Wrong Leads, Counter Canters, and Jewelry

If you were to skip around in a circle without alternating your leading leg, one of your legs would generally stay in front of the other.  If you were a cantering horse, the leading leg would be called the "left lead" or the "right lead" depending on whether it was the left or right leg in front.  The correct lead is the one where the leg on the inside of the circle is in front.  The wrong lead is where the leg on the outside of the circle is in front.  When you are first learning this it can be a little tricky to feel the difference between the right and wrong lead from on top of the horse.  It takes practice to be able to see it from the ground, too.  Once you have the hang of it, it is instantly obvious which lead a horse is on.  In this first photo you can see that Highboy's right front leg is in the lead, and so he is on his right lead.  

This is also the correct lead for him going this direction, since the fence is on the outside of the circle, he is leading with his inside leg.  This would of course change if he were cantering on a straightaway in a big field with no turns.  Then it would be important for him to canter on the left lead, and then change to the right lead, so that he doesn't become sore or asymmetrical from only working one side of his body.

This is the convention for cantering on a horse, unless you are doing something called a "counter canter."  In this maneuver you WANT the outside leg to be in the lead, it's a balancing exercise for the horse (and the rider for that matter!)  To further the trickiness of this concept, a person with a practiced eye watching from the ground can tell whether the horse and rider are cantering on the left or right lead, whether it is the correct or wrong lead, as well as whether the rider is cantering on the wrong lead on purpose and is using it as a counter canter. 

This is a more advanced concept to learn, so a new rider makes lots of mistakes when figuring out the canter and how to identify leads.  I often tell my new riders that one man's wrong lead is another man's counter canter.  There's no need to sweat it if you get it wrong while you're learning, that's why we practice.  

I often think about this idea in religion.  There are so many different world religions, but just within Christianity there are innumerable ways to interpret the Bible.  What we think about as "right" and "wrong" varies, even within this book that purportedly represents an unchanging God's views.  For example, regarding whether women should wear jewelry 1 Timothy 2:9 you can find this:

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

Then you can also find this on the very same subject in Ezekiel 16:11-13

I [God] adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
  
Which scripture is correct?  What if it's a matter of one man's wrong lead is another man's counter canter?  What is wrong in one circumstance is correct in a different circumstance?  Take a look at this little cartoon.

These two folks are definitely looking at the same set of logs lying on the ground between them.  Because of their points of view they each see a different number of logs.  Is one of them wrong?  How could they both be correct about something so concrete and obvious?  Perspective.  

I like to think that God sees things not only from His own perspective, but also from each of ours.  I like the idea that He can identify with each and every one of us mortals, and see things how each one of us sees them.  It's interesting to me to look at things from different viewpoints, I enjoy trying to figure out why people think the way they do and why they can see the same things so vastly differently.  I like the idea that as I get better at adapting my views to be able to see things the way someone else sees them, I gain empathy and understanding for others.  I think empathy and understanding are godly traits, and important for me as a Christian.  

I don't have to agree with everything (or anything) another person sees, but I want to know WHY they see it that way.  I love the idea that God can see things from an infinite number of perspectives, and He appreciates the history and background in each individual that makes them view things the way they do. 

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.   Corinthians 13:12 King James Version (KJV)


He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.   John 9:25 KJV


We are in this giant field called life, and it's important to be able to canter on the left lead and then the right lead to keep ourselves limber, balanced, and fit.  Whether we identify a lead as correct or wrong isn't the important part, the critical thing to me is that I can see it from all perspectives.