Horse won't lunge.. at all?

[Nicole-Louise]

I reently got a filly, that will be 3 in June. She's hand sufficient handling to an extent, but she has never been worked. I've been taking her out for walks, just to get used to things and she's done brilliantly. Walks past traffic, fine with children, etc.

However.. lunging is an absolute nightmare. She's already standing at around 15.2 hands, so she's going to be a lot bigger, and I'm constantly having to put up a fight with her as it is. Everytime I try lunging her, she decides that when I walk away from her, that instead of turning out, she follows me round like a dog.. Anywhere I go, she goes too. However, when I even attempt to use a schooling whip, she becomes aggressive; bucks, rears, charges, bites, kicks out, etc. So that just makes the problem 100x worse.

I've even tried free lunging.. and that's even worse! She'll either follow me round, or if I attempt to get her moving, she stands her ground and again becomes aggressive with the usual; rearing, bucking, kicking out etc.

I've even tried join up, which went pretty good. But now, I'm stuck with a horse that refuses to lunge, and instead decides the best thing is to follow me around.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get her working? She is unbroken, and I will be starting the mouthing process sometime this week.

Thank you!

EDIT: If it helps to know her breed, she's a registered Sport Horse.

This is her.. (sorry picture is a bit big!)

 

[Littlelegs]

She doesn't know how to lunge that's why & from what you've said is following you because she doesn't know what you want, the schooling whip will confuse her more, & she's lacking confidence. I personally don't like working a horse of that age on the lunge, but if you want to do a few circles to give her the hang of it I think you'd be best to get a professional in to do it, otherwise she'll end up more confused.

 

[Deseado]

You need a lunge whip. And you need to have a horse which respects you.

 

[Supertrooper]

Go back to basics with the lunging, you've got to treat her like she doesn't understand what you're asking. If this still doesn't work then I'd suggest leaving the lunging.

I've done this with my shire x, he just doesn't like lunging. What's the point when we get into an argument everytime so we now don't lunge = both of us being happy xx

 

[Twinkle Twinkle]

I think she is to young to be on the lunge l woukd just be doing some ground work with her until she is a bit older.

 

[Persephone]

My 3 year old was being a right cow, by turning at me, striking out, spinning and kicking at me.

This was just on the lead rein!

When I took her into the round pen she did all the horrid things she normally did, you even had to be quick on your feet taking her lead rope off as she would be around and Kicking out.

She was 16.2 last time measured and an ISH and it's no fun when they have legs that long!

I had to spend several sessions with her, just sending her away, there would be certain times she would be licking and chewing with her eye and inside ear locked in, so I would put the whip down and allow her in and I'm damned if she didn't do it again!

It took quite a lot of perserverance. She wouldn't go away just with body language or having a rope flicked at her, I had to get right up behind her with a lunge whip.

Anyway, it has more or less settled down now. She will strike out when she is impatient, but a couple pf times I managed to get my steel toe cap in the way which gave her something to think about!

She is a big, bold, confident, opinionated filly, sounds a lot like yours! (chestnut too ) and I think I am always going to have to keep my wits about me with her tbh, but she has improved markedly. It really sounds to me like you
need to work on sending her firmly away then allowing back when she is nice. It will take a few sessions, but has worked for us.

Good luck OP!

ETS...Hat gloves and Bodyprotector if you have one!

Oh and here is the guilty article! Look similar?!!!!!

 

[Sherri]

Hi,

With my youngsters lunging always starts as a 2 person job, one to stand in the middle and 'lunge' and the other to lead the horse around and show it what to do.

It may take a few sessions, depends on how she was handled as a youngster and how she is. Most important thing with her is make sure you have the time to do it and keep calm. Always end on a good note and praise her when she does it right.

Don't try different methods, eg loose lunging as this just adds to the confusion but be consistent in what you ask of her and she will respond.
When you lead her do you use the lunging commands when you ask her to stop and 'walk on' as this is the first stage of teaching to lunge and will help you in general handling her.

 

[Nicole-Louise]

My 3 year old was being a right cow, by turning at me, striking out, spinning and kicking at me.

This was just on the lead rein!

When I took her into the round pen she did all the horrid things she normally did, you even had to be quick on your feet taking her lead rope off as she would be around and Kicking out.

She was 16.2 last time measured and an ISH and it's no fun when they have legs that long!

I had to spend several sessions with her, just sending her away, there would be certain times she would be licking and chewing with her eye and inside ear locked in, so I would put the whip down and allow her in and I'm damned if she didn't do it again!

It took quite a lot of perserverance. She wouldn't go away just with body language or having a rope flicked at her, I had to get right up behind her with a lunge whip.

Anyway, it has more or less settled down now. She will strike out when she is impatient, but a couple pf times I managed to get my steel toe cap in the way which gave her something to think about!

She is a big, bold, confident, opinionated filly, sounds a lot like yours! (chestnut too ) and I think I am always going to have to keep my wits about me with her tbh, but she has improved markedly. It really sounds to me like you
need to work on sending her firmly away then allowing back when she is nice. It will take a few sessions, but has worked for us.

Good luck OP!

ETS...Hat gloves and Bodyprotector if you have one!

Oh and here is the guilty article! Look similar?!!!!!

Wow! They do look similar, even in the face; practically the same markings! And chestnut too haha!

She definitely isn't stupid, and definitely is opinionated. She's calmed down a lot these past few days, things have settled out, she knows my space and I know hers. But she sounds a lot like how yours was, she's okay taking any lead rope off her, she either stands there, or follows me. But when anything is ever asked of her, I soon have to be on my toes, because she certainly has an attitude about it!

Will definitely try what you've said. I'll give it a go tomorrow, just steadily work on the basics of turning her away, and allowing her back when she doesn't give me her attitude. Hopefully things will improve eventually!

 

[Nicole-Louise]

Hi,

With my youngsters lunging always starts as a 2 person job, one to stand in the middle and 'lunge' and the other to lead the horse around and show it what to do.

It may take a few sessions, depends on how she was handled as a youngster and how she is. Most important thing with her is make sure you have the time to do it and keep calm. Always end on a good note and praise her when she does it right.

Don't try different methods, eg loose lunging as this just adds to the confusion but be consistent in what you ask of her and she will respond.
When you lead her do you use the lunging commands when you ask her to stop and 'walk on' as this is the first stage of teaching to lunge and will help you in general handling her.

I ALWAYS use commands, when I ask her to walk, stop, trot, I'll always say the command and praise her when she does it right. She listens well, and knows what is asked of her, she just throws a tantrum and gives attitude when she's asked to do anything.

Again, will try what you said. She's had a lot of handling done to her, it's just she's never been worked. Within the first few days I had her, I lunged her and she did it to perfection, no attitude, no aggression, simply stopped, walked and trotted when asked, on both reins.

But, making the going back to basics is what she needs.

Thank you!

 

[Echo Bravo]

Definately a 2 man job to begin with, as she has no idea what you are trying to say or make her do. She is doing what you have taught her, like to follow you and if you are not careful you will end up ruining what looks like a delightful mare.

 

[Persephone]

Wow! They do look similar, even in the face; practically the same markings! And chestnut too haha!

She definitely isn't stupid, and definitely is opinionated. She's calmed down a lot these past few days, things have settled out, she knows my space and I know hers. But she sounds a lot like how yours was, she's okay taking any lead rope off her, she either stands there, or follows me. But when anything is ever asked of her, I soon have to be on my toes, because she certainly has an attitude about it!

Will definitely try what you've said. I'll give it a go tomorrow, just steadily work on the basics of turning her away, and allowing her back when she doesn't give me her attitude. Hopefully things will improve eventually!

Hehe, they can be a bit too clever can't they! Well all I can say is it worked for us, obviously you need to get your timing right but if you have already done join up you must be fine with that! Once we got past the initial stage of her trying to kill me, I started adding in voice commands too, and so she already understood them fairly well when it came to lunging. So much so that I was able to start her lunging on my own, so that was good

Good luck with it! We can continue to compare notes

 

[Persephone]

I appreciate what people have said about it being a two man job to start with, but honestly if you had seen how many directions my filly can explode in with no provocation, it would just be dangerous to have somebody at the horse's head.

Especially as we are only allowed to lunge in the lunging ring, there would be very little room for anybody to get out of the way!

 

[Parker79]

If you can then I would get an instructor involved...I would not lunge a 3yo either. I know many do but I believe it puts too much pressure on joints when the horse is still growing.

Maybe ask you vet about it...I think most (I hope) would agree.

Lots of other groundwork you could be doing. Sounds like you already have a good relationship, I hope you have lots of fun together.

 

[Nicole-Louise]

If you can then I would get an instructor involved...I would not lunge a 3yo either. I know many do but I believe it puts too much pressure on joints when the horse is still growing.

Maybe ask you vet about it...I think most (I hope) would agree.

Lots of other groundwork you could be doing. Sounds like you already have a good relationship, I hope you have lots of fun together.

I don't lunge for long periods of time, I do it every once in a while for a few minutes on both reins. I can understand that it does pressure the joints, especially since she's still growing. I mostly walk her out different places, the usual. Aside from the lunging, she's fine.

 

[Nicole-Louise]

I appreciate what people have said about it being a two man job to start with, but honestly if you had seen how many directions my filly can explode in with no provocation, it would just be dangerous to have somebody at the horse's head.

Especially as we are only allowed to lunge in the lunging ring, there would be very little room for anybody to get out of the way!

Couldn't agree more, just like myself, we only have a small lunging ring, and it's bad enough having a hacked off filly charging towards one person, nevermind risking 2 people in the same situation. I can understand what you're saying, mine is exactly the same, you have to have eyes in every direction, she kicks off without warning, and with most people not knowing what she's like, I can't risk putting anyone into such a situation with her.

 

[Goldenstar]

I have never had a horse who would not learn to lunge however you need to know how to teach them .
If you don't it's best to get someone experianced to do it and teach you the principles at the same time.
If its done well it's a good building block in the horses training done badly it makes life difficult for everyone.
Get help.

 

[Nicole-Louise]

I have never had a horse who would not learn to lunge however you need to know how to teach them .
If you don't it's best to get someone experianced to do it and teach you the principles at the same time.
If its done well it's a good building block in the horses training done badly it makes life difficult for everyone.
Get help.

She knows how, she's done it a few times perfectly, however, lately she's just completely refusing. Instead, after joining up, she just follows me everywhere.. I've had help, but she's doing the same, except she just becomes aggressive with everyone else.

Like I said, she knows how. I've had her going round perfectly, listening to commands and reacting to them exceptionally well. She's gone round on both reins, but again, she's now completely refusing and follows me round, or puts up one heck of a fight.

 

[Littlelegs]

I'm sorry I don't follow. Either she's a youngster who's been very lightly lunged a few times & still doesn't understand what you want, which sounds likely or she's been lunged a lot & is evading for whatever reason. Personally I think its the first, a horse needs to be lunged more than a few times to safely say it knows exactly what to do. So she just needs to learn how to do it. Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but your post's give the impression you've not got much experience of teaching a horse to lunge, in which case it's best to get some help in.

 

[Hedgewitch13]

Why not long rein instead? Lunging can be quite detrimental if done too often anyway. You really need someone to walk her round, on the outside, when you are lunging her. She doesn't seem to understand what you are asking her to do so getting another person to help may make it easier. Don't get hung up on it - a horse can be brought on without endless circling

ETS My chestnut tb mare threw herself on the ground when I asked her to change the rein on the lunge. She lay there defiantly staring at me, almost daring me to tell her off. A couple of prods with the lunge whip made her get up and she went on round as if nothing had happened. Bloody gingers!

 

[Persephone]

OP I am pretty sure she is testing you out. People have been quite shocked at my filly's protestations in the oast, howver once we got through the "be nice or stay out" lesson I have had no trouble to speak of!

She was trying to boss me and I'm not having it!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

If you've done join up with her I've got a feeling you might be looking at the same sort of books or web sites that also tell you how to long line. In which case I'd set her up to long line, it's far easier than lunging, better for her joints (I know you know that), and easier for you to turn her back out into the circle.

 

[Nicole-Louise]

I'm sorry I don't follow. Either she's a youngster who's been very lightly lunged a few times & still doesn't understand what you want, which sounds likely or she's been lunged a lot & is evading for whatever reason. Personally I think its the first, a horse needs to be lunged more than a few times to safely say it knows exactly what to do. So she just needs to learn how to do it. Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but your post's give the impression you've not got much experience of teaching a horse to lunge, in which case it's best to get some help in.

I've lunged plenty of times, I've tried many of ways. Even had a professional racehorse trainer work with her, and she's the same with him. She's lunged a few times; what I'd call for her, 'perfectly'. She's just putting up an awful fight or follows me round, no idea as to why. She's only recently started doing this..

Sorry, I'm probably confusing on how I word things. I apologise for that!

 

[Nicole-Louise]

Did go up tonight, and will try to work things a little differently with her tomorrow. She's now completely starting to change her attitude.. now runs to the gate, no problem with leading anymore. And best of all, no agggressive attitude so far.. hoping that the walking/working business will have a better chance tomorrow!

Thank you for all your help so far!

 

[be positive]

I havent read all the posts but if you have lunged her then done join up the chances are she is now confused as to what you want. Do you want her with you, join up, or going away, lungeing.

I would forget one or the other until she is less stressed about it as she does sound stressed and confused rather than naughty, she is only a baby and if you have not had her long give her a chance to find out what she is meant to do.

If she was mine I would leave any work for a while, let her chill in the field for a few weeks then start again with lungeing and leave the join up, it is not a requirement for breaking a well handled young horse.

 

[Ibblebibble]

I havent read all the posts but if you have lunged her then done join up the chances are she is now confused as to what you want. Do you want her with you, join up, or going away, lungeing.

.

exactly what i was thinking as soon as i read you had done join up! the only one of mine who is totally confuddled by lunging is one who i did join up with, i honestly wish i hadn't bothered! i feel that all it did with him was teach him that if i send him away then he has to run around me a few times, stop and turn in and try to show me that he's submitting so that i'll forgive him and let him come back to safety. that is how his lunging sessions go if i try it, he gets really stressed if i insist he keeps out on the line as i think he sees it as some kind of punishment he is a sensitive ginger boy!!
what i have found is that he will long rein more than happily for miles, i guess he sees this as a completely different activity and doesn't feel stressed by it at all.
so perhaps the answer is to stop the lunging and start teaching her to long rein, much less stress on a young horse and if she takes to it like my boy did a lot less stress on you too!!

 

[Becki1802]

Funnily enough - I had this exact problem with my youngster yesterday (rising 5, been in work 10 months, working well in a contact, jumping SJ & XC) - he has been lunged many times before & knew exactly what I wanted him to do but he just didn't want to!! He was professionally started and has been lunged by me, my instructor and my yard owner before. He was just being cheeky & trying to get out of work (he'd already done a session 3 hours earlier but was so fresh (bucking) I just wanted him to lunge to take some of his excess energy off. He wasn't having it, all the horses were in silly moods due to the wind & so I gave up but will start today by lungeing before I ride!

As Hedgewitch & Ibblebibble suggests why not try long reigning? You could safely have a second pair of hands at her head / shoulder - make sure she understands your voice commands with the physical cue of the second handler. As she starts to get it and go from your voice take away the second handler. You can then try progressing to lunging with the 2 lines - that way you have the outside line which you can take a feel to prevent her turning in. If she is evading the lungeing just go back a few steps to long lining. I was taught this method by my instructor and works for me 90% of time.

Good luck

 

[AengusOg]

I don't think you should attempt long-reining until you have cracked the lunging. Unless the horse is going forward willingly and paying attention to voice commands, there is a chance you will get into trouble with long-reins. Also, it is pretty vital that your horse is well desensitised to ropes all over its body, and round all its legs, before starting to long-rein.

I find that horses quite quickly get the idea of lunging if you teach them to yield the shoulder/neck/head away in-hand. You can teach this with a stick or your hand and progress to having the horse yield away as you step in toward the shoulder. Once this is established, you can step in toward the shoulder and then, as the horse yields away, you step sideways and send it on. Any attempt at evasion from the horse looking to turn in can be countered by stepping toward the shoulder, sending it back out onto the circle, and driving it on as required.

The tighter a horse is on a circle, the more likely he is to look for an evasion because it finds it harder work on a small circle, so let a decent length of rope out as the horse goes on goes on.

If the horse throws a wobbly and canters or trots fast round you, just keep it going and, when it looks to slow down, keep sending it on until it begins to listen and look for a way out. Then ask it to come down a transition.

Lots of people lose their nerve when lunging youngsters, and when the horse seems to get out of control they stop and give up...the perfect way to spoil a horse and make lunging difficult. Another 'failing' is to allow the horse to fall in or turn inward by stepping away. You must be prepared to take the horse on as it attempts this and step in toward it and have it yield away.

As with all training of horses, it is sometimes necessary to use quite strong aids initially and, as the horse learns what is required and begins to respond well, to introduce much more subtle cues and aids.

 

[Persephone]

If the horse throws a wobbly and canters or trots fast round you, just keep it going and, when it looks to slow down, keep sending it on until it begins to listen and look for a way out. Then ask it to come down a transition.

That is exactly what I ended up doing, but I did it loose. By the time we connected the lunge rein again she had it sussed.

My next move will be to long rein but no way couldI have done it before.

I really think that join up is not right for some horses too.I would think very carefully before doing it with another.

 

[ponypilotmum]

I've got one who will NOT lunge. He's the smallest one, and the most experienced. He CAN lunge. He just refuses to see why he should.

I never long rein before lungeing. Lungeing teaches them to go forwards and backs up the voice commands taught in the early years. The transition from that is for them to learn to go forward on long reins before being backed and ridden away.

I agree... lunge whip, hat, strong gloves, body protector, be firm and drive her on until she's ready to listen. You are the leader, so be firm with her and mean it. Growl at her and stamp your foot, shake the lunge line and send her on.

And stop the join up. It screws up the very ethos of breaking them to be ridden in the traditional sense.

 

[Daisy11]

I have to agree with many others on lunging , lunging can put a huge Amount of strain on tendons etc at such a young age but I know many people do prefer to lunge so it's not my place to tell anyone what they can or cannot do .
When I train young horses that either have no idear how to or are confused in lunging department
I tend to put a second rope (lunge line ) around bum to drive forwards it will stop her turning in and will also stop any horse from bolting in opposite direction
If you are no good at it or have no knowledge of it ,I would recommend getting a experienced trainer to help a few times so you get idear of how and where to position yourself .
Before placing a second line behind bum ,I generally make sure that they accept a line going behind them , I attach a lunge line to a headcollar ,I place rope over the back ,where your driving line is , I would slowly drop the line back behind bum and take a feel on the rope and ask to turn away from me and follow the feel off rope , you do this till you fill horse is confident to have them behind bum , I would start off by positioning myself as I would lunging , but add the second line attached to other side , as I say this will incorrage her/her to move forwards , it also help give extra control ie stop turning in ,bolting off in other directions etc