Teaching a horse to lunge?

Question

I just posted this then it was deleted? Anyway here it is again...

I asked for some tips on teaching my horses to lunge and I have tried some of them but they are still being ornrey. I use a lead line (don't have a round pen) and my husband walked them around me in a circle. I used a buggy whip behind them to motivate them but the second my husband lets go (they are fine with him there) they will both swing thier butts around and face me! They dont even care when I tap them with the whip, they ignore me! Big brats. =) One is a 10yr old TB (non ex-racer) and the other is an 11yr old Arabian.

Advice please? Some step by steps on how to train them or some good sites you know of? Thanks!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the input. I will definately work on my body language with them and see what I can do!

Answer 1

Hi. I hate to say it but I am trying to help and could do this easily in person. I have seen this problem over and over, its the slightest little communication error and the horse will stop. You are confusing your horse. You have to keep yourself in line with the horses shoulder, get that horse moving ahead of you, walk in circles with that horse. Don't stand in one spot facing the horse, get behind the shoulder and keep your shoulders pointed toward the direction you want your horse to go, not so much that you are arms are crossing over your chest but enough to not "face" your horse. Second, drop the whip, throw it out of the pen.

Instead, grab yourself a jacket, the windbreaker type that has a crips sound to it. Use that to move your horse, you never want to touch a confused horse with the whip to lunge it, doing that while the horse is confused will just cause aggrevation and make the whole situation that much harder.

Get a spot away from the horses pasture or grazing area, then get your horse out on the line, step a few feet back in position and shake the jacket... if they are completely sacked out you act like your going to throw the jacket at the horses hip and "crack" it back so it snaps in the air.

I always line my horses, had a round pen once.... dismantled it and have never used one again. Personal preferance but horses have been being lunged for ions without a roundpen, so I know you can get this done without one! (I know, thumbs down from a bunch of you)

Answer 2

Teaching A Horse To Lunge

Answer 3

Everyone else has given some very helpful ideas, I just wanted to mention one small thing. A round pen does not need to have six foot tall walls. If you have some extra posts, boards, or ground poles - that can make a round pen also. A circular boundary made by laying boards on the ground can very often work just as well -at low speeds. It won't work when you really want to push the horse (they will run right over them), but at low speeds, it may be enough to help.
Again, everyone elses ideas are great, and ideally you should be able to do this without a round pen, but this might help.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

I agree with Beth K except on one big point - the rope. 10' is NOT long enough for safety. If they're being 'brats' and resisting 10' puts you in range for a protest if they hump up and kick. Driving forward and keeping your position towards the hip is good - but use more line and whip. if he's going clockwise and the line is at 12:00 the whip should be between 2 and 3 with you facing the hip and driving him forward. But don't place yourself where the horse can jump and kick - it doesn't take a mean horse or a green horse to do it. Broke horses feeling good or playing account for a LOT of injuries.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/15473/jan_hoadley.html has some articles on it to of starting horses that might help.

Answer 5

Driving with the whip or your body language toward the hip or behind them will cause a well-trained horse to disengage the hindquarters and turn to face you. You WANT that. Try starting off on a long lead rope-- perhaps 10 - 12 feet long. Walk in a small circle, and drive the horse by moving the whip toward the back half of his shoulders instead of his hips or behind him. Make eye contact with your horse's inside eye and if he tries to face you, step toward the shoulder and drive him forward. It works. Trust me. I do this all the time whether on a longe line or in a round pen. On a truly disrespectful horse, you may have to crack the whip close to him or pop him on the shoulder if he's being a bully and refusing to move. You need to teach the horse that you are able to move his feet. Eventually you won't even need the whip and will be able to move the horse with your body language alone. Say, for instance, that you want the horse to move to the left. Raise your left hand to the side to 'open up' that area, and step confidently toward his left shoulder, and tap with the whip rhythmically increasing in pressure until he moves in the right direction. One step is fine. Rub him, and repeat. Within a few minutes, all you'll have to do is raise your hand and lean toward his shoulder like you're going to step toward him and he'll start moving. Let him go a time or two around, then move your eye focus to the top of his hip, and step toward his hip with the whip and tap him if necessary until he swings the hip out and faces you. Then reward. To go the other direction, raise your right hand holding the rope, put the whip in your left, and step toward the right shoulder.

Also be careful that your lead rope or line isn't too short. If the horse runs into a short rope after a step or two, he'll be reluctant to keep moving forward around the circle. Many people have more success with a stick or even the end of a long line or a lariat rope instead of a whip. Use what you feel comfortable with.

Clinton Anderson goes over these ideas in many of his training videos, as does Chris Cox and Pat Parelli. Monty Roberts (whether you like him or not) also drives the horse forward by moving toward the shoulders rather than the hips in the round pen. Whether you have a round pen or are working on the longe line, the concept is the same.

*edited to add-- if a horse is calm and comfortable with the process, a 10 or 12' rope is fine to start when all you are asking for is one or two steps. Once the horse is going to be moving around you more than a step or two at a time, go to a longer line, at least 16 to 20' in length. If you think the horse will rebel and may kick, use a longer line. Many of the trainers I mentioned above start with a line that is 16' long on horses that they don't know. Use common sense on this one.
Good luck!

Answer 6

Learn Train Your Horse Easy!

Answer 7

you might try using a driving harness, because then, you can use the lines like reins (they really are, just long ones), and control which direction the horse moves in. hold your whip in the hand furthest away from the horse...i.e., if the horse is moving clockwise away from you, that would be your left hand, and righthand when you switch directions. You might want to get some of those fence panel sections that you just join together to make a round pen, or section off a corner of the paddock, they are fairly inexpensive, and moveable, and then you can control what they do without another person, because they have less room to get away from you.

Answer 8

Well....let's start from the beginning. Do you know how to use your body to help communicate with the horse? If not then let's start there. When you are lunging you want to drive them forward by having your body be the driving force. If you step either equal or in front of their body they should stop. You don't want your horse to be ahead of you. When your horse goes to face you shake the lunge line in their face.....push them away from you.......you need to be in control and they are not allowed in or to turn and face you until you say. It's just a lot of ground work.

Answer 9

To teach my 11 year old gelding how to lunge, I used two people. I had my friend stand in the middle and hold the lunge line while I had the whip and I stood between my friend and my gelding around his shoulder. I didn't have a hold of him or anything, I was just standing there, about ten feet away from him. I then clicked my tongue at him and began to jog and I flicked the whip at his shoulder. He began to trot but grudgingly. Eventually, he started to understand and I didn't have to keep clicking to him and tapping him and all I had to do was jog near him.

After he became accustomed to this, I started working with him by myself. Instead of just standing still in the the circle I started jogging in a small circle and clicked to him. He thought it was just like before and trotted with me in a larger circle. Eventually, I started jogging less and walking more while he trotted. Then I started standing still while he moved around me.

It took quite a bit of time, but now me and my gelding can go out and lunge happily in the pasture without any problems. He actually enjoys it. If you don't understand anything, then please let me know.

Answer 10

I'm in the same situation of no round pen and trying to teach my yearling filly to lunge....I can't wait to see some good answers on this!