Lungeing aids

J

jess2353

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 August 2012
Messages
281
Visit site
my lovely horse is rising four, & has pulled a cart where she carried her head rather high.

what piece of equipment would you recommend for me to lunge her with so she can get the correct outline ?
 
I would say ignore her head, get her going nice and forwards and working correctly and the head will drop! Get a good instructor to help! Side reins and bungee's will get her head down on the lunge but if it's forced she will never feel nice and soft to ride and if her hind legs are in a different county you will be hindering her finding her balance and moving forwards. When she's moving forwards, if your still struggling you could perhaops introduce gadgets.
 
You could try her in a Pessoa, I have used one on my mare... The pessoa has different settings, and you should always start off on the easy setting and do lots of walk for the first few times, build her up slowly. There is no fast fix as you girl will need to develop the muscles along her back and neck in order for her hold hold her self in a long and low position and carry her self forwards... have a look at the link below of how to correctly fit and use the Pessoa :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBlJCmzSgz8
 
I have driving horse I would recommend you try a lunging rope .
Driving horse are often used to being quite fixed and often the Pessoa is not a great thing for them they are too adept at fixing and blocking .
The lunging rope is a very open feeling for the horse and a good gentle start point if you look on the horsehero web site I think there's a little clip of one being used.
 
Goldenstar said:
I have driving horse I would recommend you try a lunging rope .
Driving horse are often used to being quite fixed and often the Pessoa is not a great thing for them they are too adept at fixing and blocking .
The lunging rope is a very open feeling for the horse and a good gentle start point if you look on the horsehero web site I think there's a little clip of one being used.
Click to expand...

The Pessoa is adjustable to the point of the horse not even knowing it was there, i.e extremely loose and mild so I wouldn't right it off at all and as every horse if different, not every horse will be so fixed and try to block an aid...
 
The thing with pessoas and driving horses is they are often a very ineffective way to try to retrain them because the horse is trained to stop the carriage with the breeching of the harness so the strap behind the bum on the pessoa does not have a very profound influence on them unlike when ridden horses go in one for the first time.
So when it's loose the horse may well just go exactly as before , the advantage of the lunging rope is that the action in very different to what the horse is used to.
Driving horses have often subjected to quite a lot of poll pressure young so lunging aids that depend on that don't work well either.
OP I have retrained one very difficult driving horse his natural neck carriage was more that of a lama than a horse it's taken a long time but I have enjoyed seeing him change and grow into a completly different shape he looks like a different horse with the same marking now.
Good luck with yours who is young and should be easier than mine who was ten when I started.
 
I have tried/been recommended a couple of different lunging aids:

Chambon: adjustable, and only comes into action when the head is raised; no pressure when horse has head lowered. Good results with a previous horse, but neither of my cobs have ever got the hang of it.

Bungee: my previous favourite, gentle and gives them a nice contact to 'hold', but as I have discovered, not great for the headshy.

Side reins: instructor suggested using clipped between front legs to encourage lowering - giving the same action as bungee. Works v nicely, horse relaxed and soon got the hang of head down and step under feels nice.

Pessoa: always been a bit sceptical but suggested for current horse who needed to learn to lower and stretch frame plus build back muscle. I've only used on the lowest setting, but he has really built up his topline and balance since using it - and it can't all be due to schooling etc. Fully adjustable.

Same for any of them but keeping them moving forward and using their quarters is importmant regardless of gadget.
 
I would highly recommend using an [content removed]. It has two parts to it, a lunging aid and a riding aid.
I retrain Exracehorses and have found it a very very useful piece of kit. It is very kind, never forces the issue with the horses and always produces fantastic results, building condition and muscle in all the right places.
The [content removed] works by placing the horse inside a self centring loop, which encourages the horse to bring its hind legs underneath its hindquarters, to lower its head and shorten its frame by developing wither lift. The [content removed] training aids are self centring so a quick adjustment needs to be made to one side only and the balance of the aid is not disturbed. The unique patented design of the training aids allow the horse to build up the correct muscle during work and helps the horse to track up and work with a soft, swinging back. The riding aid encourages a horse to take a soft contact and is very useful for a rider whose hands need to be softer and more consistent.
Check out [content removed] and maybe give [content removed] a call to discuss your requirements.
I would not be without mine now.
Good luck
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd initially try a Chambon, set loosely as this encourages the head to come down relitelvely easily. Then you can work on sending the horse forward and bulding the right muscles.

Must be used with care as some horses react to the action quite dramatically. Fit the chambon loosely, then standing to the side of the horse place your fingers on the cords that go to the top of the head - put som downward pressure on them so that it lightly activates the chambon which will lift the bit in the horses mouth and put pressure on the poll. Be ready to release the pressure quickly if the horse threatens to rear. Keep repeating until the horse quietly puts its head down with the pressure. Then tighten the cords until the horse can hold its head just below wither height.

Next time you use the chambon repeat the process and reduce the length of the cords again. Do this for a few days until you have the chambon adjusted to allow the horse to carry the poll at wither height.

Once the horse has built some reasonable back muscle I like to use side reins correctly fitted so that the horse seeks the contact rather than the contact seeking the horse! Side reins help to develop a confident mouth and also help in teaching the horse to respond to the half halt.

I'm not a fan of the Passoa after I had one of my youngsters broken in by a yard that uses them - she came away with a shocking mouth which has taken a year or more to sort out. The Pessoa has to much niggly action on the bit.
 
I use a Eqi Ami on my boy , tried him in Pessoa but he seems to curl up and get behind the bit in it he is sensitive in the mouth so I think it was because it kept catching him in the mouth. He goes lovely long and low in Eqi ami
 
I like the Chambon myself. it encourages the horse to stretch forwards and downwards properly- it allows a full 'natural' stretch as though the horse was looking for grass with the nose towards the ground- not looking back at the knees in an 'overbent' position, which can happen with other 'gadgets.

As horse stretches, the hind legs come under and the back and belly muscles work- simple!
 
I also use an equi ami- find it very useful as it suggests rather than forces the horse to work correctly. After a few sessions they get the hang of it, I'm lunging a pony at the moment who motorbikes round every corner , bends the wrong way and sticks his nose firmly in the air! looks like a llama; definately makes improvements within just one session,
 
Agree with using a chambon.

But you know, patience using just a lungeline on a cavesson instead of the bit initially will help him to relax. You kind of have to go back to square one and do walk-halt transitions, then walk-trot then trot-halt but it will take a few weeks or so of daily 20min sessions to break the habit. Then another few weeks of the same in a bit. This is what I would do anyway as even though I was trained this way, I went through nearly every gadget just to see if i got better results and this is still the best way. It takes time and thats what most people haven't got.

The equiami is an "improvement" on the pessoa but it's still restrictive and you want a horse to be able to stretch and round and have a kick about if it needs to, it releases tension and endorphins and makes a horse feel good.

I wouldn't like to go jogging with a strap holding a fixed position, something somewhere will be under pressure and weaken and I will fatigue if I can't change pace or shape.
 
My personal favourite is a Chambon. It encourages stretching forwards and downwards- nose towards the ground. It releases as soon as the horse is using the correct back and neck muscles. No fiddly adjustments to be made- the horse creates its own poll pressure if it raises his head. When it lowers his head, and stretches, the Chambon loosens. As the nose lowers, the hind legs step under, and the horse uses his back muscles properly. Simple!:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top