Disuniting on the lunge

shadowboy

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My boy has a very odd habit of going disunited on the lunge in canter. He will do half a circle of lovely comanter with the correct strike off and then disunite behind. He never does it under saddle- in fact his canter under saddle is simply wonderful and my favourite pace. Is this just due to a lack of balance?
 

shadowboy

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I've been advised to lunge once/twice a week to help strengthen him over the back as he naturally has a dipped back so it was suggested that work without a rider would help. If walk and trot is sufficient I will just stick to those on the lunge
 

simple_things

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Do you lunge him with a device(pessoa etc.) One of the horses at work when lunged with just the bridle drops off and disunites and thinks he's can fall back to trot instead I have a pole out in the school and make him canter over that and he sorts himself out. When he's lunged in our gadget he works perfectly!
 

Shay

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It does suggest a pain / stiffness issue somewhere. On a lunge the circle is quite small which might be part of the problem. Do you normally canter 15m circles riding?

2 lines, a pessoa, an equi Ami or whichever version appeals would probably help to address it. As would canter over poles. But if it arises from the start of a problem you could make it a lot worse. Who advised you to lunge twice a week? If they were a professional might it be worth asking them to come and assess the problem? Or at the least they may be able to advise if walk / trot is sufficient for whatever issue they wanted you to address.

Alternatively it could be that he's a bit lazy and your lunge technique gives him the option to "duck out" and go disunited simply because it is easier for him - or even that you stop when he does it? If that might be in then an instructor to help with lunge technique might help? There is an art to correct lunging - for both of you.
 

shadowboy

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He is lunged in an equi ami and doesn't do it as much, does it more if side reins are used. We have a 30x 50 arena so our circles are usually as large as I can get them to be but at least 18 if not 20 metres. He does it more if the arena sides aren't there so the half of the circle in the middle of the arena. I hope it's not hock issues as he's only rising 5 and has had an easy start mainly hacking!
 

Simon Battram

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Obviously without seeing the horse health maybe an issue or it could simply be a straightness/crookedness/balance issue.

Before I give some advice can I clarify:
Does the horse do this on both reins or only one?
At the point he does it what is the contact like on the lunge line?
Where is the head and neck at that point, i.e. high or low?
Are you moving or standing still?

Has this developed recently?
 

applecart14

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That kind of thing can be the first sign of stifle/hock issues. I hope not but worth keeping in mind.

I agree. My horse did this when before he was diagnosed with spavin. When I worked him with two reins on the lunge passing the outside one around his bum to get his hocks working under him he resisted and started bucking. It was this coupled with the disunited canter behind on the short side of the arena that made me get the vet out.

Even though he is fixed now, when lunge I always keep my circles as large as I can and try and 'walk round with him' as well so he has an even larger circle to work on.
 
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