Cool windy evening + fresh horse who hasn't been legitimately worked in two weeks =
Yep.
And for what it's worth I did end up riding the beast.
Cheers!
Emily
And for what it's worth I did end up riding the beast.
Cheers!
Emily
Showing posts with label lunging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lunging. Show all posts
Monday, January 20, 2014
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
A note about lunging
7Posted on 12:21 PM by Unknown
A commenter on my previous entry "Bucked Off" made a very valid point cautioning against using lunging as a crutch. I absolutely 100% agree with her. I have since been thinking about the merits of lunging and thought I'd jot some of them down.
Often times, yes, people lean on it as a crutch, not willing to take a little step of faith and trust their horse to behave. Especially if it's a solid, quiet horse who has been there done that... Granted, there are people who do have confidence struggles, and I'm not trying to downplay that, but... sometimes, to get to that next level of competitence and confidence, sometimes you have to step blindly.
That said (and yes, that was a bit of a soapbox rant), there are many reasons to lunge a horse, of which my top three reasons are:
I think back to when I first got Pie, it was probably a good year at least before I even dreamed about riding him without lunging. But, time and persistence paid off, because fast forward 6 years from then and I could pluck him out of the pasture after a month off and go for a ride down the road bareback in a halter. Man, I miss that horse.
Oh, and by the way, I have a hell of a bruise on my knee this morning. Hello my friend Mr. Ice Pack.
Often times, yes, people lean on it as a crutch, not willing to take a little step of faith and trust their horse to behave. Especially if it's a solid, quiet horse who has been there done that... Granted, there are people who do have confidence struggles, and I'm not trying to downplay that, but... sometimes, to get to that next level of competitence and confidence, sometimes you have to step blindly.
That said (and yes, that was a bit of a soapbox rant), there are many reasons to lunge a horse, of which my top three reasons are:
- Before riding to settle them and get them focused about work, giving them a permissable time to be stupid and buck and enjoy their energy. For young horses especially I feel that this is very important, otherwise they feel trapped by their energy and act out under saddle.
- As exercise in place of riding. Sometimes you just don't have the time to put in a full ride, or the horse is coming back from a break and needs a re-fresher day before getting in the saddle. When used properly and with proper use of equipment and aids, lunging can be very beneficial to developing a horse's sense of balance, rhythm, and strength.
- To asses soundness. This is my first test to see if a horse is sound visually, I make sure to lunge the horse both ways to see if it a bi-lateral lameness or not (this can also be useful to pinpoint where the lameness is, going one way you might think you see something but can't decide which leg it's in, but going the other way, with the change in weight carrying the lameness will show itself more prominently).
I think back to when I first got Pie, it was probably a good year at least before I even dreamed about riding him without lunging. But, time and persistence paid off, because fast forward 6 years from then and I could pluck him out of the pasture after a month off and go for a ride down the road bareback in a halter. Man, I miss that horse.
Oh, and by the way, I have a hell of a bruise on my knee this morning. Hello my friend Mr. Ice Pack.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Half-halts and the Lunge Line
0Posted on 7:57 AM by Unknown
I had a bit of a light bulb moment the other day while lunging Callie. It finally truly dawned on me how important half-halts and leg are while lunging a horse.
You may be thinking, "whaaaa? but I'm not riding, leg? are you crazy?" I might be lol, but just because you aren't riding your horse doesn't mean you can have your leg on.
Most people think of lunging as a quick and easy way to exercise their horse, slap some side reins on, throw them at the end of a line, and voila, I can build fitness, exercise them, and help improve their balance. Right? Wrong.
Only if done correctly. The horse may have side reins on, may have a bit in their mouth and saddle on their back, but if they are just carrening around on their forehand, unbalanced, hindend disengaged, they are doing more harm than good.
In order to have impulsion in the gaits and to have a good, solid working walk, trot, and canter, the leg needs to be in. In lunging, the leg is the whip and voice. With Callie she is incredibly sensitive to these cues, I often only have to give a little cluck or lift the tip of the whip about a foot to get the desired response. This keeps her engaged and her hindend working up under her.
But then I need to be able to control this forward energy and not let her just run it into the ground by being on her forehand. So that means that the half-halt must be effective. There is where I see sooooo many people getting it wrong, their horse either doesn't understand the contact, or refuses to take it. When lunging there MUST be contact with the horse's mouth! If they keep cutting the circle and coming in towards you and giving slack in the line then they are not on the contact. Callie is awesome with this, she really likes a steady, solid contact with the bit and actually puts quite a bit of weight in the reins/lunge line. This is not bad and not to be punished, this is just what she finds comfortable.
So, whenever I give a "leg" cue with the whip or voice I make sure to give a little half-halt, just a soft squeezing of my fingers on the line, a subtle yet quick give-and-take of pressue, often many of them in a row as we go around. This reminds her to pick up her forehand and balance, and not plow around on her nose.
The result? A balanced, energetic picture of a horse working correctly, with implusion, responsive to the aids, and able to change gaits quickly and easily because... they are balanced!
You may be thinking, "whaaaa? but I'm not riding, leg? are you crazy?" I might be lol, but just because you aren't riding your horse doesn't mean you can have your leg on.
Most people think of lunging as a quick and easy way to exercise their horse, slap some side reins on, throw them at the end of a line, and voila, I can build fitness, exercise them, and help improve their balance. Right? Wrong.
Only if done correctly. The horse may have side reins on, may have a bit in their mouth and saddle on their back, but if they are just carrening around on their forehand, unbalanced, hindend disengaged, they are doing more harm than good.
In order to have impulsion in the gaits and to have a good, solid working walk, trot, and canter, the leg needs to be in. In lunging, the leg is the whip and voice. With Callie she is incredibly sensitive to these cues, I often only have to give a little cluck or lift the tip of the whip about a foot to get the desired response. This keeps her engaged and her hindend working up under her.
But then I need to be able to control this forward energy and not let her just run it into the ground by being on her forehand. So that means that the half-halt must be effective. There is where I see sooooo many people getting it wrong, their horse either doesn't understand the contact, or refuses to take it. When lunging there MUST be contact with the horse's mouth! If they keep cutting the circle and coming in towards you and giving slack in the line then they are not on the contact. Callie is awesome with this, she really likes a steady, solid contact with the bit and actually puts quite a bit of weight in the reins/lunge line. This is not bad and not to be punished, this is just what she finds comfortable.
So, whenever I give a "leg" cue with the whip or voice I make sure to give a little half-halt, just a soft squeezing of my fingers on the line, a subtle yet quick give-and-take of pressue, often many of them in a row as we go around. This reminds her to pick up her forehand and balance, and not plow around on her nose.
The result? A balanced, energetic picture of a horse working correctly, with implusion, responsive to the aids, and able to change gaits quickly and easily because... they are balanced!
