Longing Demo - Young Horse Part I

[gordon2943]

great clip keep it up =)

[Samglz223]

When lunging my four year old she continues to come inward and some times will buck and kick but not just kick but actually kick at me! I do not know what to do, or if I am doing something wrong

[AIRiding]

@Samglz223 You may need to start out by leading first and slowly increasing the distance between the two of you - if she has the opportunity to kick at you then you are in the wrong place! It is important to be aware of your position so that you can be safe at all times. The reason she is bucking and kicking can be as simple as she is expecting to play on the lunge, or as unfortunate as being afraid of the whip.

[horsedreamer2292]

i have a yearling that doesnt back up very well, i'm lucky to get a couple steps out of her, and i do reward/praise her when she does what i ask, but backing up is REALLY not her strong point. none the less she really dosent stop when i ask, and i've tried many things. help? (she is my first yearling ever and i do have some help every once in a while)

[AIRiding]

@horsedreamer2292 It would help if you explained how you are asking her to back up.

[locolobos0035]

I have a question. I am relatively new to lunging although i have been around horses for a long time. I was always taught to aim my belly button toward their hindquarters and "push" them forward with my body language. In this video it seems like you are "pulling" him forward with your body pointing at his head. Is there a reason why you tend to prefer this over facing his hindquarters?

[AIRiding]

@locolobos0035 This is a young horse who has not been taught to move forwards from the hindquarters, so pointing myself at his hindquarters is going to be like speaking Chinese to him. He knows how to be led and so I want to communicate as closely to that as possible in the beginning - which is that your body is directed more forwards rather than him seeing me "block" him by pointing back to his hindquarters. This position also gives me more freedom to direct his shoulders. :)

[xSPARKLEfoolx]

My Boys Just Turning 5, But When i Try and Lunge him, He Bucks And Rears, i Usually get pulled over even though hes 11hh, I Just cant keep controll of him

[AIRiding]

@xSPARKLEfoolx If you can lead him without him trying to buck, rear or pull you around then start there and very slowly work on increasing the distance between you two. If you start by trying to have him on the full length of the lunge line he may just see it as an opportunity to play around before you've established how to communicate with him on the lunge. If he is bucking, rearing and pulling you he is too far away for you to influence him.

[HollzAndPaddy]

I always have to lunge mine in the field, and to begin with he wouldn't move because he was eating the grass :p But with perseverance he's now brilliant at it. :)

[TorturedAngel1]

i got a horse that like 26 years old he was abused i think most of his life today was my first time really lunging him and and 50% of the time he was only do a half a cyclic then come to me but the other 50% i have to really move fast to keep him going what should i do to help him get it?

[AIRiding]

@TorturedAngel1 Repetition and practice balancing your communication with him. If you push him too much to move forwards he may run into the end of the lunge line and think you want him to turn into you. If you don't push him enough he won't know to keep going on the lunge. When he begins to turn in towards you don't push him forwards by cuing his behind but have him move his face and shoulders away from you.

[anaslisa]

The problem im having is my 3year old has no fear of the lunge whip so he doesnt move away from it.?

[AIRiding]

@anaslisa You don't want the horse to be afraid of the whip - likely he doesn't know what it means. This is common when whips are used to desensitize the horse but it is isn't balanced out with teaching him what it means at the same time. You simply have to educate him that a tap with the whip means to move forward and over time develop it into more of a visual cue. If you don't have experience with this I would highly recommend consulting with a trainer hands-on to avoid complications.

[horsieb19]

Thank you so much, this is helpful as I am learning to lunge horses :)

[DotDotTiffani]

my horse will run like he is supposed to, buuuut his face is twards me! D:

[2crayzjumperz]

I have a young horse who was taught to lunge first in the round pen. He listens to pressure on the line when in the pen, but when in the arena, slowly drifts away and when I pull on the line, he stops and faces me. What should I do?

[AIRiding]

@2crayzjumperz The lunge circle may be too small for him to travel on without pulling against the lunge line outside of the round pen - when lunging him don't stand still but keep your feet moving so it allows him some give on the line. He is turning in to face you because he runs into the end of the lunge line while simultaneously being driven forwards, the two need to be balanced out or the aids conflict and you end up with him turning and facing you.

[MrGFitzpatrick]

Very impressed with this video, will help me and my new 2year old TB filly. Bearly been handled with old owner, but will learn to trust me with this video helping me out. Clearly you're an expert. ♥

[AIRiding]

@MrGFitzpatrick Thank you :) Best of luck - would love to see/hear about your progress!

[xXxNikixMxXx]

hey! im 17 and i have a 14.2hh welsh cob that will not lunge!! she doesnt like having a whip behind her and when i try to get her going, she turns in on me! i just wondered if you have any tips? she is a 7yo but is quite green and mmature for her age. I would love it if you could give me some advice, thanks xx

[AIRiding]

@xXxNikixMxXx Read back through some of the other comments, this is a common problem and can be solved by shaking the lunge-line sideways as well as using the handle of the whip in a blocking motion when she tries to bring her head it towards you. Also, be watchful that you aren't standing in front of her girth area which will naturally draw her towards you and block forward movement. :)

[eTrishie]

I have a question, so if the horse that hasn't lunged before starts off in a canter, how do you show the horse that you want a walk instead? I was thinking okay, let her canter along and when she finally walks for a complete circle stop and reward... but I would imagine when the horse finally walks full circles constantly, and isn't stopped for a reward she'll be confused?

[AIRiding]

@eTrishie When they want to go fast on the lunge and they don't yet know you want them to walk, simply move closer to them - i.e. shorter the distance between them and you. Lunging really should progress from leading where the horse is beside you, to slowly moving out with more and more distance as they understand your cues. When they don't understand something go back to being closer to them so that you have less distance (and static...) on the lunge line.

[AIRiding]

@eTrishie Also, be careful in rewarding a full circle of walking as you might end up changing from one problem (cantering) to another (stopping and expecting a reward). :)

[meincanada1]

How do you get your horse to lunge, when they want to next to you. She starts out and then faces me as she wants to be like a puppy. I stay back toward hind end to keep the motion moving forward, so my body lang is saying forward.. but she just comes to me

[AIRiding]

@meincanada1 Use your whip towards her face or shake the lunge line side to side to encourage her to move away from you with her head. She is likely looking to you for reassurance with a strange new activity but simply driving from the butt isn't always the best solution to moving her front end back out on the circle and away from you.

[Wildxxhorses]

thank you so so so much for the advice. It all makes sense and i will do it all. Thanks a whole lot again.

xoxoxox

[Wildxxhorses]

when i try to lunge my baby, she will start out in a pretty nice, controlled circle, than after going around one or two times, she gets real smart and makes her circle super small until she is just about to run me over ( and i can't seem to make her move out again) once she gets to me, she stops and starts to throw her head and gets super ignorant. When i try to get her to lunge again, she rears up and starts to throw her head again. please please please please help me AIRider.

[AIRiding]

@Wildxxhorses It sounds like she doesn't really understand what you are asking. When you first start lunging she just does her thing which happens to coincide with what you want, but then as she realizes that you are asking for something specific (and she tired of doing what she was initially doing) that she then protests. I would go back to leading her first, get her moving as forward at the walk as possible (think of her being on the verge of breaking into trot, without breaking the walk gait)

[AIRiding]

@Wildxxhorses Practice asking her to move forward with the whip cue while you have your hand on her halter and are able to use your hand to help guide her. *Always* make certain you are in a position so you can't get hurt if she decides to throw her head or rear up... this is usually as close to the shoulder as possible without being in front - stay to the side. Your arms will get a workout with the stretch. :) And be patient. As she learns to go forward that is your remedy for any time she

[AIRiding]

@Wildxxhorses throws her head. Rearing on the other hand is caused by an equal amount of pressure for the horse to go forward as to go back (or stand still), so it results in them rearing up. Train her about going forward instantly with the whip (lighter taps on the croup with the whip are usually more effective than harsh ones too, btw, particularly when the horse is already rearing), once she has that consistent and she understands it completely - ONLY then would I reprimand her

[AIRiding]

@Wildxxhorses for offering a rear. Tapping the front legs with the crop when they rear up until they are touching the ground again is preferred over tapping on the croup - don't associate forward cues with rearing. :)

And remember, horses aren't born knowing how to lunge. It is strange for them to do if they only know to be led, particularly if they only know to be led with the person walking out in front of them and them not using all of their energy at the walk (going as forward as possible).

[akitaakita2]

I always move in a smaller circle when lunging my horse, it prevents me from getting dizzy, lol

[coneycat]

Hee! Same here!

[madaboutpinto]

I have a 6yo tb. He is working well in the school but i'm struggling to lunge him. He isn't aggressive but i struggle to move him out and away from me. If i manage to move him out and moving forwards, he does a couple of circuits then stops and turns in to me. I have tried using the lunge whip to move him back out but this doesn't work for me. I have also tried leading him in a "lunging postion" and building up the distance but he edges back towards me.Does anyone have any suggestions?

[AIRiding]

@madaboutpinto You can try shaking the line of the lunge when he first offers to edge back towards you. This is pretty usual to happen and really takes patience and consistency to move them back out. Although the actions may seem redundant, if you persist they eventually pay off. Also, the quicker you correct him (i.e. as soon as he begins to veer in rather than once he is half-way to you) the better. :)

[scoohey]

@madaboutpinto use the two line lunge all controll thru respect not force no whips

[IndianShadowMoon]

I don't mean to offend, but se needs to stand on the spot instead of walking WITH him, this is why the horse isn't paying attention to her commands,

[AIRiding]

No offense taken. This is a common misconception. Standing still can help to hide certain habits in the young horse because it places added stress to their body which in turn will cause them to focus on these stressers and less on what is going on around them. This doesn't mean they are paying closer attention to their handler, but can certainly appear as such. By allowing the horse to experience his environment you can see exactly what is going on vs. seeing a dulled-down version.

[MegaPixiee]

I so agree with indianshadowmoon, i lunge my horse twise a week and she listens to me. (i stand on the spot). on the good side it's a nice horse.. :D

[ztr003]

My horse seems to get beside himself when lunged. He has two evasions, one is to stop and turn to me, which I have overcome by using a rope halter and using gentle pressure to move him forward. The other is he doublebarrels at me out of the blue. This makes it really hard to work him close to me. Also I am really uncoordinated on the ground. We have no problems with other ground work.

[AIRiding]

I don't mean to sound slow, but I'm not entirely certain of what you are describing. Could you clarify?

[ztr003]

Sorry might be a bit of local slang, what he does is suddenly stops, swings his bum at me and tries to kick me in the head with both back legs. He never behaves like this except in lunging. He's also got pretty close several times

[AIRiding]

With horses who kick you are safer to be as close as possible to their head/neck, or at a greater distance than they can reach when kicking. I would guess that there is something triggering his attempts to kick out at you, some horses are bothered by the lunge whip if they have not been acclimated to it and taught exactly what it means. Try remembering the times when your horse has kicked out if there was anything different from times when he doesn't - maybe added pressure or increased (cont)

[AIRiding]

intensity. Some horses will protest too strong of aids by kicking out because they don't know how else to let you know that it is too much. He may also not entirely understand how to move forward freely, which moving in closer and taking more of a 'leading' position will help with that because you can immediately encourage him forward with pressure on the halter when he hesitates, whereas at a distance you won't be able to respond as quickly and will have to rely on the whip more.

[horse8218]

Whenever i lunge my 2 year old quarter horse, she always breaks into canter. I pull on the line but she never seems to want to slow down, and if she does its a complete stop. How do you stop this from happening?

[AIRiding]

You need to build up to allowing distance between you and your mare on the lunge. Start by leading her with your body in the position you would while lunging and gradually work to letting her out on the lunge. This will allow you to communicate more clearly with her until she has a better understanding of what you are asking.

[kmm139]

just taught my 7-month old to lunge. boo yah.

[AIRiding]

Be careful with lunging your horse too young, as long as you keep the sessions short there are no problems but I would not recommend anything over 15 minute sessions at primarily the walk. Congrats! :)

[MioHorse]

What age can you start lunging a horse? Kind of a stupid question, but I want to start off my 2 year old, without a saddle on a lunge line.

[AIRiding]

Starting a 2 year old on lunging is perfectly fine, just be sure to watch for any signs that you are doing too much or moving too quickly - if he starts giving resistances or evasions you might need to slow down and be more clear about what you want or reduce how frequently you are lunging. A young horse really should not be lunged longer than 10-15 minutes... :)

[Juliecoolie18]

Hey, I really enjoyed your video. I just started to learn how to lunge and i had a few questions, like how to use the whip to motivate the horse, the horses that i have been lunging dont really respond to my actions (like when i whistle or something to make him go alittle faster, when he's ignoring me or eating grass) he doesnt respond and i dont use the whip because i feel mean when i do. What should i do??

[AIRiding]

The whip should be seen as an extension of your arm, but many people see it as a means of punishment for the horse, i.e. he gets whipped when he misbehaves. If the horse isn't responding to the whip he isn't responding to you either and likely doesn't understand what you want from him. I would recommend working with a trainer who can show you how to teach your horse to move forward from the whip.

[LuVmEtAl95]

I have a young 1 year old quarter who is just learning. Her name is baby and just like her name is one. I cant get her to go around, even if i push her away or use the whip. she just comes to me and rest her head on my shoulder. this is my first horse and I am only 14 so i hope that this video helps me!

[AIRiding]

Because Baby (love the name!) is so young you might find it more beneficial to work more on leading rather than lunging. Although she may lead, you can prepare her for lunging by teaching her to be led so she tracks up (like I talk about in the lunging videos). :)

[LuVmEtAl95]

Well she is broke to walk, but is just so stuborn. But I did get her to lung yesterday. I but a piece of plastic at the end of the whip and she did perfect. She has her days.

[kyleekowgirl]

Im 14 as well and im getting a yearling that im gonna train! Omg im so happy! Hes a brat tho. You know how yearlings are... there just young and playfull and very unprudictable.

[MegF142857]

Finally I found a beginning lunging video with someone who has actual feel with the horse. Thanks for posting your example.

[happihippi]

thank you so much erica.....wish you lived in UK!!! thank god for You tube!! ha ha...have a lovely day ..wendy x

[AIRiding]

You're welcome Wendy! I'll have to come for a visit... :)

[happihippi]

great video erica...thank you...we have just started lungeing our 3 year old....having a few problems with holding the lunge line and whip!!...how do you let the lunge line in and out as needed without getting in a mess!!!...lungeing is going very well though!!!

[AIRiding]

You have happened upon one of the most trying parts of lunging correctly - handling the whip and line with efficiency, tact and specificity! :)

I found that holding the whip in the hand with the thumb and index finger allows the lower fingers to play with the line more easily. Lets you loosen the line and also frees your hand to use it as a 'helper' to the main hand. Also keeps the line from getting tangled up in the lunge whip. I also hold the whip so it trails behind me until needed. :)

[haywire7609]

Thank you so much! My horse is getting so out of control I had to resort to this...which is great, but I just wasn't sure how to begin.

[wednesdayjsy]

this video is really good and well explained i've not lunged a lot and now i have my own 12-going-on-3 year old im hoping it will help!

[AIRiding]

I would love to hear how it goes! :)

Erica K. Frei

[FxyDrxyJ]

This is the best video for lunging a beginner horse that I have found so far. Well talked out and explained during the entire exercise. Thanks for doing such a great job!

[elixirjim]

Very Nice explanation