Lunging Problems

Bettyboo222

Bettyboo222

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Wondering if anyone could give me a hand ? I have been teaching F to lunge and we were doing well but recently he has started pulling away from me and dragging me to the entrance to the menage. He just won't go round and when he does, he canters then pulls me to the entrance again.

Does anyone have any Ideas on how to stop this ?
 
Degan

Degan

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Tinsel_Tree said:
At the moment nothig but a well fitting headcollar because he refuses to move in a bridle and he (for some strange reason) rears and bucks in the canvasson
Click to expand...

This may be a long shot and might be completely off, but have you had his teeth checked recently??
The only reason I ask is because, Im presuming here, that your noseband of your headcollar isnt as tight in that area as say the bridle noseband and cavesson, so could this possibly have something to do with the resistance to these.
Just a thought, as Ive said, might well be completely off track :)

ETA I realise this has nothing to do with your question; in my experience with so and so's pulling me across the school, I tend to find that having the line going over the poll and attatched on the other side gives me abit more control :)
 
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baymareb

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Sounds like he's learned he can pull away and go to the gate. One thing I'd try is to work him on a smaller circle until he is more consistent about lungeing. He doesn't need to canter on the lunge (in fact, I prefer not to canter them too much on the lunge) and on a smaller circle, you have more control and he can't get up as much speed.

I would also work more with him on the bridle. If you can enlist some help for a couple of sessions at least, you could have someone lead while you direct and he may get more comfortable with it. I generally run the line over the poll and it does give me more control. I do prefer lungeing with a bridle because I don't think you get as much benefit with just a halter.

How long have you been working with him on it? It took my mare a while to get the idea. Oh, and one other thing - how often are you lungeing and for how long? I don't lunge more than one or two times a week - I try to give her other types of exercise in between - and it's best to keep it to short sessions especially in the beginning. I think it gets pretty boring for most horses.
 
Bryndu

Bryndu

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What are the reasons for lungeing him?
Have you tried jumping him? He .....dare I say it ... may be a bit bored.
If he seems to be doing it mostly ok and has got the general idea, how about loose schooling? It is difficult once they lean the 'treat mum like a water skier' trick!:)
Bryndu
 
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tristar

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sounds like he could just be challenging you, a headcollar is unsuitable for lunging except for the most obliging horses, you simply don't have the control, the horses head runs through the headcollar, i never lunge in a bridle and don't use side reins, i would use a cavesson on the middle ring, i use this on my stallion and he is much easier to control, he jumps about all over the shop but has learned respect and knows he is under control, its a bit of a knack and requires concentration on the part of the handler to use the lunge rein in such a way that you are feeling the horse through the rein and watching his body language and can turn his head slightly into the circle and contain explosions and attempts to pull away.
i also vary the work, do circles but when warmed up lengthened strides on the straight, vary the size of the circle and use lots of transitions including walk to canter so he has to think whats coming next, and he enjoys it.
 
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blc111

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Hi there
I had exactly the same problem with my gelding. As soon as he was lunged on his right side (which was the way facing towards the arena entrance) he would quickly pull to the gate and try to barge through it. he didnt care about me forcing him on and past, he would just keep on heading towards it every time he passed that corner, even if he was going backwards. he is a cob and very strong so no matter how hard i pulled to stop him going towards gate (I tried to anticipate it in advance) he pulled harder, even if i pulled with two hands and all my wieght against him, he would always win.
in the end my mum stood by the gate (on the outside) with another lunge whip and everytime he looked towards the gate she would gently wave it at him, esp if he started to pull towards her. after a couple of tries he gave up this bad habit and now lunges beautifully. i know it sounds a bit un-authodox but this method work for us. i guess he didnt like having 2 lunge whips chasing him around.
ps. nothing wrong with his teeth/back/tack etc, he just did it cos he didnt want to work. lazy so and so!
 
Bettyboo222

Bettyboo222

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I am lunging due to the fact that he is too fizzy to be rode after being in during winter and I don't have alot of time to ride/places to go in the dark.

We do alternate what we do, we will usually lunge over jumps (if he is behaving) one day then do inhand grid work, then day off, then walk in hand, then usually riding over the weekend.


I would prefer to long line him, but I have been told that it isn't safe to do this until he lunges well.

I can't loose school/free lunge due to the menage not having a gate and I can only put a pole up to stop him
 
LaurenM

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Mine does this sometimes. I recommend keeping him on a smaller circle and to talk to him to keep his attention.By keeping him on a smaller circle you are giving him less opportunity to get away. When he tries to go, challenge him back by pulling his head into you. The more I challenge mine back, the less he tries.

When mine spins, gets away and canters off I ignore him. He always walks back to me and even started lunging himself last week!

I do agree though, lunging is boring but by adding poles, as it seems like you have done, it will keep his focus.

Mine has never put a hoof wrong when being long lined and as you can tell, he is quite lively being lunged!
 
3DE

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Tinsel_Tree said:
I would prefer to long line him, but I have been told that it isn't safe to do this until he lunges well.
Click to expand...

Who said that? What an odd thing to say... For one, you can long line with a bit and bridle so you instantly have more control. Also the horses find it less boring and more challenging so do tend to behave better (always exceptions of course). You can always have him on a lead rope with a helper first while you get yourself more confident.

TT - have you ever had lessons on how to lunge? I've seen people in the past have problems who were actually blocking the horse with their position or driving the horse by being too far behind.
 
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saddlesore

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Agree with long lining/double lunging, or use side reins/pessoa or similar to give your lunging some 'purpose'. Tbh, lunging in a headcollar just screams 'wall of death' to me!

I would also lunge right at the gate (pole) if you can, so that he has nowhere to nap to, just until he gets past this behavior pattern and then slowly build up to lunging further away.
 
Bettyboo222

Bettyboo222

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Christmas_Crackers said:
Who said that? What an odd thing to say... For one, you can long line with a bit and bridle so you instantly have more control. Also the horses find it less boring and more challenging so do tend to behave better (always exceptions of course). You can always have him on a lead rope with a helper first while you get yourself more confident.

TT - have you ever had lessons on how to lunge? I've seen people in the past have problems who were actually blocking the horse with their position or driving the horse by being too far behind.
Click to expand...



I was told that by my YM, when I suggested that I should try doing that instead of lunging.

Yeah I have had lunging lessons and we also did a few weeks on it when I was at pony club
 
Bettyboo222

Bettyboo222

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I long reined today, got some really nice walk/trot transitions on vocal commands. Had a bit if and isse when he didn't want to go past a gate but that was it. He even pulled in on the farm trace to let a tractor past :)
 
3DE

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That's brill news! Some horses just don't 'get' lunging bless. Sounds like you have cracked it ;) You can always go back to lunging at some point - just move gradually to the side so that eventually you are lunging with two lines ;)
 
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