My horse won't lunge, please help!

Question

I have a 2 year old 15.3 hand TB stallion. He still can't figure out how to lunge. Everytime i put him on a lunge line h**l keep comming into me, if i wave the whip to push him away he runs and then stops and comes back in. He won't stay in a circle, h**l stand still then run for 2 steps then stop and turn around. HE WONT GO IN A CIRCLE! How should i go about teaching him to lunge so he learns commands and learns how to go in a circle. I don't want to ride him just yet until he atleast knows how to lunge.

ALSO, since he is only 2 years old and already 15.3 hh. How tall do you think he could get?

Answer 1

First: I wouldn't ride him until he's 3 or 4...just to be safe and let his legs grow out and stay strong. Riding him too early could damage his joints and cause an early retirement and hard problems down the line.

As for his maturing, since most horses don't stop growing until around 5 years of age, I think he'll make the 16.2hh mark or so. That's about as tall as my horse, who is also a TB. He may get a little taller, depends on his parents however. But judging on how tall he is now, I'd say at LEAST 16.1-16.2hh.

Now, for lunging. Does he free lunge? You might want to try this first, just so he understands the act of moving away from you on the ground, etc, when you ask him to. He's probably associating the line with a lead, meaning when the lead's on, he's supposed to be near you. He doesn't understand the difference and is confused---naturally.

Free lunging is basically the same, just without the line. You can use a lunge whip, or the line to shoo him out with.

For lunging of either kind, send your horse out with square shoulders, and heavy eye contact. Keep your body nearest/facing his rear, to help push him out and forward. Swing the line, or move the whip whenever necessary to keep him going. Be sure to give him plenty of line when working on the lunge line, as he is a big horse and won't be able to navigate those tighter circles at a posting trot or canter for a while, or until he learns how to collect himself.

To bring the horse in/stop, relax/drop your shoulders and extend a hand or face your shoulder towards him while giving a liht tug on the line to get his attention further. He should either stop, or stop and come in to you. To make him turn around, simply cut him off, while keeping yourself square, etc., like you would to send him out. By moving your angle from his rear, to his fore, you are putting pressure on his front, which will cause him to turn around if done agressively (for lack of a better word) enough.

Answer 2

Ask a friend or someone to hold his halter on the outside, while you lounge him. They can guide him in the walk and trot and show him how to keep the circle.

Answer 3

Well, round pens DEFINATELY are handy! And there is no answer to how big he is going to get. Horses grow until they are 5 and considered adults!

Answer 4

We use a lot of different horses in our lessons programs and we want all of them to lunge well.  this has worked really well for the horses that seemed confused and would do what your horse is doing:

I clip on the lungelune or a long leadline, it doesn't really matter at first.  I stand sideways to them and point a lungewhip at their butt.  I essentially walk them on a 1' long lungeline.  Instead of going in a circle, we go against the edge of the arena.  Whenever I want him to walk, trot, or halt, I use the exact same cues that i would use on the lungeline.  gradually i move further and further away.  I'll practice some circles in the arena, small ones in the corners.  I won't stand still but will continue to drive them in a circle.  Once they respond well to me standing sideways right next to them I gradually move further and further out and move less and less.  Some of them pick it up lightning fast, others not so much.  if a horse tries to come back to me I circle around him and drive him foraward by walking at him.  It sounds like this horse doesn't know that the whip is a foreward cue, i think he can learn fast  

Answer 5

At the moment it sounds like your horse is confused, so you need to make sure it is really clear what you want him to do.

One way to help a horse learn how to make a correct circle is to get someone else to lead them around, while the other person stands in the centre holding the rope and whip. If you only have one person, then keep them on a tiny circle to begin with because it is much easier for you to keep them on a circle. To begin with the hand holding the rope 'leads' the horse around, while the whip helps to keep him moving forward by pointing at his hindquarters, or asks him to move out by pointing at his shoulder. Start by walking a small circle, and once he's staying on the circle and not turning in then you can gradually make it bigger and move on to faster paces.

Using a round yard makes things a lot easier too, because the horse usually will follow the wall, and is much less likely to try to drift out of the circle as it would do in a larger area.

Maintaining the 'triangle' of the lunge rope and whip is very important. If you stand too far forward then you can't blame the horse for turning in to face you. If the horse tries to turn in then you need to be back closer to the hindquarters to drive the horse forward.

If you still have trouble then I would suggest that you get someone who is experienced at teaching young horses to lunge to work with him. You need to have lightning fast reactions to correct the horse once they have learnt that they can get away with coming in to the centre. People have been trampled by horses coming into the centre while they are being lunged, so you definitely don't want it to become a habit!

Hope this helps :-)

Answer 6

Well the first thing I would ask is if you are using an arena or are you out in the field. Of course the best option would be to do this in an enclosed area or arena. It may be hard to train a stallion to lunge let alone a 2 yr old and a 15.3hh one! You point you need to get across to him is want you want out of him when lunging. You want him to move around you in a circle. So when you are lunging him, make a triangle with the end of the whip near his rear, the lunge line attached to the halter (duh!) and you being the point of the triangle. Every time he stops to come in click him on and tap the ground with the whip behind him. pull him in the direction you want him to go in as well. It is also normal if he lets out a buck and a couple of pigroots (as stallions I've known normally do). When it's time to stop, simply stop all body language, relax and pull him in and say "whoa". And praise him!

P.S Be careful because I've known some stallions who try to muck around on the lunge line and run off or totally freeze and turn their backs to me...

Oh and for a TB, you would have to check his bloodlines. If he is pure TB he'll probably grow to about 16hh I'd say. Good Luck!

Answer 7

Good tutorials on beginning lunging>

http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/...

http://www.equinesite.com/articles/modul...

Answer 8

Okay here are the steps for lunging for respect. Its different than regular lunging, you do it to gain respect and to get horses to use there thinking side of there brain, not for exercise.

1. Stand in front of your horse, five feet away. If he gets too close hit the nearest body part with the lunge whip.

2. Point in the direstion you want him to go

3. Cluck and tap the air next to his neck and shoulders, if he still wont go then tap him on the neck or shoulders, and increase your pressure every four taps uuntilhe moves.

4. Body posture is important, look mean and ac aaggressive If he tries coming to you then run at him and aspankthe ground with the whip.

5. After a few times around then slide your hand down the line, step iin frontof his shoulders(drive line), and pull to your belly. This will make him yyieldhis hindquarters and face you. If he tries to come to you then run at him and whack the nearest part of him with the lunge whip. You are not being mean you are establishing respect in his llanguage Do this every time before you feed him.

If you decide to use these methods then feel free to email me at [e-mail] for more info and details.

Good luck! And you are VERY smart not to ride him if he ddoesn'tknow how to lunge.