Lunging equipment- what do you use?

[Grey_Eventer]

One of our horses has damaged his sacroiliac joint (has been injected and is on the mend- yay!) and his physio (can you imagine having weekly appointments!) has suggested we use a lunging aid, partly because hes a polo pony and he doesn't know what an outline is, let alone a lunge line, but also he desperatley needs topline. So what would you suggest I should use, she has given me various suggestions, but im interested in other peoples opinions.
Would also want to use on my team chaser/hunter who is near on incapable of having top line!

 

[jess_asterix]

I use a Pessoa on all of mine, you can get really good copies cheaper though

 

[Capriole]

just recently bought an equi ami, not had much chance to use it yet

 

[kirstyl]

I lunge in full tack and side reins if I'm wanting to work on the contact and outline. If I'm wanting to strengthen and develop topline and work long and low I use John Whitaker Training Aid, same as Pessoa but includes roller in price. If you aren't that experienced lungeing or you haven't used a Pessoa like aid, I would advise a couple of lessons to get you and your horse on the way. J W aid worked brilliantly for building topline on my gangly TB. Good luck , let us know how you get on

 

[MrsMozart]

I know a number of people don't like the Pessoa, but it works for our horses . Dizz will argue twice or so with it, but then stop faffing and work nicely.

 

[Dirty_D]

I use a roller with fully elasticated leg straps as side reins (rear rug leg straps, you can buy them seperatley), they're totally elasticated and fully adjustable but are really forgiving as they dont penalise them if they trip or lose balance, Works for charlie!

I actually found them to be of use by accident really, i needed him to be able to hold himself in balance in canter without side reins holding him up and these worked best and ive never changed back!

 

[_EVS_]

I use a kavalkade which has been superb for helping my horse work long and low. A friend used a Pessoa when her horse had sacroiliac problems though and found it to really help (alongside the strict lunging programme from her vet). I found them fiddly though so I much prefer the Kavalkade that I can pop on and off quite easily.

 

[Winklepoker]

I thoroughly believe in the pessoa - My horses topline speaks for itself. - Im a s**t rider so its not that thats done it

 

[ellie_e]

Lunge the youngster in saddle, bridle and bungie, (very good as doesnt force horse into an outline just encourages) and old boy in a pessoa

 

[ironhorse]

I use elasticated side reins attached to the bit and lunge off a cavesson for my mare - I even start with slack side reins because she just gallops about like an idiot otherwise. But I've also used a bungee with success - she likes it better than draw reins.

 

[Tnavas]

I use a lunge cavesson over a plain snaffle bridle, either saddle or roller and non elasticated side reins.

I don't use a passoa or similar as I don't like the see sawing effect it has on the horses mouth. If I were to use it I would attach the lines to the side rings on the cavesson. My mare was broken using them and has the most terrible mouth which I believe is the result of using the passoa.

The text below is from an article - link is at the end of the article

The only 'contraptions/lunging systems' that allow the biomechanics of true collection esp the base of the neck to raise and telescope the head and neck up and out is a chambon, or correctly fitted side reins. This is vital for all riders to understand.

I had an aquantince come and give me a demo of the pessoa/kincade/euro system a few years ago on my mare, it is the first time I have ever seen my mare go disunited behind in the canter, altho this person had some vague explanation why....

This person also teaches people that use this system and the one thing their horses have in common is large, overdeveloped, shortened and contracted rhombedious and trapezius muscle, this makes the horse appear to carry its neck in a very fixed 'steady' frame, which can be very deceiving to the untrained eye. However if you look closey you will see stiff and/or explosive transistions, and very stiff loins that don't step thru, creating hovering paces and either very hard contact with the mouth or no real contact at all-esp in the mother gait-walk, the free walk is always a dead giveaway. Even if a horse DOES appear to put its head down, it is not stretching and swinging thru a relaxed topline.

The reason these muscles get so big is because with any force from the very beginning of a horses training the smaller, less advantaged muscles underneath never get a chance to develop, causing the base of the neck to remain jammed down. It is extremely common to see this at shows, dressage days, pretty much any competitive event. Along with 'broken neck' and with horses with less superior conformation, or older horses, some visible form of sacroiliac, lumbo sacral joint strain/pathology or other form of back/ligament strain.

I've said it before and I'll say it again-LEARN some basic equine anatomy and biomechanics so YOU KNOW yourself what effect your tack/bit/gear etc is having on your horse. www.equinestudies.org Knowledge Base is my suggestion.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would start in a bungee and perhaps move onto the Pessoa as he gets stronger but a lunging rope ( look at the horse heroes website and the clips of it in use on utube ) helped ours with this problem I think it's a bit kinder than the Pessoa when they are weak. Don't overdo it what ever you use . I use all sorts of things on different horses sometimes you just have to try things to see what helps the most and that may change in time I have collected about every lunging aid over the years but the bungee is the one I use the most and the rope which is amazing on some. finally the bungee ( elastic training aid to give it it's proper name) is very cheap to buy if you don't have Pessoa already that's defiantly where I would start.

 

[brown tack]

I use a roller, snaffle bridle, and a de gouge, I find them the best things in all honestly. They help to lower the head without the sawing action of the pessao, and let's the hinds step under and lifts the stomach, freeing up the back.

 

[**Vanner**]

I vary what i lunge in but don't do it often and not at all on the big boy at the moment!

I have a Pessoa or side reins and sometimes i lunge in the longreining set up.

I think overuse of any one thing is not good but they all have their uses.

 

[DoonBug500]

I just use a lunging rope and a whip, it works ok

 

[mini-eventer]

I used a LUNGEE Bungie not to be confused with a regualr bungie

"encourages your horse to take an equal contact on both reins by not fixing his head and neck in one position. This means that whichever way the horse carries his head, the contact is the same on each side. If your horse does lean on the contact, the elastic mimics the hands of a good rider, encouraging him to relax into the contact."


Very similar to elasticated side reins but I like the way it keeps an equal contact on both reins.


I have this fairly loose and find my boy stretches down into the contact after being worked for a while.

he has been worked in draw reins in the past and likes to sit behind the contact so I like the effect these have on him.

 

[Piaffe63]

I dont use gadgets really- I'm too worried that I'd use them wrong! Just saddle, bridle, lunge line and often side reins!

 

[blood_magik]

I used side reins when mine had an injured SI - vet told me to do 10 mins a day and walk in hand for 11 days after 3 days box rest

 

[Wolfie]

I usually use a de gouge, sometimes side reins or a pessoa.

 

[MillionDollar]

Pessoa for me!

 

[AFlapjack]

I use an EquiAmi