longeing advice please

[allthegearnoidea]

For those that dont know me i have a 6 year old cob which ive had for 10 weeks.He was bought as a happy hacker and on the whole hes okay .... but it turns out he knows very little, like what leg aids are!!Luckily i have roped an experienced freind in to help who has advised me to take him right back to the beggining. So i am longeing ( is that spelt right?)every other day for 15 minutes its going very well considering ive never done it before in my life. But couple of questions before Wednesday when i get my next lesson.How long should the line be, i have it so i can just flick fattys side or bum with the whip, but i cant help feeling its too short and too tight a circle, but if i make it longer i dont feel so in control or able to reach him with the whip. Now i dont mean to beat him, but just so he can feel the flick of the whip.
The idea is to get him used to my voice and get him going forwards, it seems to be working well - sometimes he wont stop!!!perhaphs hes enjoying it too much or perhaphs my woahhh sounds too much like walk!!

[cvb]

the smaller circle the horse is on, the more advanced they need to be and the more stress it puts on the joints.

Ideally you would be lunging on between 15 to 20m circle - i.e. a rein length of 7 to 10m away from the horse. A lunge whip is supposed to act like an extension of your arm, not like a punishment - so once they know you are going to be assertive, you should not need to be "in range" ;)

If you are struggling to get to grips with a longer rein, walk a circle yourself to make up the difference. (e.g. walk a 5m circle and have them on 5m on line) and then gradually reduce your circle and increase the line length as you improve.

remember that body position is important to drive forward, or slow them up - use that rather than always flicking the whip...

[puzzles]

1) about 20m length for the lunge rein: the size of the circle.
2) this is often the most effective way to teach a horse how to go on the lunge - your horse most likely doesn't understand what you are asking: it's like if someone asks you something in latin, and when they finally realise that you don't understand they just start shouting louder! this only makes you feel stupid, misunderstood and frustrated: just like your horse.

to remedy this, you must go right back to basics and start all over. ask a friend/YO or fellow livery owner if they could stand by your horse while you stand in the middle, etc. this will work best if your horse already leads well in-hand.
ask clearly and firmly "walk on (alongside visual gestures, the whip flicking at an angle towards her hindquaretrs; make sure the rein is relaxed but most definately 'there'). and your helper immediately leads your horse forward. the second she responds correctly, you praise her (don't allow her to stop) using your voice and the relaxation of the command and continue. after a circuit or so, ask her to halt and the leader should stop her (as or yourself, move the whip towards her front end and WHEN ASKING AN ORDER, KEEP ON REPEATING THE COMMAND, BOTH VISUALLY AND VOCALLY, UNTIL SHE STOPS. THIS WILL ENSURE SHE UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU WANT.
when she stops, again praise ehr.
never punish her; there is always another day if it all goes wrong, and go back a step or two.
try this each day for a few mins - keep all sessions short and sweet, andl always end on a good note. rewards her for everthing she does right and progress measuring by her pace, asking ehr to trot on the same way as walking on, with the sweeping motion of the whip, etc.
if the circle is too small she will not eb able to respond to you so ensure she has every chance of sdoing right, rather than wrong.
if it goes badly, go back a step and repeat the excersises she knows well and finds easy before moving on again.
you can gradually get rid of the helper -make ure you are always the one to ask her, so that she focuses on you (the handler shoudl always mve on the outside, progressing from holding the halter to just moving and acting encouragingly to your horse before moving away completely once your orse is comfortable and finding these easier.
in time you may be able to introduce poles/jump wings and then jumps later on, once she is fitter and has developed an uderstanding of what you want.this always works for me!
good luck!
x

[michelle c]

whips are more of a visual cue to the horse to get them to move so you dont actually have to touch them.

CVB
you say that the horse has to be advanced to circle tighter! i suppose they have to be fit too, i used to do parelli and now do clicker and my horse circles me within 2 meters from me, she is not particulary fit but still manages to do this, do you think it could strain her legs?

[allthegearnoidea]

thanx everyone, fatty doesnt care about the whip anyway!!!!its like you say just an extension of the arm so he gets a clue of what hes supposed to do.I will try the walking in a circle as im lunging and let you know how it goes.
I do tend to move about as im doing it anyway, for a change of scenery and so i dont fall over when i stop:o

[cvb]

CVB
you say that the horse has to be advanced to circle tighter! i suppose they have to be fit too, i used to do parelli and now do clicker and my horse circles me within 2 meters from me, she is not particulary fit but still manages to do this, do you think it could strain her legs?
michelle

Parelli is very clear that Circle Game is NOT lunging, and when you are working at level 1 with a 12ft line you are only supposed to do between 2 and 4 circuits before disengaging HQ and stopping.

It is only when you shift up to level 2 and the 22ft line that the no of circuits increases.

A circle based on a 12ft line *will* be a fair stress on the joints. So do be careful not to over do your Circle Game.

If she is working at liberty, then the balance does change slightly and she has the choice to make it larger - but again they don't tend to be doing too many circuits.

[michelle c]

thanx cvb, i tend to play at liberty all the time, (only in the indoor arena :D ) now ive started clicker training, i do 4 at the most as it is her decision to circle me this tight (i suppose i could clicker her to trot round further away:rolleyes: ) i also play all the parelli games off line as it is good exercises for her to stretch and move in all diferent directions.

[puzzles]

oh goody! parelli exersises are fabulous, and allowing your horse to behave at liberty and be like a horse again can only be beneficial. keep going!
:-D

[michelle c]

liberty is soooo good because you have less to hold and get tangled up in, also if you do something wrong your horse will let you know straight away by running off!!!!!lol

[puzzles]

hee hee!
:-D