Starting a young horse

[Renegade13]

I have a beautiful 3 yr old ready to learn to lunge. He is happy to have bridle,roller etc on. He is so quiet he will just not move away from me to lunge. So far I have someone walk around with a lead rope on the outside of the circle while I stay in the middle with lunge line. When they move away he either tries to follow or comes into me, he is not bothered with me pointing/flicking whip at him to keep him out!! I don’t have a round pen and don’t want to spoil his placid, trusting nature
Advice welcome

 

[be positive]

Use 2 reins and start off by long reining to get him moving confidently without you, you can mix it up by popping in a few circles and he should soon get the hang of what you want, ensure your body language is not confusing him and that your vocal instructions are clear.

 

[Cortez]

He needs to be trotting on the circle, going forward and keeping a rhythm. Long reining will be difficult unless you are experienced (I'm not a fan of long reining for baby horses; it's fine for more advanced work later on). And tap him with the whip, don't wave it about: he needs to understand what it's for (to move away).

 

[scats]

Use 2 reins and start off by long reining to get him moving confidently without you, you can mix it up by popping in a few circles and he should soon get the hang of what you want, ensure your body language is not confusing him and that your vocal instructions are clear.

This. I teach everything to lunge off long reins. You might need a helper to lead the horse the first time as some get confused when you are suddenly behind them and out of sight, but most pick it up easily.

 

[AengusOg]

The simplest way is to teach the horse to yield his head and neck away, firstly from physical pressure, then from remote pressure using assertive body language.
Once this is established, the horse can then be asked to go forward and, having learned to move away from the handler with his fore, this will be his natural response.
Be careful not to drive the horse's quarters away so that he is tempted to turn toward you. Keep him going forward by focusing attention on his rear, and dissuade him from falling in or turning by stepping assertively toward his fore.
A few minutes of this should help the horse understand that he must walk in a circle.

 

[nikkimariet]

He needs to be trotting on the circle, going forward and keeping a rhythm. Long reining will be difficult unless you are experienced (I'm not a fan of long reining for baby horses; it's fine for more advanced work later on). And tap him with the whip, don't wave it about: he needs to understand what it's for (to move away).

This.

He needs to learn to move away from you.

His placid and trusting nature is a tad clingy!

 

[DabDab]

Trot is better than walk for them getting the idea of staying out. I tend to loose school first so the forward aid (whip or rope or whatever) can be used slightly more enthusiastically to help them get the idea of aid=forward, no exceptions, without having to worry about a lunge line getting in they way, looping, or catching you or them off balance if they jump forwards.

After 2-3 sessions loose they can be put on a lunge and get it pretty much straight away

 

[Red-1]

I have a beautiful 3 yr old ready to learn to lunge. He is happy to have bridle,roller etc on. He is so quiet he will just not move away from me to lunge. So far I have someone walk around with a lead rope on the outside of the circle while I stay in the middle with lunge line. When they move away he either tries to follow or comes into me, he is not bothered with me pointing/flicking whip at him to keep him out!! I don’t have a round pen and don’t want to spoil his placid, trusting nature
Advice welcome

Genuinely, if you have a horse with a lovely nature and don't want to spoil it then I would get someone to help who has done it all before with babies. The longer you are not able to communicate what you want to the horse the longer he will be unable to find the right answer and be confused, frustrated.

IMO lungeing is as much about where you focus and how you use your energy, very good timing on release etc. That is something that needs to be shown in real time, rather than written down on the internet.

 

[Jellymoon]

You do need to be firm about him moving away from you when you ask him to, and you can do this without upsetting his gentle nature and his wish to be with you, he sounds really sweet and will want to please you.

There are so many ways, but I get an extra long lead rope and start by getting them to move whichever way I want them to in hand, backing up, moving hindquarters away from me, moving front legs/shoulders over. I use whatever works for the individual, so one might respond to me shaking or swinging the rope, but if not, then a little tap with a schooling whip, or with one very stoical Individual, a plastic bag tied to the end of a stick was the only thing that worked! Once you can get those hind legs swinging away from you on a circle around you, then you can let the lead rope out a bit, and before you know it they’ll be trotting round you in a circle, and you can let it out a bit more and a bit more and you are lunging!

The other thing I do with young ones is I move around a lot with them while lunging, so I don’t stand stuck on the spot and expect them to go round and round in a perfect circle. I run around a bit so we get some straight lines as well as some bending, and sometimes you need move quickly to get behind them to keep them going forward.

I also find long reining very good, but I’m not very adept at working the two reins on a circle, so I tend to ‘drive’ them with me walking or running behind. It’s brilliant for ones that are nappy as you can very effectively get them going forward without endangering yourself and they really grow in confidence from it.

You will have such a lovely bond with this horse - good luck!

 

[Renegade13]

Thanks everyone, I think I will try the plastic bag as he is not at all worried about the whip! I do tend to move around when I am lunging...for when I get that far�� It is a lot easier with one who just isn’t so quiet...then they do say the quiet ones are the ones to watch!