Long reining, lunging, and training aids

[Queenbee]

Hi there,

As some of you know I have started working with ben my 29month old youngster. Whilst I have had him walking around on the lunge like once or twice prior to long reining, The focus was to help him get used to the feel of the tack, the environment of the school etc. We did have one session when he had the devil in him and I allowed a small bit of trot which he then decided could turn into a circuit of canter! but because I didn't want to push his joints with him being so young so I have pretty much gone into Long reining and had someone at his head to guide him while he learns the voice commands 'stand' and 'walk on' as this is all I want from him for now.

But I will be wanting to lunge him at some point lightly before he goes away to be backed and 'ridden on for a month' in June as a 3 year old, but I obviously don't want to do too much with him. I have also just invested in a pessoa which Is going on the shelf with regards to ben for the forseeable future, it is more the padded roller that I get with it that he will be sporting in the sandschool But I wanted to ask others for their experiences, at what age and what level of work do you deem to be suitable for your youngsters? He won't be lunged until he is rising 3 so probably the month before he goes away in May. Would you boot/bandage a youngster to give extra support when lunging? and when would you deem a suitable age to use a pessoa on a young horse? I know some people on here use them on their youngsters, I was thinking not until he has been backed and ridden on, and is used to this, or are there those of you that use a pessoa before you back horses, and if so why?

I will take a breath now and would be grateful for your answers

 

[Aces_High]

Hello! Well I have all of my youngsters lunging on both reins before they are rollered. Once they are used to the roller I introduce the saddle. The roller stays on the whole time (for about 3-4 days) and when they are inside it goes over the top of the rug so it's just seen as another part of their general kit. Once they are happy with the saddle and being lunged on both reins and have had side reins on I then introduce them to having a second rein and then start introducing the long reining. For me this is a system which works. I have spent a long time breaking in yearlings as well as 'other' horses and I use the same method for all. There has been the odd one which doesn't long rein so that's a case of just getting on it but ideally I like to follow the steps I've mentioned above. I know that I use side reins, these are not used in an agressive manner and are there purely to stop the horse being able to get it's head on the floor and so it can feel some contact on it's mouth. They would be loose to the majority of people's standard. I personally wouldn't work a youngster in a Pessoa or any other form of contraption. Unless a horse has poor conformation it will generally always work with it's head being carried in the right place or thereabouts. I think getting the horse to go forward and educating it out hacking etc is a lot more important than having it in an outline. So my answer would be unless you are giving your youngster 45 mins a day in a Pessoa on the lunge you are not going to do it any harm. You want steady work - (they will sometimes shoot off and buck and kick but they are youngsters and they will not harm themselves) I do lots of transitions, getting them going forward, listening to my voice and responding to commands and would suggest that 20 mins is about enough. Also make sure you are lunging on a good surface be it grass or synthetic.

 

[Queenbee]

Hello! Well I have all of my youngsters lunging on both reins before they are rollered. Once they are used to the roller I introduce the saddle. The roller stays on the whole time (for about 3-4 days) and when they are inside it goes over the top of the rug so it's just seen as another part of their general kit. Once they are happy with the saddle and being lunged on both reins and have had side reins on I then introduce them to having a second rein and then start introducing the long reining. For me this is a system which works. I have spent a long time breaking in yearlings as well as 'other' horses and I use the same method for all. There has been the odd one which doesn't long rein so that's a case of just getting on it but ideally I like to follow the steps I've mentioned above. I know that I use side reins, these are not used in an agressive manner and are there purely to stop the horse being able to get it's head on the floor and so it can feel some contact on it's mouth. They would be loose to the majority of people's standard. I personally wouldn't work a youngster in a Pessoa or any other form of contraption. Unless a horse has poor conformation it will generally always work with it's head being carried in the right place or thereabouts. I think getting the horse to go forward and educating it out hacking etc is a lot more important than having it in an outline. So my answer would be unless you are giving your youngster 45 mins a day in a Pessoa on the lunge you are not going to do it any harm. You want steady work - (they will sometimes shoot off and buck and kick but they are youngsters and they will not harm themselves) I do lots of transitions, getting them going forward, listening to my voice and responding to commands and would suggest that 20 mins is about enough. Also make sure you are lunging on a good surface be it grass or synthetic.

Thanks Aces, the reason I stopped with the lunging is he seemed to get really bored and frustrated with it, he is being a beauty on the long lines though, and I have done what you mentioned re:side reins as he too has a tendency to pop his head down. My plan is to use the 2 weeks I currently have of to get him really going confidently and responsively on the lines then do this at weekends during the winter. When the light gets better, we will go back to lunging and add the rest of the tack (he is already fully mouthed) so he is completely happy with it all before his months 'working holiday' Would you bother to pessoa before he is being ridden? I can't really see the point, I think he will have more than enough to get his head around anyway plus 3 days in and he is already leaning forward and searching for that contact, so I think his outline will come naturally anyway. With regards to lunging, we unfortunately have a sandschool and its not possible to lunge on the grass, luckily the sand is not 'deep and hard going' like some, but I just don't want to risk him. I would rather work my horses far less and be safe than overdo it and damage them.

 

[Spring Feather]

Hello! Well I have all of my youngsters lunging on both reins before they are rollered. Once they are used to the roller I introduce the saddle. The roller stays on the whole time (for about 3-4 days) and when they are inside it goes over the top of the rug so it's just seen as another part of their general kit. Once they are happy with the saddle and being lunged on both reins and have had side reins on I then introduce them to having a second rein and then start introducing the long reining. For me this is a system which works. I have spent a long time breaking in yearlings as well as 'other' horses and I use the same method for all. There has been the odd one which doesn't long rein so that's a case of just getting on it but ideally I like to follow the steps I've mentioned above. I know that I use side reins, these are not used in an agressive manner and are there purely to stop the horse being able to get it's head on the floor and so it can feel some contact on it's mouth. They would be loose to the majority of people's standard. I personally wouldn't work a youngster in a Pessoa or any other form of contraption. Unless a horse has poor conformation it will generally always work with it's head being carried in the right place or thereabouts. I think getting the horse to go forward and educating it out hacking etc is a lot more important than having it in an outline.

Almost verbatim to what I do. My goal is to get the young horse to the stage (quickly but without cutting corners) of hacking out which is where I believe they learn so much more readily in a more sensical way.

 

[Aces_High]

Thanks Aces, the reason I stopped with the lunging is he seemed to get really bored and frustrated with it, he is being a beauty on the long lines though, and I have done what you mentioned re:side reins as he too has a tendency to pop his head down. My plan is to use the 2 weeks I currently have of to get him really going confidently and responsively on the lines then do this at weekends during the winter. When the light gets better, we will go back to lunging and add the rest of the tack (he is already fully mouthed) so he is completely happy with it all before his months 'working holiday' Would you bother to pessoa before he is being ridden? I can't really see the point, I think he will have more than enough to get his head around anyway plus 3 days in and he is already leaning forward and searching for that contact, so I think his outline will come naturally anyway. With regards to lunging, we unfortunately have a sandschool and its not possible to lunge on the grass, luckily the sand is not 'deep and hard going' like some, but I just don't want to risk him. I would rather work my horses far less and be safe than overdo it and damage them.

No worries! As he's going so sweetly being long reined I just use the lunging as a warm up as such. It's just the way I do things! They automatically are lunged and then I take them off long reining around the fields, lanes etc. If I am honest other than the inital rollering and sitting on the horses which are in for breaking do little to no work in the school.
How do mean that he gets bored with being lunged? What would a typical 15 minute lunge session involve? I personally wouldn't put a Pessoa on a youngster at all. Like I said in my first post, I do not use anything other than a set of side reins. I did post a huge comment on a long reining thread a month or so ago - might be worth having a search for it. I always long rein with side reins on as I do not want them to be able to get their heads on the ground and if they are going to fly off through their shoulder etc it does give me a little bit of extra control. But they are not taut by any stretch of the imagination.

Just to add, I have never used a Pessoa and I've never seen a Pessoa being used. I am not a gadget person anyway and very much a snaffle, cavesson nose band kinda girl! The way I break them in works for me and the horses (over 18 yrs of breaking - I now feel VERY old!) which I've dealt with.

Also lunging in a sandschool will not do him any harm! I meant not to lunge on rutted grass with huge divots missing which would now be rock hard. Oh also I'd leave him unshod until you want to get him ridden on the lanes, then I just put fronts on until they are doing a little more. I also only put brushing boots on in front. When they are unshod, they are not going to do themselves too much damage in my opinion anyway! I might have made it up but I am sure you asked something about boots..... But being so old I am senile too!

 

[Queenbee]

No worries! As he's going so sweetly being long reined I just use the lunging as a warm up as such. It's just the way I do things! They automatically are lunged and then I take them off long reining around the fields, lanes etc. If I am honest other than the inital rollering and sitting on the horses which are in for breaking do little to no work in the school.
How do mean that he gets bored with being lunged? What would a typical 15 minute lunge session involve? I personally wouldn't put a Pessoa on a youngster at all. Like I said in my first post, I do not use anything other than a set of side reins. I did post a huge comment on a long reining thread a month or so ago - might be worth having a search for it. I always long rein with side reins on as I do not want them to be able to get their heads on the ground and if they are going to fly off through their shoulder etc it does give me a little bit of extra control. But they are not taut by any stretch of the imagination.

Just to add, I have never used a Pessoa and I've never seen a Pessoa being used. I am not a gadget person anyway and very much a snaffle, cavesson nose band kinda girl! The way I break them in works for me and the horses (over 18 yrs of breaking - I now feel VERY old!) which I've dealt with.

Also lunging in a sandschool will not do him any harm! I meant not to lunge on rutted grass with huge divots missing which would now be rock hard. Oh also I'd leave him unshod until you want to get him ridden on the lanes, then I just put fronts on until they are doing a little more. I also only put brushing boots on in front. When they are unshod, they are not going to do themselves too much damage in my opinion anyway! I might have made it up but I am sure you asked something about boots..... But being so old I am senile too!

Ha ha, no I did ask about boots! I was wondering if people used them for extra support for their legs. I have never used a pessoa either. And will certainly be doing all the hard graft without it, The plan is to send him off for a month, have him back and do the odd bit of schooling but mostly hacking until the start of the next season when he will be rising 4. The pessoa sort of came as a a freebie, It cost 45 pounds and came with a nice roller, which I thought was not a bad price at all. It may be something I use when he is older, I probably will, but I am ,more than happy with how he is going at the moment

He gets bored, we never do more than 15 mins total and often less, we were trying halt and walk and a small amount of trot transitions we walk over poles and halt in between mini cone things. but it ends up a bit of a disaster to begin with, after the first couple of circles he gets the 'bored teenager' look, stops, possibly paws the ground (his little bit of 'bored/frustration' attitude) and sticks his nose on the floor. He has taken to long reining like a duck to water. I know it is a bit of an ass about face way of doing thing but he just really enjoys the Long reining but can't be arsed with lunging. So I go with his flow, better to work with him than against him.