Lunging at me whilst being lunged....

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Can anyone give me any idea why my horse is lunging at me whilst being on the lunge?

He has serious attitude so I am guessing I have answered my own question. However it is getting worse. When asked to go forward he runs in on the lunge with his ears pinned back being very dominating towards me - is this because he is taking the p**s? He then snaps out of it and is fine. It is only at the beginning of a lunge session. Also last night he stopped dead face to face with me and was rearing?

Rig test maybe??????
 
Why? Because he is a stroppy rude b*gger and he can? What do you do when he does this? I am afraid if he was mine and tried this, he'd be having an interesting chat with Mr Lunging Whip. Make yourself big, growl NO at him as fearsomely as you can, make him move away from you, don't move away from him (but obviously keep yourself safe!!). I am sure you do this already, but wear your hat and gloves while you lunge him, and maybe even your BP.

Please be careful.

Does he show any other behaviour that makes you think he is a rig?
 
I agree - the horse is taking the pee out of you because he can - i have a mare that used to do this horrendously and i also helped out a friend who also had a mare that did this so its not necessarily a gelding/rig problem.
As they turn in you need to be quick and dominant but dont lose your temper - use the lunge whip toward the inside shoulder - flick up at the shoulder dont crack it - but really mean it with your body language aswell.
Out of interest what happens once the horse has turned in - can you get him back out or is that the end of the lunge session?
 
Stating the obvious but please be careful my horse when I stood my ground actually reared and kicked me in the chest. If they aren't bothered by the lunge whip what else would you do to push them back?
 
I'm glad you have both said this! This was my thoughts. When he does it I do move towards him and growl flicking the whip at his shoulder and he does move out on the lunge and then he is fine - it is very much a threat - but he is a big horse and it does worry me! But he does try to come as close as possible and doesn't have much respect for my growling or stick! He is an obnoxious g*t!

Free horse if anyone wants him!
 
Mine does this. He goes fine to the left then on the right will turn in and attack the handler. On one occasion my YO (who is a BHSI) was trying to lunge him for me and he crow hopped forward lashing out with his front feet. I'm sure she knew what she was doing even if I didn't!

I did post on here and got advice to increase pressure on him - just as you did. I'm sure that advice is correct but for me the situation was just too dangerous and there was a very real risk I would be seriously hurt before he gave in. (It may also be relevant that he is loosing sight in the right eye so when lunging right he cannot see the handler clearly which is obviously scaring him.)

Oddly he will lunge with a rider - so we can still do lunge lessons. But other than that we just don't lunge him. Small price to pay and he is fine with everything else.
 
I had a mare who did this. She was fine in every other way & wasn't a moody mare at all.

I gave up lunging her as there wasn't really any need & she obviously hated it & me when I was on the end of the line.

Its not worth serious injury IMO.
 
my little pony used to do this (he is a bit of a rearer with ground work) he also got a talking to by the lunge whip, he'll still ram on the brakes and try it every now and then, but will get a swish up the bump, which usually throws him back in drive!!

Naughty pony!!
 
If there is a particular reason why lunging only is a problem, like Shay mentioned above, it ok to leave it. Otherwise, I would go back to ground training. I also like lunging with 2 lines, but if there is an issue with him not taking your leadership, I would pay attention to that potential underlying issue. Does he respect you in all other situations when handled from the ground? Can you easily move him back, to the sides etc by putting very gentle pressure on a lead rope with no fuss?

If you feel it is too much, perhaps a behaviour trainer could come out and do a session, it may be very well worth the fee. Personally I think the more time and effort your invest in the ground training of your horse, the better - it will all pay out eventually :-)
 
Has the horse been trained to lunge? Or has he previously lunged fine and has just started this?

Firstly, despite what others have said he is not taking the p!ss. Its actually normal horse behaviour. in a herd situation, if horse 1 sent horse 2 away from his personal space, horse 2 would either move away if he was submissive or turn and 'argue' if he was a more dominant character. Bascially your horse is more dominant. That is something completely different from taking the p1ss.

When you send him away he is trying to make you the submissive one by turning towards you and sometimes rearing. this is exactly what he would do in the field with another horse. he will stop because he hasnt got his own way- you have shown you are not submissive. But he will still try if he has a dominant character!

Whipping him should be a last resort if your personal safety is at risk and he actually attacks you. Instead you should move towards him and send him away more when he confronts you. This is what another horse would do. You may have to make a loud noise ( a horse would probably squeal) and wave your arms and the whip a bit and make yourself bigger. The worst thing you should do is back away as then he is the dominant one.

some horses can take months to learn to lunge properly but you just hve to be firm and consistant and eventually he will get the message. I have a mare that everyday will try to steal another horses feed. every day she gets bitten and told to s*d off by the other horse but every day she tries again. this doesnt mean she needs a whipping. Some horses just need telling over and over again! to her the feed is a good enough reward so she continues putting herself in a situation where she is bitten. At the moment your horse wants to be dominant over you and doesnt like it when you send him away from your space (by lungeing) so each time he is trying to make you submissive.

As i said, its not taking the p1ss- its perfectly normal horse behaviour. You just have to deal with it safely and dont resort to whipping!:)
 
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