Lunging help pleease!

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xbuzzx

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When i got Buzz, i don't think he had been lunged much, and when he had he must have been taught to come in when standing.
This year, my hopes are to get him able to canter on the lunge and stay out without coming in. I don't canter him on the lunge, yet, as he gets unbalanced and gallops off out my hand. But hoping to do alot of work in trot to get him more balanced. His ground work his good, how do i get him staying out when i ask for a slower pace, and any ways to make him more balanced.?
Thankies! x
 
try holding the line as if holding a rein and feed into the other hand.make sure you keep the whip behind him dont hit him with it just make rhythmical circles in a positive fasion.use your voice possitive for upwards transitions and calm and quite for downwards. make sure you praise him lots dont be scared to use your voice.I was taught to lunge as if i was riding using the tools i had that helped a lot.It takes a while but in time he will come better beware of over lunging as boredom can set in for him and you.good luck.
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You could try long reining but on a circle, that way you have more control over him. Alternatively, have him on a shorter rein but you walk a circle as well so you can use your body & voice more effectively to 'GO OUT' (said firmly!) & also the whip will be closer to him to 'point' at him to go out.

Re balance - only do short bursts & as many transitions as possible - the transition will help with balance & will also discourage him to go too fast (especially if he's anticipating a downwards transition - cheating, but can be helpful). A pessoa type training aid can help with balance as it helps to engage them but don't overdo what you ask of him & do be aware that if he's really challenged it could panic him so be careful if he's that sort.
 
Thanks i will try those things, Sorry forgot to mention i tend not to lunge with the whip as he's scared of it. I'm only going to lunge once a week so he shouldn't get to bored
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I never used to lunge with a whip as I thought Gil was scared of it but my instructor used one last week with me and after the initial 5 mins he was then fine and if anything now has started to ignore it
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When I had no whip I used the end of my line and my voice to send him on. Agree with the smaller rein, I started doing this recently and it gives you a lot more control and he finds it a lot harder to bomb off if/when he spooks. Make sure your body is square onto him, you can use the palm of your hand to send him away as well.
 
You don't have to crack the whip, but you should be able to point it at him & give it a wiggle - just really so you can gesture 'out' with it whilst using you voice. If he's genuinely terrified then give it a miss, but I'd certainly try to desensitise him to it if you can safely do so.
 
When he starts creeping in point the whip at his shoulder, dont flick it at him and firmly say out. I find that helps
 
I would make him not scared of the whip as it's a handy tool when lunging.

some ideas;

So when he wants to come in (i.e turn into you) point the whip at his shoulder to push him back out.

But first, get him used to whip all over his body so he isn't scared, this is good too as the both of you have overcome and learnt something (i,e the whole being scared of the whip thing)
The trick with getting him de-sensitized to the whip is advance and retreat. Start off bringing the whip near him and you have to be quick to the moment he wants to react, no matter how far the whip is away from you, you have to move it away before he reacts. So you don't actually want him to react at all, you move the whip away before he does. Do this as many times in short periods as you can so you can finally get the whip touched all over his body.

When lunging you want a triangle, but instead of using the whip behind his hockes, use it to point in the direction of his should to stop him turning in, again you have to catch him before he turns in to quickly remind him to stay out.

xx
 
By holding the whip while lunging your horse will get used to it. He needs to respect the space around you! You can then take/point whip to his shoulder to keep him out. Personally I would concentrate mainly on the trot with lots of transitions to walk and then back up again. I would use long side reins or Pessoa if he doesn't mind strap around his bottom. Also vary the size of the circle. Few horses can canter in a balanced fashion on the lunge and yours sounds as if he hasn't got lots of experience. It can be very daunting to be on the ground with an unbalanced and inexperienced horse flying round so keep it to trot and be fussy in getting the basics right!
 
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