Lunging help

[HorseyGurl22]

so I've been teaching my minitaure gelding how to lunge. He's doing great with the voice commands. My problem is that he's not doing a circle around me. He keeps coming in too much on one side, so the lunge line drags on the ground, and then on the opposite side he's pulling to much away from me.

He does this in both directions. I've tried waving the whip up by his shoulder to get him to go out away from me, but that's not working.

Please help

 

[Mulligans Run]

We have never had much luck with a lunge line. We do much better in a round pen - free lunging. As soon as ours feel the tug of the end of that line, they stop and turn toward us - no matter how slight the tug is.

Do you have a round pen available to you? You might want to try that.

Good luck!

 

[HorseyGurl22]

We have never had much luck with a lunge line.  We do much better in a round pen - free lunging.  As soon as ours feel the tug of the end of that line, they stop and turn toward us - no matter how slight the tug is.
Do you have a round pen available to you?  You might want to try that.

Good luck!

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no, unfortunetly we don't have a round pen. Not yet at least, I'm hopeing next year.

 

[Margaret]

All of my horses are trained to lunge on a line. "Moving out"- takes time, Maybe weeks or more on some) I allways start with slow walk or trot in small circles, "til they get it".. Keeping sessions short, and praising with one or two circles in either direction. Trying to teach "too much too fast can cause confusion" and slows the progress down. I think that is the biggest mistake people make in lunge line training. ( I usually spend only about 5 minutes-a session when first introducing a horse to it. Working closer with the horse and slow is the key.-allways letting the horse know he did a good thing when he/she did a circle. Some may require a small tap on the hip and some smooches, but what ever it is, they need to know they did a "good thing" after completing a circle or two.. Once they have it down, a 10 foot lead is a good one to use. Sometimes I will walk backwards, in a smaller circle, ( after they have it) facing them, to give them the advantage of "creating a much larger circle" for them to trot in.( the size of a round pen)

 

[Minimor]

Margaret pretty much said it, as far as starting with a small circle until the horse gets the idea quite well (though I've honestly never had one take weeks to get it!). If the horse tries to cheat by cutting in, I'll flip the line a bit--that will usually remind him to get back out on the circle.

I use my big horse longe line for the Minis, so that's 25' or 30' radius on our circles once the horse is good about his circles.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I to use a full size lunge line and dont really have alot of problems but with a horse who is just learning i have someone lead the horse on the outside of the circle for a bit so they get that I all of a sudden dont want them right next to me but at the end of the line (a huge no no when leading)

after a few circles i have the person on the outside unclip there lead and just walk (or jog) next to the horse and then they stop and by then the horse has gotten what he is supposed to do.

 

[Roxane Martin]

I do have a round pen, so that helps on the outside, but since I work alone, I didn't have anyone who could lead for me either.

What seems to have worked for me is using ground poles (I have white PVC pipes) that I laid out about 8 feet in as an inside circle about 2/3 of the way around. Then I used orange cones a few feet apart to complete the inner circle. (Maybe you could then do the same thing around the outside, something to be a visible "track".)

First I walked them around the "track" I had created (both ways). I did not cross over the PVC pipes, but only entered or exited the "track" where the cones were. Then I walked them around the track with them in the track and me just on the inside of the pipes/cones. I also used a dressage whip to help focus. The voice cues help of course. Then I just kept getting myself more and more inside of the circle.

I'm sure it will be harder without the fence barrier, but maybe if you can create a barrier, this will help until they get the idea to "get out there".

Good luck.

 

[Jetiki]

I use one of those Flexi dog leashes. Solves the dragging line problem as it retracts by itself. This might be a solution until you can teach him to stay at his proper distance. My mare has a habit of doing the same thing until she remembers where shes supposed to be.

Karen

 

[choklitbean]

If I have one that wants to cut in at a certain point I take a few steps toward it just as it's coming up to that spot. They automatically step out and I step back to create the distance. Usually they start keeping the space themselves after a few times.