Long reigning - why?

[blueroan12:2]

Why do you long reign? what does it achieve? Is it mainly for youngsters and those that need training or is it equally good as a form of exercise alongside schooling hacking and lunging. What are the problems with long reigning can they get in a pickle? and what are the advantages? I hear you talking about it alot and have never tried!

[xloopylozzax]

so they can get a feel for you not always been there (either at side, in middle or above) and become more confident. also useful for seeing what they are doing and getting them working well as you control the contact compared to lunging in side reins/pessoa.

useful for introducing different situautions not inhand like roads etc
variety so not going round the same circle again and again (if you lunge walking behind not on a circle with reins around bum)
they only have themselves to worry about rather than you balancing
can do more difficult movements when longreining, including lateral- comapred to lunging that is basic walk trot canter stand back.

lots and lots of good reasons :D

[gordysgirl]

^^ what she said!:D

[Soot]

I started long reining a few months ago (after 20 years of lunging!) and I don't think I will ever lunge again! The level of work I get from my horses is dramatically improved on the long rein. Lucy now canters on both leads and jumps little course ... all on the long rein. Libby has become more steady and less reliant on her rider/handler for confidence. I love it!

[Esther.D]

Another advantage is that you can see what the horse is doing, whereas you can't when you are on top :D It also can be used to school to a high level - the Spanish Riding School horses are schooled on longreins!

Yes they can get into a pickle - you need a helper at their head until you and the horse are confident of what you are both doing.

[Joyscarer]

You have far more control when you long rien.

Joy is unbalanced but a speed merchant when being lunged. When being long reined she works properly and I can contain the energy she has.

Also if you watch Joy on the lunge you'll see the energy all going out the front door no matter who lunges her.

When you watch her long rieining she carrys herself beautifully and is a completely differnt horse. It means that she is using the right muscles and building topline make her be equiped to understant what I want from her in ridden work and better able to comply because the muscle is there. :)

[mrs pdales]

The most important thing is that you MUST keep your hand light.

[blueroan12:2]

well i thought there'd be a good reason ;) how did u learn? honestly riding schools should teach u more groundwork!

[xloopylozzax]

i learnt from my mum, and just doing it, its not a text-book thing just like all riding really.

have a couple of lungelines do it in an enclosed space with people there so if the horse gets in a tiz someone can jump in and help without getting tangled.

good luck- your instructor should be able to leng rein so maybe do it with them

[DawnHH]

Long reining is a very useful way of ensuring that the horse understands the aids for walk, halt, left, right and trot well before a rider is put aboard. It also gives the trainer the opportunity to take the horse out onto quiet lanes or fields for practice, which benefits the horses training and understanding. A horse who cannot be ridden due to an injury, but needs exercise can also be long reined.

The horse should only be long reined when it is already lunging successfully, this is so that the horse understands the voice commands that you are about to use.

How To Long Rein
Start off by lunging the horse as normal on both reins, this ensures that the voice commands are fresh in the horses mind. Then once warmed up Add the outside lunge line making sure that it never drops down below the hocks otherwise should the horse kick out it could get its foot caught up in the lunge line. You may need to lunge like this for a few days or weeks until the horse gets accustomed to the feel of the second lunge line around its body.

Once the horse is settled you then ask the horse to halt, taking your time slowly walk keeping both lunge lines up off the floor and above the horses hocks until you are behind the horse or very slightly off to one side so that the horse can still see you. Then give the walk on command, you should have a light feel on both lunge lines and at first ask the horse to walk on and halt at regular intervals and then progress to steering to the left and to the right, and when confident with both steering, stopping and turning then progress to trotting.

Exercises
Practice steering in and out of cones and stopping the horse at exact marker and then when you are confident in the arena you can progress to the outside world. Pick a quiet day and an enclosed field to begin with so that the horse will gain confidence in you and what you are asking them to do. Start off with 10 minutes of long reining at the very start and then progress up to 20 and 30 minutes.