Besides a useful warm-up, lunging can be used as a training session in its own right. Many riders abandon lunging after the horse’s initial backing and riding away, but by doing so they miss out on a wonderful training opportunity.
The equipment I prefer to use is as follows:
-Bridle with noseband and reins either secured or removed
-A simple snaffle bit. If I plan to attach the rein to the bit I prefer to use a single jointed happy mouth snaffle with cheeks
-Saddle and lunge roller over the saddle. Many lunge rollers are not well designed. I find that the pads pinch the horse’s spine because they are never sufficiently wide enough. Using a roller over a saddle helps to mitigate this
-Leather side reins adjusted to be unrestrictive. The horse must choose to work into the contact and seek it. He will object to the restriction imposed by too short side reins, and free forwards movement is likely to be blocked
-A soft but substantial lunge rein
-A well balanced lunge whip
-Gloves
-A safe working area. This could be a lunge ring, but I personally prefer a larger area where I can move the circle around and introduce straight lines if I choose
All the work that I do ridden, I can also practice off the horse on the lunge. This allows the horse to understand and find his balance without my weight. And it allows me to see, and deal with the problem, from a different perspective.
I find that the following works for me when lunging:
-Consistent commands, especially the tone of voice used, for different requests
-Frequent changes of pace and direction
-If he doesn’t listen bring him closer on a smaller circle
-If he goes too fast bring him closer (smaller circle). When he has a better balance and rhythm let him gradually back out
-Keep the hand/arm still, relaxed and soft
-Don’t get into a pulling match with a fixed arm – if he comes against the hand give the rein and send him forward
-A forwards thinking hand is essential. I find that a feeling of the hand being 2mm in front of the movement is better than 2mm behind the movement (which blocks forward movement). You can twist your hand outwards ie thumb towards the direction of movement to reinforce this
-Handle the whip with care. Avoid sudden movements. Start with small movements and never hit the horse with the whip in anger. I often like to rest the whip against my hip. In this way the horses sees the whip as an extension of me
-If your horse is afraid of the whip desensitise him gradually by carefully running the whip over his body
-Concentrate on the horse’s back end. I often focus on the muscles behind the saddle and really think of working them in my head
-Vary the work – the pace, the length of stride, the size of the circle, spirals in and out, transitions, use of poles
-An exercise I often use involves spiralling in to a smaller circle and then releasing him back out onto a larger circle. The spiralling engages the inside hind and collects the horse naturally. He has to find a better balance on a smaller circle. Be sure not to block with the hand. On the larger circle the energy collected on the smaller circle is released.
If the horse is bent inwards more than the natural curve of the circle then either there is too much energy and/or the horse is blocked. To rectify, give the hand. This can often happen on the stronger rein. If the horse is bending contra the circle, send him forwards and give and take with the hand to encourage a better bend. When achieved, be quiet.
Observe the placement of the horse’s feet. Where does he place each hind foot? Is he straight? How big is the stride? Change the rein. What is the pattern now?
Does he take the lunge rein out or does he fall in/refuse to bend on the circle? Is this the same on both reins?
If he falls in I think of a huge force coming out of me and pushing him away.
Figure 30 Lunging with the "Force"
I constantly remind myself not to use my hand but to leave it alone and relax it – when there is a problem I think of “The Force Outwards” and the movement forwards, reinforced with the lunge whip if necessary.
Many books warn us not to lunge in walk with side reins. I can understand the reasoning with short side reins but correctly adjusted unrestrictive side reins should still allow the natural movement of the head and neck in walk.
If it is not possible to lunge then it helps to “loosen” the horse prior to ridden work in some other way eg in a field or on a horse-walker. If neither of these is possible my warm-up includes a lot of walk and easy long low stretchy movements. I don’t care whether the horse feels a bit sticky behind. I keep rising to the trot and try not to push too much – I just let him work himself warm.