on behalf of Expert Village. I'm just going to show you how to do a basic easy pattern at the canter. It is called a figure 8 at the canter. So I'm starting at my middle point right here and you want to get your horse to get attention to you. I'm going to go ahead and go right first and then I'm going to switch my leads in the middle. In order to switch a horses lead it is very tough. There is two types of lead changes there is the flying lead change and a simple lead change. I'm just going to show you a simple lead change today but simple is when you take a trot step in between the lead change. Flying lead change there is no steps in between the lead you just go the leads like this you are cantering a long and you ask the horse to do a flying lead change and it just go shh. Like that. So I'm going to ask the horse canter here we are going to go right first come around. You guys want to come to the same middle point. When you are doing patterns you do want to tighten up your reins a little bit more then if you were on the rail. I just click to him to ask him to switch. I don't know if you guys saw that. He did it so nicely for me that it was just the one step deal. So I am going to come over on the side just so you can see him switching leads. Make another little figure 8 but, you do always want to come to your middle point stop which I was just trying to show you how to switch leads. How he switches leads so kind of missed my middle point in the last two circles that I did. So at the end you want to stop. Holt. That was not a good stop so I'm going to back him up. Back. Woo. Woo. Woo. I'm going to try it again in a little bit."