Lunging advice

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Hells Bells

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Hi all,

Hoping for a little advice please.

For personal reasons, I'm not able to do large amounts of riding at the moment, so have issues with schooling my neds. OH has been riding my mare, and on ocassion, a livery has ridden Jack for me. However, up until my 'personal reasons' came to the fore, I had been riding him quite a lot to keep him in shape (grass guzzler, need to watch weight).

So I have been lunging him more regularly the last couple of weeks. He has is fabulous on both reins, walk and trot, but in canter, we get bucks, hops skips, you name it. He also comes in from the circle so the lunge line isn't taught and then pulls away so that he tugs on me too.

Having watched him be schooled by livery in canter, on a circle, there were no problems, and he up to date with checks etc. I was just looking for advice on how I can work on this. I will be honest and say I find it a little bit scary at times, but if it is behavioural, I would like to nip it in the bud rather than ignore it and try something else :(

Thanks very much x
 
My mare's previous owner had schooled her to buck on the lunge to get the fuss out before she rode. However I hate to see a horse tearing around at the end of a line so I do minimal lunge work in canter and use half halts and transitions to keep her focussed. When he pulls on the line I would immediately make the circle smaller and put him into walk, then send him out again. Point your whip at his shoulder to keep him out, and practice lots of halting and sending him out to make sure he is listening. Worked for me.
 
Thanks very much Hippophilia, those are very helpful tips. I really must do a lot more on the transitions like you say. It is horrible when they're really going for it on the other end of the line! x
 
No problem. My mare can be pretty opinionated and I have spent a lot of time lunging her in the past few months as I had to stop riding due to pregnancy. She is the kind that will take a mile if you give her an inch so I have learnt to be quite strict with her and read her body language well, which means I can head off most issues (like turning in or bucking) before they start. Took me a while though, and we did have 6 weeks where she just danced around me and I couldn't send her out at all! Body language, consistency and firmness are all, I think.
 
are you lunging in (elasticated) side reins?

a mare i brought on used to fling herself around a lot in canter on the lunge whilst she was muscling up

i left it later than i normally would to introduce side reins, because she was 'struggling'

but tried it one day and it made a Huge difference - i think it helped her with her balance
and it also slowed her down, as she used to 'tank,' esp for first 5 mins or so

(obviously all normal checks were done, back etc, first)

and remember to set them longer than normal for initial sessions
 
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However I hate to see a horse tearing around at the end of a line so I do minimal lunge work in canter and use half halts and transitions to keep her focussed.
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