Gillian’s Top Tips for Effective Lunging
- Horses Inside Out
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
In the first article How to Lunge Your Horse Effectively, we looked at the core skills you need to ensure every lunging session is as effective as possible. In this second part, Gillian is going to share a few top tips to help you really nail your horse’s lunging routine.
Even when you are good at using your body position and body language – your rope handling skills are top notch you may still need a little bit of extra help. Most issues you will encounter when you are lunging your horse are down to the horse not fully understanding what you are asking them to do. When this happens, the first thing to check is that you are asking in the right way. Take a look back at the first part of this article – How to Lunge Your Horse Effectively to check your skills are as good as they can be.
Staying out on the Circle
One of the most common problems is the horse falls in on the circle. If this is an issue that you are having, the best way to solve it is to go back to the basics for a few sessions, so your horse can really understand what lunging is all about. This is going to involve a horsey friend to help you. You’re going to ask your friend to lead your horse. You stay in your usual position as the point of your triangle and ask your horse to walk on. You are still in control so continue to use your voice aids and body position to tell your horse what you want them to do. Your friend will encourage your horse to go out onto the line that you want him to go on to and walk with them. This can help to give the horse reassurance that this is what you want him to do. It will also help to build confidence.
By going right back to basics, we are training the horse about what lunging is all about. This work can only really be done in walk but using someone to guide your horse to stay out on the circle is a valuable exercise to try. Working on lots of walk – halt - walk transitions with your horse staying out on the big circle before you then progress to the trot.
Long Lines vs Lunging
As long as you have mastered good rope handling skills using 2 long lines rather than one can be a really effective way of keeping your horse out on the circle. Done well it can help to give your horse more direction, clarity and understanding of what you are asking which encourages more relaxation. It also encourages the horse to stay upright through the turns.
Long lining is also great for getting the horse moving around the arena as it becomes easy to introduce straight lines and changes of bend. However, when long lining it is important to keep walking yourself particularly when performing circles to ensure the circle size doesn't get too small.
Here are 2 videos of Gillian demonstrating some long lining techniques with Toby when he was coming back into work earlier this year.
Giving You and Your Horse Focus
For those of you who have been following Horses Inside Out for a while will know we love using poles and for so many different reasons.
Incorporating randomly placed poles or a series of walk, trot or even canter poles into your lunging regime supercharges your horse's workout and gives you and your horse focus. This is another method of helping to train your horse to stay out on the lunge circle.
The Perfect Position
Another tip for encouraging your horse to stay out on the circle is to walk in a circle with the horse. If you do walk a small circle remember your placement, with regards to the triangle. If you step too far behind, the horse is likely to cut across the circle (middle image below), or If you step too far in front, the horse will tend to turn in (3rd image below). You want to be walking forwards in a circle, in that neutral position (1st image below) to encourage the horse to stay out on a big circle.
Learn from Others
You can learn a huge amount from watching different people lunge. When you watch a really skilled handler on the lunge it's like watching a really good rider. They don't look like they're doing anything. Everything is very subtle, but the communication is there - it's direct and beautiful to watch.
Boost your lunging skills even further by watching our on-demand lecture demonstration the Principles of Movement as well as a demonstration on lunging you will also learn more about how to assess your horse's movement on the lunge.
Building a Relationship
Lunging is a great opportunity to connect and bond with your horse, and when you do get your positioning and body language right, and you understand the horse's responses to you, it's a lovely thing, because you're communicating with your horse, and your horse is communicating with you. It’s that which is really going to help to improve the bond between horse and handler, as well as, of course, having a great workout session.
If you have any top tips for lunging you practice with your horse please share them in the comments below.
Don't miss our new Documentary Series!
Bare Bones of the Matter is a 7-part series that centres around Freddie Fox and his skeleton, the original star of Horses Inside Out as a case study. Gillian shares his story alongside special guests and top equestrian professionals. Many of these experts, including world leaders in their fields, were part of the multidisciplinary team that cared for Freddie during his life. There's lots to learn about horse care and training showcased in this unique series that will ensure the welfare of the horse in the future.
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