To lunge or not

Kerrie Aussie

Member
Jan 16, 2015
49
43
18
67
I am a learner rider and the horsey people in my life insist that my horse needs to be lunged before a ride. My RI use to insist on it and every time he bucked and kicked out. Finally she gave in to my "he doesn't like it" and allowed me to ride without the lunge and he was perfect. Did not put a foot wrong. In fact I was at the walk stage and he would fall asleep.
Now I have the same problem at my friends property where he is agisted. He thinks that my boy will kick out and buck when I'm on him and so he is getting the dirt out of his system by lunging. He uses a long line on a halter and the end of the line to hurry him along. Once he used a whip (not on him) and he acted up even more. I don't agree but I don't have the experience so don't argue. He also wants me to do the lunging but I don't have the skill and get frightened by the kicking and bucking. Any thoughts on this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: horseandgoatmom
Ah I wouldn't worry too much, from what you have said your boy behaves under saddle so thats the main thing. I can hand on heart say my horse has bucked once since the day she was first ridden (and that was due to a saddle issue causing pain), but has a good old hooley on the lunge sometimes, its just blowing off steam when she knows its okay to do so and it poses no threat to the person lunging. I couldn't use a whip with her for years, its only as she has got older (shes almost 12 now) she doesn't get hyped up by it.

Lunging is a good skill to learn, for both horse and handler. You said your boy came from a trail riding place, is he out of racing in his earlier days too? Just wondering as one or both might mean he hasn't done a lot of circle work and the bucking might be an objection because he isn't feeling totally balanced and/or finds it hard. If thats the case, gradually building him up lunging might be good for when you get to the cantering on board on a circle stage as it would help him learn before you are in the plate ;) Of course he might just be one of those horses who would rather not work too hard so gives the body language of not liking it, or there could be a pain issue, or it might just be what he has been allowed to do in the past or one of about nine million other things :rolleyes:

That was a long winded way of saying, I think it has its benifits but (isn't there always one of those) I don't like to always lunge before riding, your horse ends up fitter and if it is just high spirits you are trying to fix, they just get higher with fitness. I prefer to teach a horse when its okay for high spirits and to always listen while under saddle.
 
Hi Jessey, he is OTT, probably only raced 5 or 6 times. He started out well then got slower and slower so didn't make the grade. He is a lazy boy and doesn't care who is in front. He then went out west for 2 years mustering cattle and being a work horse and then 2 years trail riding. I am not sure of his treatment till now but I am very soft but firm with him. He is slightly stiff with some turning movements which I have had an osteopath see him and now do front leg stretches every time I see him. I don't want him too fit as I am not fit myself (something I am working on). I trusted him completely until I saw him re-act to lunging. It is very confronting to have him kick out and buck up close while on the ground.
 
Yeah he probably needs a lot of suppling work then, lunging is really hard on horses, I think 15 mins on the lunge is about equivillant to an hour of ridden schooling, or something crazy like that I remember from way back when. I bet he only does this on the canter transition too?

I would ask your RI to teach you how to lunge, but keep it really short and low intensity for a good while, so literally lunge at walk for 5 mins to start with, doing walk/halt transitions off your voice (which will help you guys bond too), then build it up slowly to include trot and canter allowing time for his body to adjust to the new work you are asking of him. Learning with him will also help you understand his outbursts and you will find that gradually as you understand it, it will pose less threat to you, he's probably only doing it as its the only way he knows how to communicate to you that he isn't happy with the situation and once you teach him to cope with the work he will stop.

For suppling, in addition to your leg stretches, carrot stretches are great (and again good for bonding too) you can do various ones, asking them to bend round to the sides, stretch forwards and downwards to get the carrot reward. There is loads of info online about them.
 
Thanks Jessey, I like the idea of just walk lunging. Will definitely get some lessons on that. I can get him to turn his head around to me when in the saddle. Stretching for food without moving his feet - that will be good (he's a guts).
 
My horse is the most placid horse you can get - but he still bucks and farts around on the lunge. I think that he finds it very hard to work his body in that way and he bucks partly out of annoyance, but also because he finds it very hard work.

How long have you had him? Is he ridden regularly and does he behave when you ride him?

It's very hard when you rely on 'experienced' people to guide you and you don't agree with their techniques. There are so many approaches to horse training and ultimately you need to work with a trainer who explains things clearly to you and who you can communicate your worries to.

Personally, I don't know of any horses who are lunged before each ride. In the long run, all this really does is make them ultra fit and hence have more energy when you ride them. Occasionally horses are lunged before work if there is some reason to believe they may be full of beans (e.g. returning to work after box rest) but this is a short term measure only.
 
I work with competition horses and they are lunged regularly as part of their training regime, but for us lunging is an exercise session in itself rather than a precursor to riding. The only time we lunge before we ride is if we have reason to believe the horse is going to be very "fresh" and full of itself for whatever reason - for example if it hasn't been ridden for a while, or if it hasn't had turnout for a few days because of bad weather - but even then it is not for long, just a couple of minutes on the lunge gives them time to have a zoom and a buck or two and then they are settled enough to start riding. If your horse is fine when you get on then I don't see the point of lunging first!
 
  • Like
Reactions: OwnedbyChanter
Wow Jessey, that stretch has blown my mind. I didn't know horses could move like that.
Thanks Mary Poppins and Joosie, I will stick to my guns and refuse the compulsory lunging from now on. I have owned my boy for 9 weeks and see him most days and ride once or twice a week. It is very hot and humid here at the moment so looking forward to Autumn for more riding.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey
If he doesn't need lunging then don;t bother, I have never lunged before riding.
 
I have learned to work ZIggy on circles - when I got him I (5 years ago this year, jeepers!) had no experience of owning horses at all and had never lunged, and I still don't lunge, but if I'm not able to ride him for whatever reason we will do a little gentle work on the long line so that he can stretch his legs and remember what the commands are.

I agree with joosie that lunging before every ride is unnecessary, especially as your boy is so well behaved. But it's good to learn how to do circle work.

I say "circle work" not "lunging" because I am inclined to Natural Horsemanship and generally work Ziggy in a rope head collar on a long soft line. He doesn't like lunge cavessons, they jingle too much, and I don't like lunging in a bit. You'll find a fair few of us on here are naturally inclined and use that sort of terminology - "join up" is another - so don't hesitate to ask for explanations!

I learned a lot about working with my horse on the ground from this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/101-Horsema...33&sr=1-1&keywords=101+horsemanship+exercises . I think it's great. If you can get it in Oz, I would get it and read it - it gives you lots of small things to do so you always feel purposeful. It shows you how to do carrot stretches too!
 
It can be quite intimidating when your horse bucks and carrys on but try to remember just because he's does it on the lunge line doesn't mean he will do it under saddle, my pal was told to lunge her Irish sports horse as he wants to canter all the time it was said he had too much energy and by lunging before this would get rid of the energy this only made the lesson worse because he was full of hell from the start she decided to stop doing it and the lessons always start at a nice calm point now no more running into canter
 
There are two reasons I lunge.
1. I do lunge before I ride on occasion, but thats only if I've done absolutely nothing with him for two to three weeks. It tends to get the bucks and farts out, which calms him before I get on.
If Im riding regularly I just get on and ride.
2. Other than that I do lunge regularly if Im not riding much/short of time, this is just to keep him ticking over.
 
newrider.com