*As a guideline always try to work with or seek out a knowledgeable trainer you trust and can talk over training techniques with in order to give the most benefit to you and your horse.*
Lunging a horse can be beneficial for many reasons. It allows the rider to work from the ground to develop a myriad of different muscle groups in the horse without the weight of the rider, as well as being able to identify and observe the horse’s rhythm, tempo, and thoroughness.
Here, we are going to look a bit at the latter and discuss how lunging can be a great addition to any horse’s training. When many people think of lunging a horse they may think of a crazy hot horse that needs to get some extra energy out before a ride or maybe a horse that is just starting their training. While they may be more spunky at times, lunging should always be as much work for the horse mentally as it is physically. For a hot or exuberant horse, being out on the end of the line turning the time into water skiing practice for the person on the other end it doesn’t do much to calm them mentally and focus in on the work they need to do. So how then do we get them to listen? First always try to lunge with side reins that are the correct length for the experience of the horse i.e. a length that encourages them to reach for the contact or a length that helps them learn more balance toward the hind end and over their back/top-line. The latter length can almost look too short or “behind the vertical” at first making people second guess this length, but for a horse learning to balance and use its hind end the side reins will soon look more correct and almost lose on the inside rein as they are using the outside rein to balance their body longitudinally. During the work remember: inside “leg” to outside rein. Being that the rider’s actual leg is not present during lunging how does the rider get the horse working and balancing on the outside rein; the whip. Lunge whips are designed to allow the handler to be at a distance while still being able to reach out up to twelve feet or more to encourage the horse; however, always start closer to the horse so you can make corrections using the butt or handle of the whip and walk with them to give the horse time to adjust and understand what is being expected.
The whip as an artificial aid can also be used from the ground to begin teaching the horse to move away from pressure and accept the whip as both encouragement and reward. To accomplish this, start very simply and think in terms of “black and white” to teaching the horse what you want; for example, pressure on the shoulder means pick up and move that shoulder away or out on the circle; touching on the belly equals lift the abdominal and back muscles allowing the horse to reach the hind legs further under the body for more carrying power, and touching between the top of the tail and the hock means forward and to continue to bring the hind legs under. These will be the “basic” aids to teach with the whip. As the horse gets more comfortable, confident, and understands lunging is still work, use those three aids in conjunction and on different sized circles to get the horse to connect from back to front, relax their body, and learn to have better self carriage. It also aids in transitions and getting the horse working over their back and using their hind end to increase their impulsion or push from behind. This allows the horse to very clearly show the rhythm in each gait going each direction.
Rhythm is the foundation of the training scale that most trainers use when starting, and continuing training with a horse. Rhythm and tempo are often interchanged; however, by definition- rhythm (via the Oxford dictionary) is “a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound”. This basically means each gait has a set number of beats. The repeated pattern or beats will change for each gait but each horse should have a clear four beats in walk, two beats in trot and three beats in canter to be considered “true gaits” according to the training scale. The walk, for example, should have a marching four beats in the rhythm since there is no time all four feet are off of the ground. Beat one begins with the outside hind leg, beat two is the outside front leg, beat three is the inside hind followed by the inside front leg. On the lunge line, the rider can begin to identify the horses rhythm. Once the rhythm is established, working on the lunge line can help steady the tempo and teach the horse to work without rushing through the motion.
Tempo is described as beats per minute and unlike the rhythm can change and may change frequently at the beginning. Think of this as a metronome a band might listen to and follow along with during a song. In riding the same principle can be applied: in the trot, the two beats should be even; if the horse rushes and has a very quick trot that sounds like a drum solo gone awry, the tempo needs to be slowed down so the horse starts to work from behind. Smaller circles on the lunge help horses to shift their weight back and helps to teach the horse to balance. This should be used in conjunction with the same basic aids discussed earlier since these are what help the foundation of the horse (carrying the shoulder by working over the back from their hind end) which puts the responsibility of maintaining the thoroughness and energy more onto the horse. Once the horse has a better tempo--i.e. not rushing, speeding up, breaking into a canter, or reversely slowing down too much or even transitioning into the walk--they can be worked onto a bigger circle. Working on these different size circles helps confirm what the “rider” is asking from the ground. Be aware, young horses that are just starting training should not be subject to lots of small circles as it can cause injury and/or long term damage to some joints.
Creating a conversation with the horse using the lunge line along with side reins and effectively using the whip from the ground helps ensure when you get back on to ride or get on for the first time the horse understands better how to use its body, better helping to keep them on a successful path.
Thank you for your interest and taking time to read a bit about the lunging technique I use for all of the horses I work with.
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