lunging a devil horse...

madhector

madhector

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Ok, so far Jerry is going brilliantly, apart from one thing...lunging.

I have tried and tried to get him to settle but he just wont. nothing else has been a problem with him, and he is going beautifully under saddle now, but we just cant crack the lunging problem, he just turns into a demon horse!

Went through my gloves yesterday
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and took most of the skin off my fingers as well, have tried exhausting him first, and letting him get rid of all his high spirits at the beginning but it makes no difference. I really want to get him lunging in the pessoa but obviously need to get it sorted without first and we just arnt improving! He isnt nasty just has the manners of a 3 year old in a 5yr olds body!

Any ideas, suggestions much appreciated,

Thanks
 
You could try loose-schooling him for a while (unless you've tried that) to tire him a bit at the start, and then begin to lunge him after that? A friend of mine has a similar problem to you, and that always works quite well with her horse.
 
I would re-intro him to the lunge. I would start off cliping to his bridle and leading him init. With the schooling with trailing behind. I would then progress the space between you and just keep it really relaxed and steady. The second he turns to a prat I would start again....Just keeping to a walk and hault to get him listening to you and schooling on the lunge as such. And work from there. Does he go any better with out a whip? Have you tryed him ridden on the lunge? Your right lunging in my opinion is vital.
 
LOL Hector I had to laugh reading your post. Im going through exactly the same thing at the moment with my 5 year old. He has hit that rebellious 'I dont want to' stage and is trying my patience - a lot!

All I have found so far is that letting him get the tantrum out of his system eventually leads to him settling and listening. However it does seem to take about 20 minutes of pratting about and squealing. I darent put him in side reins or a pessoa yet either!

Once he has come out the other side of the teddy throwing he does work really well!
 
at least it isnt just me!
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we have only managed to come out the otherside of our tantrums once so far
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the other times have ended with me leading him in a circle and leaving it at that as he was so tired from being a monster! will keep trying!

Good luck with yours
 
thanks FMN that is sort of what I have been trying to do, we have yet to progress from the walking around next to me phase yet as anything else results in a tantrum,

he seems a little calmer without the whip, but much more bossy, so am trying to perservere with it
 
I personal would think the 'prat around stage to work your self out' would be best avoided and keep things lovely and calm so he doesnt put pratting around together with lunging but think lunging...Calm and listening. Do little and short sessions as you know. Maybe have a leader next to him while lunging...I have resorted to this method before and its worked tho you have the risk of napping in hander.
 
and get yourself in to as small a space as you dare. perhaps you can block offhalf the schoool with showjumps or something. Then at least he cant get a real run away from you so might save the fingers. i am not really a fan of lunging pens but they have their uses as long as it is not coming in and trying to get you!
 
Its tricky I know, I hate lunging as have had so many horses that have been nightmares on the lunge!
But what works best is keeping them on a very small circle and doing all work on a small circle until control is established. Also being VERY assertive with your voice, having a very clear distinction with what command means what.Also use the horse's name a lot.
I.E (in a strong,firm loud voice) Jerry, Walk on

Then Jerry, Trot on. as soon as he starts to shoot off Jerry, ter-rot ( going down with your voice as you say the 'rot' bit and then pull the lunge line gently, as soon as he slows you lighten the contact on the lunge line. If he does not slow down then pull them into a very small circle, and then if eventually they slow down then thats good. If they dont then you do have to yank them quite hard (the lunge line should be on a cavasson though) but the very second they slow you release the pressure on the line.
If you want him to speed up the trot and you say Jerry, ter-rot with the 'rot' bit higher pitched, so ter rot ( low pitch) means slow down and ter-rot (high pitch) means a bit quicker.
Also as soon as he is he is going well its 'good boy' in a sort of a high pitched voice so that way they learn to distinguish between a praise and a command.
So you want him to go back to walk then its 'Jerry, walk' and then stand Jerry, STAND. Holding the lunge line up high is also a good way of getting them to stand.
Also always polo's as a reward when you bring them in from the circle to change direction.
So basically its being very assertive with the voice and getting the horse to do exactly what you want them to do when you want it. very clear,strong vocal commands saying Jerry in front of each command,always use the same command for each thing that you want them to do. polo's and pats when they are being good and you bring them in and the occaisional 'good' boy' when they are being good again after being naughty. Too much talking can confuse.
 
Just what Im doing at the moment Forrest although I would say beware the polos as I have a horse who has always been allowed to turn in and come to the handler at halt, something I do not allow, and its something he is using as an evation at the moment. Any excuse to stop and turn in ought to be thoroughly thought through!!
 
thanks Forrest, pretty much what i thought, but very helpful to have it written down, makes it clearer
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his trick is he stops, comes in and then as i try and position myself to correct him, he has a wobbly, and then i have to stop him, bring him back to halt and start again, and so he does it again!
 
If he is good being ridden why not have a ride on him at the end the get someone to clip a lunge line in, but you carry on riding him round lunger in the middle and gradually transfer the contrlol over a few sessions until the lunger does all the work then take the rider off.
 
mmmm....if he was more experienced then maybe, but he was only backed a few weeks ago, and dont want to risk his lunging issues affecting his ridden work (which is going really nicely) as some of the bucks he is throwing would quite possibly have me on the floor
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the problem is he was backed without really doing much lungework first, (not by me, but who I bought him from)
 
Can I ask exactly what it is he does? I mean the sequence? It sounds from your post like he runs off, maybe out of the circle, but other parts sound like he stops and/or comes in towards you.

- Is he too high to concentrate? If his longing is in lieu of turnout/exercise he might associate it with "play time" or simply be too wired to concentrate when out of your immediate control.

- Is the footing stable and safe? Some horses will lose it if they feel like they're not stable on the circle and literally panic and fight to get out of it or get angry. Goign faster or making the circle smaller makes it worse but the horse can't be expected to figure that out and needs to be protected from itself.

- Do you longe often enough? If he's in need or correction he needs to practice little and often rather than just once in awhile. I have a young horses who was "taught" to pull away in his early career and he needs to longe fairly regularly or gets worried and potentially dangerous again.

- I'm sure not but is he hurting anywhere? Sometimes longing can exacerbate a problem (why it's so useful in lameness diagnosis and vetting) especially in the back/hind end and if the horse gets into a certain position it feel uncomfortable and freaks out.

Not to sound like the natural horsemanship party line but longing is actually one of the more "natural" things we do with horses. If you watch horses in a herd dominant individuals often "punish" by driving the other horse around for a bit. Often this literally ends up with the horse being driven proscribing a circle as the pressure of wanting "in" balances the pressure of being driven "out". So one of the things the "longer" has to do is balance those two pressures, which works a bit differently from horse to horse. You may just have to find another balance between your driving and restraining aids, depending on exactly what it is your horse does other than what you want.
 
I may be controversial in saying this but....
Dont lunge, it isnt a necessary part of every horse's routine (I never lunge mine) and some horses just dont settle so end up doing themselves more harm.

I'd work on having him going correctly in his ridden work.
 
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