Bolting horse on lunge :-(

[Moomin1]

I decided to lunge my mare today for a short 10 mins before it went dark. She had been out all day and perfectly calm.

First few minutes absolutely fine, then BAM! She went absolutely MENTAL and took off!!! She normally has a bit of a runaway on the lunge but nothing like this. Her stomach was nearly touching the floor she was motorbiking that much on the circle, and then came the MASSIVE fly broncs thrown into the mix. Next thing she is whinnying and squealing and bouncing like a pogo stick all over the school with me in tow. Being only 5'7 and she is 16.3 hunter type I felt like I was going to gather so much momentum that I would be catapulted back home within no time! This lasted the entire ten minutes non-stop until I finally stopped her and had to take her back to her stable in disgrace. Not very productive!!

Anybody else have this problem and what do you do other than grit your teeth and pray?!!

 

[tallyho!]

Yes of course, it's quite normal.

You just need to let her get on with it. The best ting to do is to aim her towards a wall where she will stop but not many schools have this so a corner will do. Having said that, I once did this and my boy just jumped it... You have to allow it as long as no one is getting hurt.

Use a calm voice and keep saying " steady" or something like that really slowly but repeatedly and stay calm. When she she stops having an excitement fit, keep speaking to her in a soothing voice and let her come to you in her own time.

Don't stop though, start her again as if you were doing a proper lunge session and just keep it in walk. If she blows again, doubt she will, do the same thing.

Just be consistent and calm, keep your body language passive, i.e. close and not facing directly at her and when she slows to trot, say "good girl" in a nice tone until she comes to you and give lots of rubs when she does eventually comes and stops.

When you get a circle or two of a calm walk, call it a day and try again tomorrow. Pretend you are not bothered basically and give plenty of encouragement when she shows a calm behaviour.

Consistency is the key.... Good luck!

 

[bushbaby28]

I have the same problem but my horse drops his shoulder and turns and so pulls the lunge line straight out of my hands before bolting round the arena. Any tips with this type of behaviour as well?

I find if you keep them on a smaller circle you have a bit more control as you can turn them and slow them down easier.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Let her get it out of her system, and the last 5-10 mins just ask her for walk, and build up from there.

 

[BlueCakes]

She obviously needed to get it out. I would let her carry on and eventually she will be ready to listen and work.

 

[tallyho!]

I have the same problem but my horse drops his shoulder and turns and so pulls the lunge line straight out of my hands before bolting round the arena. Any tips with this type of behaviour as well?

I find if you keep them on a smaller circle you have a bit more control as you can turn them and slow them down easier.

i wouldn't bring them in to a small circle if they are being "silly" - it could seriously damage tendons and hocks and things should they slip by accident.

Better to let them out on a big circle and use voice or body language to make them slow down or turn.

If your horse purposely evades in this manner, I would go back to square one and walk the circle in hand and teach him proper manners during lunging... and if it's persistant behaviour I would look at other factors e.g. feed, pain etc... lunging is meant to be calm but energetic, not a torture device

 

[Moomin1]

She normally just does a bit of a runaway and takes 5 mins or so to finally settle back into trot, but this was absolutely flat out to the point where I started getting panicky! She seriously looked as if she was either going to fall over or jump out and nothing I did or said was making one bit of difference! She was completely out of control! Problem was that by the time she finally came to a stand still she was foaming all over and dithering from head to toe! It didn't help that a wind/rain storm then arrived and two ambulances shot past too (don't know if that was someone who had called them in advance for me!! ).

On the subject of lunging though, maybe you good people could impart some more advice. I have trouble changing the rein on the lunge with my mare. She just turns in and comes straight towards me and when I try to change her around the other direction she just starts backing up/spinning and eventually either spins herself back onto the original rein or rears up. It doesn't matter which rein I start on - she always does the same so it's not a one sided/stiffness thing. She does a fantastic turn on the forehand but that is not what I'm asking for!!!

 

[tallyho!]

Firstly, if she's off on one, just let it go. A mare was being lunged in a field I was riding in and she did that. We just carried on and she eventually stopped and said sorry.

As for your mare turning in.. thats a bad habit. Have you taught her to stand on command when you say?

tbh, she sounds really quite confused from what I am imagining goes on in your lunge session.

I learnt the old way from walking and teaching to stand-tie etc but Kelly Marks is awesome at teaching lungeing. You should go to one of her clinics or shows. I think it's Intelligent HOrsemanship. But basically body language means a lot to a horse on the lunge and will make it more enjoyable e.g. blocking shoulder and inviting shoulder. This will help you both speak the same language.

I went to a demo about 9yrs ago and it really helped me. I love lunging, and use a mixture of classic and IH, it works well and compliments each other. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Moomin1]

Thanks Tallyho will look that up! Sounds interesting.

She came to me nearly two years ago with these habits, and to be honest I haven't done much with her lately and it seems to have reared it's ugly head again. She did stop it for a while when I was doing more work with her. She's 11 and generally quite well schooled although she is an obstinate and temperamental girl who has a very over active imagination! She is very easily distracted but very quick to learn also. I just don't seem to be able to break the habit at the moment - whatever method I try she does the same. I've tried walking her out onto a circle and lengthening the line gradually and pushing her forwards but she just turns herself in. I have tried making her stand whilst I back away from her but she just follows me instantly!

 

[tallyho!]

Well, sounds like she has learned this tactic of evading work on the lunge works for her! She is really very clever and has you wrapped around her little hoof

I don't know without seeing you both what is actually going on but I can see that it needs to get sorted out before you both hurt yourselves and get upset.

Are you member of RC? Or near a big EC? Look their website and see if there is a lungeing demo, doesn't matter if it's IH or not, as long as it is based on classical methods. Personally, I went off parelli a loooong time ago, but that isn't to say you should explore it to see if has any use to you, it's just that it is popular but not necessarily the best.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

i doubt she bolted! you wouldnt have stopped her and she would have bolted through the fence. sounds like she had steam to let off. do you lunge to work or do you lunge to leg stretch? a humungous difference. personally i would review her feed, and her routine, and start again. lunge to work with bridle side reins and CONTROL!! sort out a progamme for her work with an end aim in sight. even my fresh ones will W/t/c on the lunge. they will hooley if let off control and side reins. sounds like a diet issue to me..

 

[Moomin1]

Ha ha, thanks for that, but it REALLY isn't her diet. She is on a pure fibre diet. She gets non heating chaff with fibre cubes and hay. Simple. And if you take the word 'BOLT' as such a literal word then you may as well not read half of the posts on here because how many people have experienced a true bolt? I mean a true complete bolt? I have twice so I know what they are. But most people on here use the word bolt loosely - like many people use the word 'flu' every time they get a cold!!!

I do take on board your other advice though. I just wish some people on here would stop 'diagnosing' problems immediately with diet/teeth/back etc/. Sometimes horses just do as they wish!

 

[Moomin1]

I also, with all respect, would like to know what you mean by CONTROL. When a horse wants to go, NOBODY can control them, whatever gadgets you may use (if that's your thing!!)

 

[Shilasdair]

1. 'Bolting' on the lunge
Let her carry on. Don't try to stop her, just stand in the middle and wait until she's out of steam. When she tries to break stride into trot from canter, send her forward into canter again - and make her do a few circuits until YOU tell her to trot. Remember - 'forwards, straight and calm', in that order.

2. Pulling the lunge line out of hands and escaping
Put a side rein on the outside. On the inside, run the lunge line from your hand, through the bit ring to the roller ring. When s/he pulls, she will bend herself to the inside, which makes running out through the outside shoulder very difficult if not impossible.
S

 

[traceyann]

My cob was a nightmare to lunge when he came to me used turn in rear run past me and kick out and bolt really stroppy so i always lunge him in side reins and two lunge lines wasnt scared of any whips as run at them snapping them in half and i always lunge behind a jump wall hes excellent now and i can free lunge him.

 

[tinap]

Mine does this if lunged in a lunge cavason so now I always lunge him with bridle & lunge line attached to bit, over poll & through other side of bit.
Doesn't try to be a plank at all now! Xx

 

[noblesteed]

Mine came to me from a NH background and had been taught to do the stop-turn-and -face-you thing! NOT helpful for lunging! He would decide he was done, stop dead, turn his bum away from me, face me head on and snort in defiance!!!!

I had an instructor help me with this, the trick is to stay a bit behind his inside shoulder all the time when lunging and drive him on, than you take control of the forward movement. You have to watch closely and learn to preempt when he is about to do the stop-and-turn. Then be very quick to get yourself further behind and close enough for a flick with the lunge whip. Send them on quickly in the direction they WERE going - YOU will decide when it's time to stop... and work for another couple of minutes before using verbal commands to slow down as normal. Takes a bit of time and practice but it does work. I was taught to use a verbal signal of a sharp "ah-ah" like you were telling off a child - he knows that means 'no, that's wrong'. He still tries it from time to time but I am quick to react and send him on so he remembers that resistance is futile!!!!

As for the bolting, I think it's more high jinks really. On fresh windy days I lunge in a bridle and use sharp tugs to control, rather than pulling, again to stop him hooning off before he actually does it. I do let him have a good buck and a prat about at the beginning though, rather he did it on the lunge than with someone on his back! Or if he's feeling really full of energy introduce a jump to channel it.

 

[PonyIAmNotFood]

Id take a defensive stance, as in sit back on your heels a bit, let the line out so she doesn't fall and let it happen. If she starts to pull on the line, your anchored with your stance and can then half halt the line to keep her on the circle you dictate. Then when she wants to slow, push her back on and have a good productive lunge session. When she tries to turn in, move yourself slightly more towards the back of her and drive her forward with the whip if need be. She just sounds a bit confused with the turning in bit.

 

[eatmoremincepies]

Agree with all the above, the IH techniques are very helpful too.

For the turning in, I find the key is to get level with her hip (rather than girth, BHS style) and send her forwards from there, making sure you are standing your ground and getting her shoudlers to move away from you (you may need to shake your lunge line towards her head for her to get the idea). Many people I have taught tend to walk backwards when they are starting off, this just brings the shoulders towards you and reinforces the turning in.

For the turning away and running off, again you need to be level with the hip to drive the horse forwards, and keep an inside bend - they practically always change to a straight neck or counter bend before misbehaviour! You can reverse the lunge line as explained above, but make sure you use pulses rather than a long pull which the horse will just pull against.

Long reining is a useful thing to learn, but I prefer people to be able to use one lunge line and their body language before trying two lines. Best learned on a quiet and tolerant horse first to avoid macrame moments!