Lunging - Cavesson Vs Headcollar Vs Bridle

The Trooper

The Trooper

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I've recently started lunging Belle as for a number of reasons she cannot be hacked/ridden so i'm lunging her to keep her ticking over.

I'm currently doing it in a headcollar and she is going reasonably well, can anyone explain the pros and cons of the above to give me an insight on what I should use/get.

TIA,
 
I personally only use a proper lunging cavesson and lunge line. I could not imagine lunging a horse from a bridle, one trip, pull to the outside, hooley, buck etc. Etc must be so painful on the horses mouth I just couldn't do it!

I need the middle ring of the noseband as I change the rein in movement (through the centre of a circle, 1/2 volte back to the track, serpentine etc) so a headcollar is no use to me :)
 
I was taught (BHS) to use a cavesson but found that to stop them slipping around they have to be fastened really tightly o_O If you've got one that doesn't, Wheels, what make is it please, always on the lookout for something better designed!

I mostly lunge on 2 reins so off the bridle. with the established one I mainly use it to give her a light stretchy day and I find this quite easy to achieve with the reins so that's what works for us. Also easy to work on straight lines & changes of rein.
The green one is just pottering about learning about contact and ground poles (and also means I can do a little bit more trot & bits of canter that he's not yet doing much of under saddle). again I lunge off the bridle, he has a light mouth so the rein is generally a little slack but it means if he has a racehorse moment I am in control ;)


My horses wouldn't achieve anything productive in a headcollar tbh, OK for a leg stretch but not to work them.
 
I was trained in the era of lunging cavessons but have sold all of mine now
I lunge off the headcollar , off a micklem bridle they are great , super for a quick lunge before you get on and off the horses normal bridle .
A horses correctly trained on the lunge is not being pulled round by the line ,my horses are never allowed to play on the lunge this is something they do once with me it’s not an experiance they repeat .
There no issue with lunging a horse off it’s bridle providing it’s been correctly trained and you are not pulling it round by it’s bit .
ETA I start my horses in hand work in a headcollar I find it makes it easier and they focus on learning the cane work better when they are totally focused on the cane .
I teach mine to do stretching and leg yielding with a cane and headcollar and line
 
I lunge off a rope halter, there is always a little slack in the line. I remember using Cavessons in my teens and finding them heavy and clumsy.
 
I lunge in a serrata (portugese cavesson). Which has a leather wrapped hinged nose piece, and is a good fit.





I bought it in Portugal, and was expensive then, but hopefully last me for decades, and fit any horse.





I can lunge in a headcollar, or off the bridle, but this is my preference for productive, gymnastic lunging or in hand work.





There are some SRS or Straightness training cavessons that also look good but none are cheap.
 
two reins off a bridle or a headcollar (with rope ends for easy glide on the two reins),
arguably he always went better in the headcollar.
 
I lunge off a bridle with the lungeline through the inside bit ring, up and over the head to the outside one. I started doing this when I had a somewhat thuggish horse which would just lean out in a cavesson and make the circle bigger and bigger and I found I had much more control to correct this with the bridle on and he knew it so was much more polite in a bridle. I agree that they aren't allowed to mess about on the lunge, too dangerous for the lunger in my view if they are allowed to get into the habit of having a play. Not to mention wrecking the school surface. Lunging means staying calm and working and the ability to give a quick tweak on the bit with the lunge rein is a useful "listen to me" aid.
 
I don't like lunging off a bridle. No matter how well-behaved the horse is, the weight of the line is always going to be putting pressure on the bit, and if the horse does bog off, it must be agonising. I lunge off a headcollar, and attach the line to the side ring, rather than underneath, to help stop the headcollar from being pulled around.
 
Having lost the bridle off a small exmoor in the middle of a field by running the line over the head as a teen, I've never done it since!
 
I use a cavesson but I have a really nice Portuguese one (doesnt have the metal insert) that doesnt slip for one pony, the other pony has a m2m cavesson that also doesnt slip. I have lunged off a bridle but dont care for it.
 
I would like to lunge in a cavesson but one of my horses isn't keen on most designs. I have a feeling she might have been left with a headcollar on too long when she was young because there is a bit of a bump and a sensitive spot on her nose and cavessons seems to move around too much and make her sore.

Be interested in which brands don't move. She's a bit of an odd size for bridles so I suppose that won't help with cavesson fit either (length is between cob and full, nose is quite small but browband currently full/ x-full)
 
My Portugused one has a nose band like a drop noseband although I dont fit it as such-also has a cheek strap. It wasnt an expensive one but like this one without the metal-it has a wide oval shaped noseband too

http://www.iberianahorse.com/img/TrainingcavessonS.jpg



The other m2m one is this one in havanna although it was a fair time ago and somewhat cheaper! I've had several items from him and they are all lovely
http://qcvsaddlery.com/en/cavessons/21-lunging-cavesson-with-leather-nosepiece-111.html
 
milliepops said:
I was taught (BHS) to use a cavesson but found that to stop them slipping around they have to be fastened really tightly o_O If you've got one that doesn't, Wheels, what make is it please, always on the lookout for something better designed!

I mostly lunge on 2 reins so off the bridle. with the established one I mainly use it to give her a light stretchy day and I find this quite easy to achieve with the reins so that's what works for us. Also easy to work on straight lines & changes of rein.
The green one is just pottering about learning about contact and ground poles (and also means I can do a little bit more trot & bits of canter that he's not yet doing much of under saddle). again I lunge off the bridle, he has a light mouth so the rein is generally a little slack but it means if he has a racehorse moment I am in control ;)


My horses wouldn't achieve anything productive in a headcollar tbh, OK for a leg stretch but not to work them.
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Sorry milliepops, I've had it for so long now I cant remember where I got it from but it is similar to the straightness training one. I use a sheepskin noseband cover for a bit of extra protection. I can lunge in it using the centre ring and do some in hand work with centre ring or putting reins on the outer rings and I also ride in it sometimes, useful piece of kit
 
I managed to pick up a serrata second hand in a car boot sale.......it helps to direct the horse and it remains centred. It is also the only thing that I can hold my 16.3hh middleweight thug in if he decides he is going to be a prat......just because. If he is nice and polite to me then I am nice and polite to him and everyone gets on just fine. If he decides he is going to throw his weight around it just gives me the edge. Had previously tried all manner of bridles/cavessons/side reins, running reins, chambon etc etc. (All of those being gizmos I didn't need or want other than to keep control of the g*t such that it didn't get loose and away from me.)

I was told it was one of these, but who knows.

https://www.manolomendezdressage.com/manolo-mendez-original-spanish-cavessons/
 
Ugh hate the english cavesson. no wonder people don't like it. Heavy, thick and cumbersome. You can never make it stay in one place. I can't see how lunging in a headcollar is biomechanically sound either because you need to be in front of the movement and you need to give direction and ask for the bend here, not from the bottom of the jaw, it's not precise enough - I guess it's fine for just letting your horse mooch about. Definitely use an iberian cavesson if you can. I have two types of seretta, I prefer the leather covered metal one as I can get very precise movements with better concentration with one of the horses and I can use just the leather one for another horse as she's pretty good at listening anyway.

The is a good book about the correct movement in horses by Klaus Schoneich. Worth taking into consideration for your lunging programme.
 
If I'm going to lunge in a bride I use what Jason Webb calls a bridle rope (I made my own though!) It is a thinnish bit of rope that goes through the bit rings and over the poll then ties off. You attach the lunge line to the rope under the chin. It allows you to influence the bit and the poll and you can change the rein without having to alter anything, very handy!
 
I lunge in a bridle and driving saddle, with two reins. Means you can do anything you would ridden pretty much, with the reins in the right place and no need to change anything while you work. I really don't like English cavessons, nor anything additional that goes over the head.
 
Used to be a bridle however have changed to a bog standard headcollar for coming back in to work. He works very well on the lunge from voice command so no need for anything else.
 
holeymoley said:
Used to be a bridle however have changed to a bog standard headcollar for coming back in to work. He works very well on the lunge from voice command so no need for anything else.
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Which is fine if lunging for exercise only or lunging for diagnostic purposes, but I find if you want to lunge for gymnastic benefit, having better tools to influence horses way of going more effective.
 
flying_high said:
Which is fine if lunging for exercise only or lunging for diagnostic purposes, but I find if you want to lunge for gymnastic benefit, having better tools to influence horses way of going more effective.
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Yes this is true. I will still resort back to a bridle if looking to use a roller or long rein. My gelding will still work from behind and through his back though with a headcollar and a line.
 
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