changing leads

Question
does it take long for a trainer to teach a horse how to negotiate different distances and does this involve teaching them when to change leads

Answer
Darrell,

The time it takes to condition a horse for different distances varies from horse to horse.  In my opinion, you should always want a horse conditioned to go farther than the race that you're pointing for.  That helps minimize fatigue during the actual race.
No, it doesn't involve teaching them to change leads, at least not in my barn.  Teaching them leads is early training, in their very first days.  
Many trainers probably won't agree with me, but I'm a firm believer that a horse will switch leads automatically when he needs to, and if he doesn't want to switch, there's likely a good reason for it.  I don't actually like my riders to make my horses switch leads in a work or a race, because making a horse switch also means throwing them off stride, and think that's a bad idea, especially when travelling at speed.

Stephanie Frost
www.alchemybloodstock.com