# Basic Leg cues



## bnayc (Jan 3, 2012)

I'm not an advanced rider at all. But when my horse is standing, I will gently give a quick squeeze, then say waaaalk. My horse knows both leg and voice commands so it is quite easy for me. I am always cautious not to squeeze to hard or for to long, he is a fast guy and can throw me back breaking into a trot from a stand.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

To cue for a walk: I gently squeeze with my both of my calves equally until my horse begins moving foward. When he does, I immediately release that pressure so that he is rewarded for his correct behavior. With some horses or some colts that are just learning, they may need bumping with your legs (instead of just squeezing) until you can refine your cue to a subtle squeeze. 

To cue for a trot: It is the same cue as for the walk, but with MORE intensity. It is still perfectly equal between the two calves. I may also incorporate a cluck or kiss verbal sound to encourage them jumping to the trot. 

To cue for a lope: Your horse must first know how to do simple lead changes while galloping. If they do not know their leads, you aren't going to get them to move into the correct lope from a walk. To cue my horse from a walk for the left lead, I move my right leg back slightly to bump him with my heel. Therefore, he knows the difference between a soft squeeze with both legs (walk), and a hard squeeze with both legs (trot), and a bump with my heel for the corresponding gallop. 

To get a horse to be responsive to subtle cues like this, you have to always be 100% consistent all the time. That means, you always specify what you want so they learn to always be paying attention. And you have to do it the exact same way every time.


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## BarrelBunny (Jan 15, 2012)

When I want a halt to walk, I squeeze with my legs. Same goes for a walk to trot, trot to lope, etc. However, if I want my horse to lope off, then I put my body in more of a "go" position and kiss, or squeeze my legs. My horse immediately knows to move off at a quicker speed, and does! When I am cueing for a specific lead departure, then I use my outside leg as beau159 described.


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## flyingchange1991 (Mar 27, 2012)

beau159 said:


> To cue for a lope: Your horse must first know how to do simple lead changes while galloping. If they do not know their leads, you aren't going to get them to move into the correct lope from a walk. To cue my horse from a walk for the left lead, I move my right leg back slightly to bump him with my heel. Therefore, he knows the difference between a soft squeeze with both legs (walk), and a hard squeeze with both legs (trot), and a bump with my heel for the corresponding gallop.


how are you supposed to teach them to pick up the correct lead if they dont know the correct cue for canter yet? :?


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