the very "special" & mostly only decorative Perry is still with me & now seems to have mostly got the hang of lunging in walk & trot but i am really struggling to free school her & want to try it to give her another learning experience & to allow her to move alittle faster and feel more confident about moving on her own BUT will not move away despite trying to encourage her with a lunging whip or a lunging line or a rope - she will happily follow me [like to big brown dog that she is] around the school - i cant run with her cos of a badly damaaged ankle - any ideas - i am very short of people to help - so need suggestions i can try on my own - thanks folks
struggling to free school
- Thread starter rubysmum
- Start date
Check your body language, when moving her away, your stance must be saying "out" and mean it. stay direct with her shoulder as per lunge stance and move her on by extending arm (whichever is required for direction) out from your side towards her rump (think of it saying, " away with you this way" ) Its not easy to get right but must be totally perfect for her to understand.
Full length mirror & practice yourself before letting her tell you if its correct. Your state of mind must be correct too, calm, relaxed but saying " we are going to work" and totally focused on getting her moving.
Play in the field with her, practice sending her away from you & allowing her in, she will soon let you know she understands what you are saying but it does take time to learn.
Full length mirror & practice yourself before letting her tell you if its correct. Your state of mind must be correct too, calm, relaxed but saying " we are going to work" and totally focused on getting her moving.
Play in the field with her, practice sending her away from you & allowing her in, she will soon let you know she understands what you are saying but it does take time to learn.
Tbh I started by working with Joy on a lead rope. Practising getting her walking next to me and then getting her to move ahead of me and then me to move ahead of her. Also practising moving her hindquarters about.
This then transfers over into work off the lead rein. Kelly Mark's book 'Perfect Manners' has an excellent section with tasks to work through.
Think about not only your body language but also about where you stand. I like to be back towards the haunches and still find on the lunge that it is easy for Joy to get behind me if I'm not thinking about it which just stalls momentum - fine if that's what you are aiming for
Now go and have fun!
This then transfers over into work off the lead rein. Kelly Mark's book 'Perfect Manners' has an excellent section with tasks to work through.
Think about not only your body language but also about where you stand. I like to be back towards the haunches and still find on the lunge that it is easy for Joy to get behind me if I'm not thinking about it which just stalls momentum - fine if that's what you are aiming for
Now go and have fun!
I would teach her to yield to pressure - that is, respond softly with understanding - in a variety of ways first, so you can direct her first physically, then with bodylanguage, where you want her(or bits of her) to move. I find it easier to do this on a lead, so you have more control. Only once she was reliable at this would I start asking for more and increasing the distance, until I was 'lunging'. I would also generally wait until the horse was pretty reliable on lead before I 'tested' our relationship & communication off lead in this manner.
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