Anyone not lunge and why?

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TBminx

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Mar 22, 2013
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I will lunge our gelding but not our mare for several reasons.

I have tried and everytime I do unless warm settled day and she had maximum turn out and not fresh as she ends up exploding and I get fractured fingers etc and even trainers have told me not to bother and loose school instead.

I would perservere but as she had a gammy knee I dont like her on a circle for long anyway and my vet has advised not to lunge for that reason so I try to do other things mixed in with my riding :wink:

I get nothing but snidey comments cos I dont lunge as if I am scared and wimping out and I should and "I will do it" :furious:

Anyone not lunge and why?
 
I only occasionally lunge can't I can't be bothered and as a happy hacker I can do what I need to, at the level I need to so as not to need to lunge. Every now and again I get the yen to so do it. I love watching Joy move which I can't see if I'm riding.
 
I don't lunge primarily because my horse turns in on me and acts like he doesn't understand. I know that's mostly down to me but after having multiple lessons on it and still having this problem, I officially gave up! He's a big lad and not built for small circles, has a touch of arthritis and we both find it boring, so why bother?!
 
Yeh I think alot of people think you should do all these things and if dont missing out or doing things wrong with your horse....like cos I dont compete jumping anymore cos of knee they think we cant or we are scared :banghead:

I respect "happy hackers" as for me these days with no bridle paths here hacking is riskier than in the sandschool!
 
One of the great mysteries to me when looking at possible livery, was the habit at some yards of always lunging to burn off "excess" energy before one rode. You can see traces of this in the quite sensible NH dictum of doing ground work before risking yourself getting on. But that is part of training. I didnt want to keep a horse at a yard where the manager determined the food and then lunged my horse to get rid of the energy.
 
Flipo's mum I totally agree! I lunge our gelding but it bores me so only a little walk and trot each way plus dont like cantering as unbalances horse and only see point in it if fresh to settle before get on but it doesnt settle my mare. It bores her and if fresh it winds her up until she explodes and my hubby is my witness for this :wink:

Last time I led her out to try lunging and he said "This will end in tears...yours..." and it did with a fractured finger :cry:

Loose schooling and playing we love so why not just stick to that if not riding plus arthritis to consider :smile:

Skib Im with you as would not want a yo telling me what to feed and do with my horses. Advice be great yes but not laying down the law on those things. :banghead:

Working excess steam off lunging with my two is not enjoyable or often successful as one gets so wound up you are better just getting on or loose schooling and the other turns in and rears. It may work for some horses but does not mean it is the best method for every horse :furious:
 
I only lunge Storm either to show the vet (on her last lameness work up she had to be lunged lightly) or if I feel she's very fizzy and needs a bit of a blast before me getting on board. Now she's had her injections of course for her hocks, I can't lunge her, the circles etc wouldn't do her any good - and tbh she hasn't needed it, she's been really good about being brought back into work. Years ago I used to lunge her lots - she was a fireball I can tell you!lol. I never lost control nor did OH, but to an outside observer it sure looked like she'd lost the plot a few times!! It was mainly due to very little turnout, so I really didn't blame her at all (we were on a yard with no winter turnout one year).
 
I lunge Ginger in a pessao (sp) when I first got him once a week as he had come out of racing is young and I wanted him to learn to balance himself and stretch over his back with out me interfering with him.

Now it probable about once a month. I get bored to be honest.

I never lunge Chanter as constant circles are not good for his hocks, plus he loves free schooling.

No shame in not lunging or lunging to me it's the same as shod not shod if it suits do it if not noe.
 
It bores the heck out of me, it serves no useful purpose, so I don't. We do a lot of long reining.
 
That's a point actually Trewsers, although I find it boring, it would be useful to be able to do for the vet - we had a lameness work up and it was nigh impossible as Flipo would not lunge for me (or really, I should say I couldn't lunge him!)
The vets were able to lunge him at the vet school, the trainer could do it, and so can my mate, so in future if I (godforbid) need another lameness check up, I'll get my mate to come and do it. I know my limitations!
 
I lunge very rarely, and only ever as a quick means of checking soundness. If I'm going to work a horse from the ground then I prefer to long line.
 
i dont lunge Major. He is a hacking horse, he doesnt see the point in going round in circles and basically will barely move and will not respond to a lunge whip, its just more hassle than its worth!

I like to lunge Moet, i do it in a very laid back way though, and more for fun and variety rather than exercise or purpose, she lunges really well and seems to enjoy it....saying that though i probably only lunge her every few months!
 
I am going to try and make a point of lunging more often. Right now I probably only lunge once a month. I'm going to aim for once/twice a week as I lunged last night and was really pleased with how she was going. I think it will be beneficial to our schooling if I am a bit more on the ball with lunging.

I am lucky that I never have to lunge to "get rid of excess energy" although Rubic is generally more firey on the lunge than she is ridden. However I can see situations where that is a smart idea (eg. the horse has had a month off work for whatever reason). I use an equi-ami (similar to a pessoa) and I think it encourages her to work from behind and get off the forehand. Personally, I think lunging is part of training - I use voice commands and some body movements and Rubic is trained to respond to them. I can steady her up and collect her with my voice. It is basic obedience and I can use the tools I use when lunging and transfer it to my riding and vice versa. Some people choose other ways to do that but for me and Rubic lunging works best.

ETA - the other thing is I do not just stay in a set circle. I use the whole of the school and vary the size of the circle. IMO lunging shouldn't just mean you stand in the middle of a circle and don't do anything else!
 
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Im not a fan of lunging, mainly because Ive had youngsters and have preffered to long rein which I personally think is more effective anyway then lunging, and less strain on the horses body. The only times Ive done it really is getting some excess energy out of a horse at shows !
 
I think it depends on the horse. What works well for one doesn't necessarily work for the other, so if you do not find lunging beneficial why bother imo.

Plenty of other options.
 
I am a firm believer that it's up to you what you do with your horse - there's way too much 'you should be doing this/that/the other' that goes on at yards. I'm lungeing mine to keep her ticking over until her back/teeth have been checked, and because I want to learn how to do it and think it's good groundwork for both of us, but I don't really see why you'd need to lunge if you ride regularly anyway, unless you were on a really strict exercise programme building up to a one day event or something.
 
I only ever hack and see absolutely no point in lunging Dolly, would not benefit her or me. However if I had a younger horse (like when I had JJ) then I did reluctantly lunge as part of his education. But I HATE doing it, so boring, like watching pain dry.:unsure:
 
Vets advice so we don't lunge because she's a big girl with joint problems and it doesn't her any good doing a lot of work in circles, we do some schooling but even then I try and do it across a larger area.

Last time my vet was checking her lameness we mostly did straight lines anyway but she would lunge if I wanted her to she just tends to head off when she has had enough! :redface:
 
You lot will think I'm weird then because I love lunging! Really enjoy it, I enjoy watching the horse move and how they listen and respond to my voice and my body language, ours are really "switched on" on the lunge and are focused on you from start to finish. I treat a lunge session the same way as a ridden schooling session, they do just as many different "things" in 20mins on the lunge as they do in 20/30mins of schooling.
 
used to lunge Angel for exercise when she was in a lot of the time during winter. nowadays I don't really lunge at all. Appley's training did not involve lunging as I was worried about the strain on the young pony (added to this, we only have a grass school which can get very hard or very slippery) an longreined instead (with the odd circle in there!), incl trot and canter work.

and I find lunging excruciatingly boring :ninja:
 
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