Lunging Cash - August 2009

Here I am doing some short lunging sessions with my 10 year old TWH Cash. He is not a spooky horse, nor does he need exercising before being ridden. I wanted to evaluate him to see what he knew and didn't know. I briefly held the lunge whip in my hands but had to drop it after we began because I needed both hands to stop him from pulling the line from my grasp. He is very responsive and really wants to please. I have only owned him a few months, and not knowing his past, all I can do is guess at his past experiences on the lunge line. It does seem to me though that he was taught to go go go GO! and possibly not taught that it's absolutely OK to walk calmly while being lunged. My last horse Cissy had to be nagged at to get her moving consistently while being lunged. Fortunately for me he isn't like that - all I need to do is teach him that he can go slow and there will be no punishment. I want to reward him for moving slower and calmer, [I was getting dizzy!] and won't be needing to use the lunge whip as he is more than responsive enough without it.

He has had some lameness issues with his left shoulder area but the veterinarian's could not offer up a diagnosis so I always keep that in mind when I work with him and have plenty of liniment on hand.

I was keeping the lunge line shorter than I would have liked these first few times during my evaluation, I was hoping it would slow him down a bit, it didn't.

Note - That dark spot at the top of the video is no thumb, my camera lens cover failed to open up all the way. Bad camera!

Song owner: Sony Music Entertainment

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Cash
• Cash's
• Pushover
• TWH
• Tennessee
• walking
• gaited
• horse
• lunge
• line
• exercise
• training
• evaluating
• Horses
• Riding

[westernpleasure99]

@Maishley alright thanks i will try that

[Maishley]

@westernpleasure99 Perhaps just spend 2-4 weeks or however long is necessary working on ground work, weather permitting, start from the beginning. Work on the basics. Walk, trot, canter, whoa, back. Make sure he doesn't crowd you or invade your space. Watch how to lunge video's on youtube. If you do all the groundwork and still have trouble, find a local trainer for 1-2 on-site sessions.

[westernpleasure99]

@Maishley the vet said she thinks he is 9years old will be 10 next year and no not on the ground he dont, i think he does better riding like listin to me then on the ground, and i dont think no one lunge him a day in his life to tell you the truth,

[Maishley]

@westernpleasure99 How old is the horse, how long have you owned him? Does he know voice commands?

[westernpleasure99]

@Maishley i dont know for sure what he did to get him to lunge being scared, and im in GA but i would like to get him to lunge myself, when i do it he dont get scared he just lazy with me, and i try my best to get him to not turn to me to go out and keep walking and at times he does pretty good and i tell him "good boy keep it up" its just keepin him that way

[Maishley]

@westernpleasure99 what did your dad do to get him to lunge? if the horse seems lazy that's one thing, but if the horse is scared, and someone gets him to lunge by scaring him, pestering him, or freaking him out, that's going to make things worse. What state are you in? are there no trainers close by that can get him and you started in the right direction?

[westernpleasure99]

@Maishley he acts like he is lost like he dont know what im asking and he gets confused when i try to lunge my dad got him to but i think it was because was scared. and i just dont know waht to do,

[westernpleasure99]

@Maishley no ma he dont need to be before riding sometimes i wish i could but he is good and ground manner could be better and no i dont have a round ren but by this coming up summer i will have one i got to have it before summer is here, and he is 9,and no i dont know his training history, he is a founder horse he founder 2 times this year i have had him almost 2years and

[Maishley]

@westernpleasure99 Does your horse need to be lunged before being ridden? Are they hyped up? Do they need to learn respect or better ground manners? Anyway, if you look on youtube you can find lots of video's to help on teaching a horse to lunge...

Just do a YT search on teaching a horse to lunge. You will find lots of video's. Even if you have an adult horse, if they don't know how to lunge, best to start like you are teaching a young horse for the first time.

[Maishley]

@westernpleasure99 Cash always gets a little wound up when I lunge him. Like he gets rattled, if he wasn't hurting, and I was able to keep lunging him, I would just work on having him slow down, and letting him know that it's ok if he just wants to walk. He came from the east coast, so maybe when he was taught this, he was made to go go go...when truly, it wasn't necessary at all. But I can only guess.