Hi guys,
Yet another question about the Shetland stallion.
Someone mentioned to me that I should work him by lunging, and I really like the idea - this is something I would have wanted to work with anyway - but he barely knows how to be led, and doesn't understand commands like clicking or " ; whoa ". How do I teach him to lunge? How on earth do I introduce him to the concept of walking around me in a ring?
Help!=)
If you have access to a round pen, it makes life easier ;-) If not try and use the smallest area you can so the horse is not fighting or pulling against you.
To start off I lead a green horse into the lunging area, I take them to the outer rim and makes sure all buckles etc. Are ok. I then step to their shoulder and one or two steps backwards and ask them to walk on. If you try to move away too quickly they will want to follow you. Use your free arm out to urge them forward. Each step forward they take, you move one or two backwards to the centre.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com The first few circles might not be full circles with a green horse, but that is ok. Keep asking them to walk on until the are achieving the desired circle circumference. Make sure your lunge line is long enough.
Pick up your lunge whip and hold it in the lunging V. All this does is guide the horse forward. When your asking them to stop or transition down you can drop the end of the whip to the ground so it leaves their vision, but you can lift it if you need to ask for more impulsion.
The lunging V. Although I like to have mine more of a \ _/I hold the horses lead in my left hand while the horse goes anti-clock wise and I hold the whip in my right hand almost straight out beside me. So I guess really I use a lunging L tipped on it's point - wider than a V. LOL
I stay in the centre of the lunge area, but also walk a small circle with the horse. Your body position is important and can even be used in place of a whip if one is not handy. I stay at the horses shoulder or slightly behind the shoulder, if you need to push them on a bit more you can step towards the hind quarters. Or to slow them, step closer to the head, be careful it does not turn them around in the opposite direction if that is not what you want.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Horses are super smart, they will learn very quickly that your not going to touch them with the whip and that you only bring it to their hind quarters to move them forward. Combine this with voice command training and you hardly even need a whip. I use mouth clicks and voice commands, walk-on, tr-ot and can-ter. Break the words down into 2 sections can - ter, to make it easy for the horse to hear.
I also begin to teach the voice commands on the lead while walking. As I lead I stop and say whoa at the exact same time. And I always say walk-on as I take a step and follow up with use of the lead.
My answer is slightly different for a round yard or an open area to lunge.
Round yard - is easy you can just send them out the fence and ask them to move forward, walk for a bit to let them relax and work down. Then move into a good solid working trot. This may mean you have to be pretty firm to begin with, when the horse is doing what they are asked then you can soften a bit.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com To begin keep a forward motion by staying well behind the shoulder and keep them moving forward. If they come in and cut across you, then you need to chase them on and out. Even hold your whip between you and the horse to tell them to stay out on the circle. It is when you let them stop or even slow down that you can get into trouble, and they can spin, rear and get tangled in the lunge line.
Stopping is a reward, so if they are really difficult I would concentrate on just keeping them moving. If they kick out at you, pull the head around hard. Pull their attention back to the centre and back to you. Always incorporate voice with physical actions. So walk-on, tr-ot, can-ter, who-a this will help her learn to associate the two.
No round yard - Start with smaller circles. A small good work out, is better than a bigger out of control work out. I always set myself up for success and end on a good note. They have the attention span of kids sometimes (LOL ) and if we push them too far they just rebel and we undo all the good work.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com It can be a slow process but once they are doing well, let the lunge line out just a couple of feet. They won't notice the small change in circle size and "should" continue on well.
If they try to pull out from the circle and try to get away. I use the end of the arena and then get some drums or jump ends to form a make shift barrier with poles to stop the horse trying to duck off the circle. As long as it is safe (no sharp edges) it will be messy, but do the job for the first few weeks. This enables them to form good habits and then you wont need it ;-)
If the first few times they want to bolt or take off, let them go. If they are cantering in a safe circle (even fast) they will be ok and they will tire pretty quickly. Then when they want to slow down, let them come back to the trot but keep it at a good solid working trot. Keep them going nicely for at least a few minutes and then stop before they pull any more naughty behaviour.
