lunging a difficult horse, advice please

HorseHelen

HorseHelen

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2006
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at the farm, near the zoo
said horse tries to evade the lunging process by turning in on you. have been very careful not to get in front of this horses shoulder but it still happens. am i doing something wrong or any techniques that could work. thanks in advance

ps sorry ive been a bit vague, can elaborate more if required. thanks :)
 
Soda does this, it's the most anooying thing ever!!

The trick is to be quick to pick up on when they're going to do it, get behind them with the lunge whip and send them forwards, it's a challenge to you so don't be afraid to get after them a bit (hard as that may sound)! I'm not talking beating them but give them a flick with the whip and tell them to bloody well get on with it!

The only thing you can do if it really is a straight spin in with no warning (Soda slows a teensy bit and slightly turns his head towards me when he's about to do it) is immediately, no fuss or bother, gather horse back up and send them off again like nothing has happened, try not to touch them or have any contact with them though, no talking, nothing. By not recognising the behaviour they're not getting any kind of attention as a reward (be it negative or positive attention) and they will realise eventually that even if they do spin in it won't make a difference they'll just have to keep working so they'll shut up, get on with it and hopefully the problem will get less and less.
 
Lunge him with two reins, that way you can control the outside of him & keep him out on the circle.
 
my pony use to turn in... i used the lunge whip pointed at her front to keep her out... if she came in she got flicked with it! She soon learnt not to come.... now lunges like a dream!!!
 
Perhaps try lunging with two lines so you can 'control' both sides.

I found with a pony I was helping with that was bad to lunge that it really helped him realise I wanted forwards movement, it also made me concentrate on keeping on correct position.

xx
 
skips and soda said:
The trick is to be quick to pick up on when they're going to do it, get behind them with the lunge whip and send them forwards, it's a challenge to you so don't be afraid to get after them a bit (hard as that may sound)! I'm not talking beating them but give them a flick with the whip and tell them to bloody well get on with it!
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thanks for your reply.

you are right you have to be very quick and get behind them but today he was just too quick for me. i couldnt get behind him quick enough to send him forwards again so we just ended up with him stepping sideways away from me, instead of going forwards and out onto the circle. you would think it would be easier for him to just get on with it, he has got me very frustrated this evening
 
HorseHelen said:
thanks for your reply.

you are right you have to be very quick and get behind them but today he was just too quick for me. i couldnt get behind him quick enough to send him forwards again so we just ended up with him stepping sideways away from me, instead of going forwards and out onto the circle. you would think it would be easier for him to just get on with it, he has got me very frustrated this evening
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Ah, that's exactly what Soda does, he then moves around as you try to move in to send him off again, doesn't move away but just circles you whilst facing you, I swear he's laughing at me when he does this! The only thing that was cute was when he did this and I was getting cross about it I turned round to talk to my YO to chill for a minute before continuing so I didn't get annoyed with Soda, well, next thing I know Soda's stood there by my shoulder nuzzling me! How can you be annoyed with that! Lol! :rolleyes:

We have sort of solved it now, he knows if he plays by the rules we finish fairly quickly and he gets treats and hugs, if he's a pain in the bum he gets worked harder, for a longer time until he stops being silly! Now we don't have too many problems, just the odd day when he's a bit silly, but on the whole he's much better! They do twig in the end that it's easier to just shut up and get on with it! It's a bit like the first time I out a Harbridge on him and MADE him work properly on the lunge we had a full-blown paddy, eventually he shut up and gave me some lovely work, now he's good as gold with it and goes beautifully with it, just a question of patience and perseverance I'm afraid! Soda's was all babyish trying it on, but they do eventually realise that perhaps they should do as they're told!
 
It's easier to get behind a horse on a smaller circle then it is on a bigger one. Plus the bigger circles are easier for the horse.

So if this happens I would quickly shorten the lunge whilst moving backwards then get them going nicely on a smaller circle then increase the circle size.

They'll hopefully soon realise that mucking about leads to smaller circles and being 'good' leads to bigger circles :)
 
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