A friend has asked me for advice....what would your response be?

[JadeWisc]

Here is the question..............................


I have a question that I'm asking all my horsey pals?!
I have a horse that like to lean on the lunge line. His head is always towrds the outside and he will not bend for the life of him. This is very frustating as he cannot lope properly nor jog consistantly. I try not to bore him as lunging can be very mundain to a horse, but I feel I have tryed everything and I'm not getting anywhere, any suggestions?




What advice should I give her? I am the least graceful person with groundwork I know and do not want to steer her in the wrong direction

 

[huggz]

I'd attach a 2nd line & alternate between long reining & lunging.

 

[Zebedee]

Tell her to lunge him on two reins. This will give her full control over the degree & direction of neck bend.

 

[Super_Kat]

One of mine does this, I thread the line through the bit and clip it onto the roller so the neck can't bend to the outside. You must be so so careful with this though! You can do a fait bit of damag if too much bend to the inside is asked for.

 

[Foxford]

Not sure this is any use, but I would try and teach the horse inside bend from riding it, and then hopefully this will translate onto the lunge after a short while. Or is it only a problem when lunging? I am the worlds worst at anything other than basic lunging!!!

 

[JadeWisc]

I was going to suggest practicing the bend while mounted as well. Usually the other way around.....ground work then riding, but I really thought it would be easier that way myself

 

[aimeerose]

i would either lunge with 2 lines or as Super_Kat said, run the line through the roller - but be careful - you need to be pretty confident and competant to use this method.

in some cases running side reins up between the front legs (like a harbridge) can also lower the head and prevent or discourage an outside bend.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

mine used to and sometimes still does lean on one the lunge, more one way, I started using side reins with the inner one just a hole shorter, works a treat, I have them loosish anyway, can defo tell difference when not using.

Warm up first without side reins on both reins first = couple of turns both walk and trot does mine