Questions On Lunging And Grooming; Please Reply!

[Crazy4Horse]

I have a friend who owns 2 horses, a Western gelding and an english mare. Since she doesn't have the time to ride them every day, she asks me over and together we lunge the horses. However, we have a few questions about lunging.

How long would a decent lunging workout be, if it was the only excercise other than being turned out in the paddock that they get all day?

The only area we have to lunge on is an area that slopes down on one side, and we can't avoid the slope. Is the slope dangerous for the horses to trot and canter on, or is it alright to continue lunging there? If needed we could move the lunging to a neighbour's flat field.

Also, on grooming. Is the legend true that if, after grooming, you rub down the horses coat with a clean, soft rag it gives the coat extra shine? If so, why is this?

If you have any information, please reply! Thanks! :)

[maverick927]

A soft rag does make a horse nice and shiny. i don't know why but i know that it works.

Lunging on a slope is fine. It great to make the horse speed up on the upward slope and then slow to go down.

A good workout on the lunge is 20 minutes. Seems very short but lunging is very intense. i would reccommend 2 or 3 short seeions a day, rather than one long session to make an hour long workout.

[Maci]

Rubbing them with a soft rag at the end takes away all the leftover surface dirt and dust, so by rubbing it off in the direction of the coat, you have a flawless looking horse! ;)

I agree with Maverick on the lunging part. As long as the slope is not drastically sloped down.

Maci :)

[Gracie]

I have a book that recommends lunging on small slopes because it helps build muscles!

[Mehitabel]

20 minutes of lungeing is equivalent to an hour schooling, so no more than that really at once. continually working on a 20m circle is much harder on the muscles than working large in a school, and it's more repetitive, so they can strain muscles easier. that's why a short time is equivalent to a longer time schooling. the same rule applies to hills - in moderation, great, but you wouldn't want to do continuous hill work for an hour. how slopey is it? if you'd be happy to school on it, it's probably fine.

[Danae]

Just to add on the question of rubbing a horses coat to make it shiney - it is true. It's a twofold answer. First being that the final rub takes off the dirt you missed with your brush. Second, it stimulates the coat oils making the hair shiney..makes sense to me! :)

[insatiable]

Hi my name is ellie and i'm not sure but i think its better to be lunging on a flat surface i might not be correct but i am 90% sure and with the towl thing in my experince it works with some horses it depends on their coat at the time

hope i have been of some help

Ellie:)

[jUmPingIsLifE]

i think lounging on the slope would be fine, in fact it would build even more muscle! have him change his speed fast, slow, fast, slow but make sure he isn't allways going fast downhill, you dont want him just running downhill...than being lazy going uphill. i usually lounge for 5-7minutes before i ride sometimes, to get out all my horses energy, but when i don't ride i lounge for 20-30minutes. our horses are used on the trail A LOT and are very in shape, you want to start out slow if the horses arn't in shap :) i love lounging hehe

goodluck

[Laetitia]

A silk scarf brings up a beautiful shine to the coat,if you happen to have one lying around! Have you tried long-reining as an alternative to lungeing.You would need to bone up on it tho' as there are various positions for the reins for the work you are asking your horse to do, and is quite an art. Cheers.

[tricksmyman]

Hi It took me a while with lunging when I started with my horse Trick. Lunging is very simple. I would try 5 minutes on trot each direction and 5 minutes on canter each direction. That would be a good 20 minute workout.

Grooming. Yes I have heard that but never tried it my horse is said to have one of the shiniest coats in the barn I brush him like this.
*first with a rubber curry.
*then with a hard brush.
*then I finish it off with a soft brush. HE LOVES IT!!! He also looks so handsome. :)

[jhayden]

In answer to your grooming question, allot of people groom after exercise this vedio explains it all reather well! :)

http://www.horsehero.co.uk/1295/stable-management/1721