Cob won't lunge

[Big H]

Could anyone offer any advice.

My cob type will not lunge (which would make it much easier in the winter). I have been able to get him in the school and fianlly get him away from me but then he suddenly turn and starts to charge at me (which is pretty scary to say the least).

How do I get him to stay out on the circle???:(

[Mehitabel]

do you know if he has ever actually been taught? have you ever been taught how to lunge properly?

[Big Ears]

Natural Horsemanship would get over this problem as my cob didn't know anything about this, but working over the exercises with the pressure halter and wop, she got the idea and now works well,

if you don't want to do that, you need another person to lead him on the circle with you in the centre till he gets the idea. If he comes towards you aggressively you must make yourself as large as possible, arms flapping, lunge rope kinking towards him to ward him off.

if you havne't lunged before, get some help as he needs to understand waht is required.

[Big H]

I know how to lunge, my tbx is lunged alot during the winter, during the week after work when I don't have too much time,

[Bay Mare]

My girl is fantastic to lunge anti-clockwise but a little moo clockwise! She plants, rears and comes in to me! The first time that I lunged her the other day she just kept planting and then walking towards me (not charging thankfully), today I just kept pointing the whip at her shoulder and telling her to 'get out' which seemed to work. She still stopped and tried to walk in but I made sure that the line was long enough to be able to point the whip at her shoulder without actually prodding her with it. Eventually she went reasonably well (for the clockwise direction) though *we* did have a spook when there was a rustling from the spooky tree in the spooky corner :rolleyes:

[derby day]

Hi!

My TB is great going on the right rein but on the left he keeps trying to spin + if i wont let him do that he turns to face me and plants his feet.I am waiting to get him checked out by a physio to rule out any pain he might have.If i ask him to walk on or flick the whip he freaks and rears,bucks you name it!!!

My only advice is to get a knowledgeble friend to walk either on the outside of him and lead him in a circle when he is ok doing that let your friend drift away to the outside of him (if she comes in to you the horse will nearly always follow!) If he still wants to come in point the whip at his shoulder and tell him to "KEEP OUT!!!" this usually works after a while.When you finish lungeing him dont let him get into the habit of coming into you - my lad was obviously allowed to do this as even if i stop to answer my phone or change reins he always walks into me :rolleyes: Hope this is of some help, maybe you could try to get hold of a training young horses book which might give you some better advice :D

All the best, Cat + Derby xxxxx

[shirley]

I agree with last post. Start again at the beginning, even when walking him around do lots of stand, walk on and trot on, so he gets used to voice commands. When in the lunging ring, get someone on the outside of him to hold him via a lead rope and when you say walk on, they walk on and he will follow, stand, they halt and he does to, do this on and off until he seems to be getting it by himself and then the helper can go to one side. If he then reverts back to type at the present, then start again. He will get it eventually and be able to see that you are gentle and not out to hurt him in any way.
Good luck

[Big H]

Thank you all for your help. It's a bit annoying that one will lunge without a problem and then you have to start from scratch with the other one (who is great being ridden though). Will try out some of your ideas and will let you all know how I get on.

Thanks again.:D

[paris]

When I train young horses to lounge I start by free lounging- using a small round pen or corral ( it helps if there are no corners). I use a long lounge whip as a third arm behind them only when reminding them to keep going, pay attention, or behave. If they really get out of whack I crack it or whip them on the butt. This is just what I have found to work. My young horses pick up what is expected of them even if they are fresh of the pasture and never been handeled before. I had a wild filly that learned to loung properly after 10 minutes of intructing with the whip. When they understand that anywhere inthe circle is my space and they learn to stay out, then I start lounging on a line and teaching more voice commands like whoa and walk. It is very relaxing and I find that it teaches the horse respect and gives him confidence because when he is doing what you ask I lower the whip over my arm behind my back. The horse stays relaxed, but fixed with his attention on me because he knows I'm the boss. I just thought this might help. Good luck with whatever you try.

[baby_steps]

Hello

I've had similar problems to this and i know how damn annoying it can be. With any horse that I am lunging I walk it round the circle first to show the horse where i expect it to go.then i would attach another lunge line to the other side of the bit and send the horse out onto the circle. the outside line means that if the horse tries to turn in you can pull on it and the horses rear end cannot fall out. I havent explained this very well but i hope you know what i mean. It's also handy to have another person standing at your shoulder with a lunge whip to keep the rhythm and momentum of the horse constant. good luck

[Mossy]

Is he charging at you with malice aforethought or just turning in? If malice aforethought either get expert help fast, or grab that lunge whip, hard hat and strict body language and growl at him when he turns. He is being rude and must learn some manners. If he is turning in due to lack of understanding then take him back to basics and teach him. A word of warning though, some horses do not like the second lunge line round their buts, so some assistance untill he gets used to it might be a good idea. Moss HATES two line lunging and it is not something we do untill I can teach him properly. Conn can be a right madam on one line, get the second one out and you can see the thought bubble" Oh lor, I must do some work!"
A word to the wise, put your own safety first on all occasions.

[Kate F.]

I'd agree that natural horsemanship will help this - and give you lots of other things to do on the ground to keep you both interested and and developing a better relationship.

The problem you are experiencing on the lunge is because he does not respect your space. The higher ranking horse controls the direction and speed of the lower ranking horse, and decides how much personal space it requires at any moment. Your horse is telling you that you are lower in the order, and HE will decide who moves where! He's using typical stallion/gelding behaviour in charging at you - mares usually try to wheel and kick - though I have known charging mares and kicking geldings too! :-))

If you have a look at my website, you'll find instructions with lots of photos on how to overcome this problem, firstly by showing your horse that you do have personal space, then leading up to an exercise we call "the Waltz" - which shows him that you can control the speed and direction of his feet. One you can do all this, your lunging problem will have solved itself. By this time, you will also be so aware of your horses movement and attitude, you may not want to lunge much anyway - but instead do a bigger version of the waltz and start introducing more groundwork.

First have a look at this link - it's all relevant - but especially the "watching the feet" section. This will show you how he sees the situation, and what you can do to change his mind.

http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=2%2F7%2F2003+5%3A59%3A53+AM&direction=n&bflag=#december02

Then go to

http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=6%2F7%2F2003+3%3A51%3A53+AM&direction=n&bflag=#march03

to see how it all fits together in The Waltz and how this will help the lunging problem.

For this type of natural horsemanship, use a hand tied rope halter (Parelli type or similar) - NEVER a pressure halter. The rope halter exerts only as much pressure as the horse puts against it and gives as the horse yields - a pressure halter closes on the horse's head and often has to be released by hand. I usually use a 4 meter rope, or a 5 meter if the horse is very large. When it's all going well you can increase the length of the rope and work from more distance.

Good luck!

[Big H]

wow, thanks guys!