Lunging experts

[Louby]

How do I bring my horses head up when lunging. He is lunged with sidereins and just gets deeper and deeper. Im almost afraid he will fall on his head. He is a lazy so and so and Ive worked at getting him more forward in a bid to get him working from behind but he either does a fast pony striding trot or when slowed down almost falls on his head. Without the side reins he works long and very low, with them I feel he isnt truely taking the contact.
He is fussy in his mouth and when he forgets about messing with his tongue he can do some nice work. I have tried almost every possible snaffle bit so bit suggestions probably wont cure this habit. Although any miraculous cures would be welcome

 

[Nailed]

Get rid of the sidereins. Long and low is not a bad thing as long as he is going forwards and not on the forehand, You could try a passoa but again this is best used in the long low position to start with.

Have you tried a KK Ultra french link snaffle? the cyprium ones?

Lou x

 

[Louby]

Thanks.
I do start off and finish without the side reins and he lunges with his nose almost touching the floor. If I try to canter, he still legs it round with his head on the floor. I will try again though without them.
I honestly think his bloody maddenning habit that hes had for years is part of the problem. When he forgets about it, he looks great but as soon as he starts again which is probably 95% of the time, his stride shortens, he overbends, goes deep and doesnt bend correctly.
Oh and yes Ive tried a KK Ultra, (a few different sprengers as well

) Hes currently in a Myler with a wide port to give him more tongue room, nope it hasnt helped.

 

[Nailed]

Sounds like youve got your work cut out. I suppose you could try the pessoa on a higher setting to 'lift' his head.

Lou x

 

[Louby]

I have a cheapy version of the pessoa and cant remember why I ditched it. I will have to have a nosey as Im not sure it has different settings??? Its ages since I used it, so apologies in advance for the thicky question but do you mean just putting it through a higher ring on my roller

 

[CBAnglo]

I really dislike possoas they put the horse onto the forehand and when they finally start working from behind, they got socked in the mouth.

I would lunge in a chambon or a bungie.

Take the side reins off and start your horse off as normal. Gradually shorten the rein and make the horse come into you so that you have a smaller circle - you should see his hind leg engage more. Use your whip to send him out onto a larger circle - effectively leg yielding from 10m to 20m circles.

Make sure you are always sending forward with the whip. If he starts whizzing about slow him down with some half halts (assume you are lunging off the bridle as you were asking about bits). If he starts to lower his head too far I.e. Sniffing the ground keep sending him forward - he won't be able to run and sniff at the same time. Then slow him down again with half halts or a transition.

I only lunge max of 20 mins no more than twice a week and normally my boy is ok but sometimes he plays the same evasion game and this is the only thing that gets him out of it. I also do lots of transitions as otherwise he gets bored and starts evading.

You might also try lunging him over a few cross poles - he won't be able to lower his head and jump at the same time.

 

[kerilli]

ditto about the pessoas.
i'd look at the Hippus bits, they act between a mullen and a single-joint but have no nutcracker action at all, many fussy horses absolutely love them.

 

[Louby]

Hi, thanks for that, I will def try making the circles bigger and smaller.
I do lunge on a smallish circle as I needed to to get lazy arse moving. He is very obedient with transitions, just not very active, if you know what I mean.
Ive tried a chambon and bungee in the past, he stayed very low, well deep in the bungee and I had to take the chambon off for fear of him standing on it as he was hoovering the ground. I did try putting a stirrup leather arround his neck to keep the chambon 'ropes' away from his feet. His head really is that low

.
He loves jumping when lunged (only small ones) and he does hoover on the way to the jump.
I suppose I shouldnt whinge really, some people really struggle to get there horses to work long and low

 

[Louby]

oooh I will have a look at them. Now!!

 

[Louby]

Have you used one? Did you find they leant on them?
They are £93, I would pay anything to stop his habit but its so much to pay if it doesnt work. Do you know of a bit bank that has them?

 

[CBAnglo]

How did you fix the bungie? I like to alternate between putting it over the poll, through the bit rings and then outside rein on a high d ring on the roller and inside one on a lower d ring. Sometimes I have them both on a high ring. I have them just tight enough to give a loose contact. If he tries to lean they will stretch and they aren't too tight that they shorten his neck.

Funnily enough I was rethinking bitting issues (and bridles) this week and KatB suggested a Hippus as well. I think they are quite thin mouthpieces which is what I need as my boy doesn't have much space between his bars. He also has a tendency to lean as he has a sacroiliac ligament strain so has a weak topline as he cannot truly work correctly from behind.

 

[Louby]

I put the bungee over the poll but clipped both clips to a lower ring on my roller, about girth buckle height. I will try it again like you suggested. Its hard to explain really what he does, Its like he goes that deep he seems to paddle, I suppose he falls badly on his forehand but if I try to make him more active he just does the same but with faster short choppy pony strides.
I did try the pee wee bit once but he leant badly and I felt I had no brakes or steering. I did think it was just like a very very thin mullen mouth snaffle.