Horse lunging...?

Question

I have a really quiet pont, Twinkles. She is having problems with turning whil cantering. i figured lunging her would help but she s too quiet to lunge and doesent get what to do. Ive tried using a lunging whip thingy but she wont walk away from it any advice?

Answer 1

My paint had the EXACT same problem. I would advise try riding her in a clover leaf pattern. If you ride english...then if she wont turn while cantering to the left, then instead of a steady pull then kind of bump her nose the way you want her to go. Vice versa for the other direction. Most of the horses I have trained have not had a balance problem, they just needed to understand what exactly you are asking.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

wen u go to lunge, u are by her side right? then u ppoint with the hand tht has the rope in it in the direction u want her to go. step back behing her driving line and kiss. if she doesnt go, swing the whip, if she still doesnt go tap her with the whip...ect

tht should help a little! srry its hard to explain!

Answer 3

You should get an instructor to teach how to lunge properly or have them help you getting your pony started..

I think cantering on the lunge is a good idea if she is have trouble turning but keep the circles big. Does she canter well on the straight? If she is young she might still be unbalanced in canter..

Answer 4

How are you using the lunge whip? Are you using a lunge line, or are you free longing her? If you are on a line, she might feel less compelled to move away from you, figuring that the line is like a lead rope, and she's supposed to stay next to you. Try lunging her without the line, and just free in the arena or round pen you are utilizing. If you are already free lunging her, turn her out first, and let her do whatever she likes (roll, run, stand around, whatever). Give her maybe five-ten minutes so she feels free and relaxed, like she's supposed to move around and doesn't have to expect someone to ride her or something. Going in with her right away when she is not use to lunging in the first place, is probably going to make her think you are going to do up-close ground work, or are going to ride. She doesn't understand the idea of running around you, because she's never really done it before...so give her time to relax and be by herself. This should loosen her up and let her know you're not focousing on work just yet, and she's supposed to move around.

Now, after she's had her down-time, come into the ring with whip in hand. Stand in the middle of the arena. Square your shoulders, and stare her in the eye. If she tries approaching you, tighten up and swing the whip out. If she doesn't respond, crack the whip (if you haven't done it before, you might need to practice before going in there). This should compell her to move out. Aim every action at her rear, but don't make physical contact. By doing this, you are pushig her foward and away. Once you get her moving, keep your square stance, and angle your whip with her rump, snapping and/or swinging when she slows down. Keep the whip out and it's tip level with the height of her back when working. You can lower it, or raise it when you are done working, to let her know you are finished.

Strict body language, and effecient use of the whip will help keep your horse out and moving. To get her to turn around, cut her off (don't literally jump in her way, but angle your body so you and the whip are now pointing at her shoulder/head area), putting pressure on this area, will make her want to turn away, thus turning around. When she does turn around, reapply the pressure/your direction at her rump in accordance to the new direction to get her to keep moving forward.

Once you are satisfied with your workout, relax your shoulders, drop (or raise) your whip, and turn your shoulder away from her rump, and up to her shoulder, but don't cut her off like you did when asking her to turn. You can look over your shoulder and call to her, and/or stick out a free hand to beckon her over. She should get the hint that you're done, and it's okay to come in now. When she comes up to you (try to get her to come most, if not all of the way, to you), pet her, let her know she did a good job, and you're finished. Key signs to look for while lunging your horse that let you know they understand and are paying attention are: inner ear is locked on you most of the time, horse is l*****g its lips, horse is dropping it's head.

Once you have a free-lunging routine down, you can move to a line, which gives you move control, but requires more work from the start.

Answer 5

to start of with get someone to walk n the outside of her head will you stand in the middle so she gets the idea of what to do. start of just walking then trotting and once shes got the hang of it try to get the canter