Lunging before riding?

JustKickOn

JustKickOn

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How many of you lunge before you ride? If so, how long for?
Do you lunge with the tack on or off?
What is your horse like if you ride without lunging beforehand, and is there any difference if you lunge and then ride?

Thanks
Lizzie
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Rarely lunge, horses are sometimes not ridden for weeks and they are good just to get on and go
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Mind you, we aren't into jumping/showing etc, just hackers, so it doesn't matter really.
Probably would if they were lunatics, just to get some energy out of them but I'm not a lunge fan
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If they have been out of work or they are likley to be fresh then I would lunge them for around 5-10 mins with full tack on and off the bridle before getting on.
 
My friend lunges her lively welsh d sometimes before she rides, just takes that craziness out.

I would lunge with full tack on.

I very rarely lunge, I find it so boring!
 
Was just wondering, as the horse I ride has a cold back, and I usually have to walk her round for about 5 minutes before I get on, just to loosen her back off a bit before I get on as then I can do a bit more ground work maybe?

Thanks for the replies
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I lunged my mare that was coming back into work after 4 years off being a broodmare, I would lunge her to take the tickle out just the first few times I rode (she'd been long reining for a while prior to that), and if I'm working with a youngster we'll lunge at the start to make sure they are not overly fresh and listening to my voice
 
We used to lunge my friends ex racer Spart for 10-15 mins before getting on him

Think it was with tack..

he was a bit of a nutter though and this "lungeing" mainly consisted of him broncing on the end of the line and Niamh going "Goood lad...goooood laddd....crap run"

Good times
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Not a fan of lunging either. One thing you have to consider is that as much as you want to get the fizz out of them, you're actually getting them fitter by doing the lunging!
 
I sometimes lunge before riding, it depends.

For instance, the other day Molly went out on her first hack, and yes she was lunged beforehand, ridden in the school for a bit and then hacked out on a short hack.

If she's not been ridden for a few days, the she's lunged before ridden.
 
She isn't fizzy before riding, she lacks fizz IMO.
If that's the case, does anybody think lunging would benefit her?
 
[ QUOTE ]
She isn't fizzy before riding, she lacks fizz IMO.
If that's the case, does anybody think lunging would benefit her?

[/ QUOTE ]

It depends on what you want to achieve.

With my youngster, she is never lunged for very long because of her age.

It has helped her with her balance, going off of voice commands and transferring them to the aids and also the respect aspect.

She always performs better much quicker ridden after a lunging session. Although as time goes on, that will change and it'll click ridden straight away for her.
 
My horse is cold backed and I almost always lunge him before riding to get his muscles warmed up before I ask him to carry weight. I usually lunge for about 10 mins, and usually in his tack.
 
The correct way of training is to lunge for about 20 mins before sitting on a horses back, first 10 mins in walk on lunge then edge the girth up then 5 mins in transitional trot work then last 5 mins in short transitional canter work. The reason for this is you allow all the muscles to warm up, expand and contract correctly especially the topline & back muscles before compressing them with your bodyweight. Its a bit like you going to the gym and lifting heavy weights before stretching and slow warm up exercises. You will feel a dramatic difference when you get on and then all your schooling is quality so you don't need to be on for ages until he feels supple enough for you to think its time to finish!
 
I never lunge before riding. I either lunge or ride. If I lunge, I either do with tack on or a pessoa although I generally only lunge 2 or 3 times a month
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I read an interview somewhere with a good trainer (sorry, can't remember name atm) who said that 'cold backed' is a misleading term and usually really means that the horse is suffering discomfort from either the saddle or the rider. Vet should be called out to check that back is OK and neither saddle nor rider are causing discomfort to the horse.
 
Would have to slightly disagree with this, my homebred mare who i broke myself is slightly cold backed, she only really does it now if she is in a new place and feels a little uneasy, otherwise she is fine.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I read an interview somewhere with a good trainer (sorry, can't remember name atm) who said that 'cold backed' is a misleading term and usually really means that the horse is suffering discomfort from either the saddle or the rider. Vet should be called out to check that back is OK and neither saddle nor rider are causing discomfort to the horse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure on the whole story, but they've had her 8 years now, and I know they went through a stange of horse having lots of visits from the vet and stuff.


Thanks for the replies everyone, will try lunging her before I ride tomorrow and see how she goes
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Cold backed is purely a term used for a reaction to a rider sitting on board a horse, however, it is a sign something is not liked. Some horses drop as soon as you sit on them and some horses bunch up as if they were about to buck (through sensation and not through freshness! - both descriptions are termed as 'Cold Backed' The main thing is what is actually causing it. I have a gelding with kissing spines that are immediately under the saddle, my horse has always bunched up as soon as you get on even after lungeing but the difference is he doesn't bronc if lunged 1st. The reaction is from the kissing spine which we have coped with for 11yrs. Sometimes a good lambs wool type numnah can help if it isn't exactly pain causing this, as sometimes it is a sensation too. My OH is a Vet so we have spent years analysing him. Certainly lungeing is the best approach once you know its not a badly fitting saddle or you bouncing onto the saddle. Hope this is of some help to you.
 
We have a cold backed horse at our RS. We found the easiest way to help him was to walk him round for a few mins first and ensure that he is wearing a thick saddlecloth. Also ensuring anyone that gets on him always gets on him gently with a mounting block
 
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