Lunging - what did i do wrong??? help please!

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ChestnutConvert

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I have decided to start gently lunging the horse i ride, 1 for something diff 2 to get energy out a bit when needed and 3 so i can see him pop over a ujmp eventually as he apparently jumps bit and i'd like top be prepared!
His owner said that he is great to lunge and after not dong this for a few years went back into it straight away.

I admit that i'm not an expert at lunging but when i tried yesterday he wouldn't go forward just kept stopping and turning to face me. He was a it uppity which i presume is the weather and spring grass as everything else with him has been checked.
The main thing i noticed was an apparent fear of the whip, i never used it just held it out a bit as is meant to be done. Any time it moved a fraction he flinched towards me. When i took it away and led him round the circle with someone else holding him he seemed okay, he trusts me to a degree, follows me around etc but when i took the lunge rein back i just couldn't get him to go forwards.

Does anyone have any tips on what i can do myself or with him??
 
Had the same problem with my baby recently and a friend recommended long reining with and without side reins - has worked a treat and no more stand offs. It was very frustrating prior to long reining as every now and then he refused to go around and I generally don't bother with a lunge whip, was the same with the whip - he was just going through a phase of testing me.
 
Is he normally lunged with a whip. Some horses I've had are better without one - My cob goes balistic if you have a whip longer than a schooling whip but lunges well from voice...

BnBx
 
Without seeing what was happening it is difficult to comment but it would probably be worth having a couple of lessons in lunging. Your positioning is important, you need to be behind the girth line in order to be able to 'drive' the horse forward.

I start mine off by walking behind their shoulder and a few feet away from the horse gradually increasing the distance until they are out on their own. Don't confuse the horse with too many vocal commands. I do use a lunge whip to make the 'triangle' with the horse and myself. I don't use it to hit the horse but will wiggle it to encourage him forward.
 
I would try with out the whip to start with - lots of horses are happier just going from the voice. You may need to look at your body language too. Often when horses turn in or won't go forwards it's because the person lunging them is level with their shoulder rather than the girth and is therefore 'blocking' the movement. You may even need to drop behind the girth to send him forwards. You could also make sure you're being fairly assertive with the way you ask him - step towards him as you tell him to walk on and send him out with positive body language. If you're standing quietly in the middle or even stepping back if he falls in you are inadvertently 'inviting' him in to you. If you ask in slightly sharper way and he shoots off just let the line out and go with him. You can always moderate your request the next time but it's important that he understands exactly what you want. Remember that the more forwards he is going the more likely he is to take himself out onto a nice big circle. :)
 
By the sounds of it your getting in front of the horse, when he turns to face you get behind him and drive him forward. As another poster said you need to be behind the movement.

I know technically you should lunge with a whip but if the horse goes well off of voice aids then a whip isn't always needed. I like to keep mine in the school but I rarely use it unless my horse is having a lazy day (which is very rare :p)
 
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