Lazy on the lunge

[fleabitten]

We have been lunging Princess daily for 15 - 20 mins at walk and trot in our field.
We have started to use her bridle to lunge in as we changed fields and she was a bit lively to lead and control in the headcollar and its made a big difference. (we attach the lunge line by threading it through the bit rings - a funny story; i must have forgot to buckle the line to the far bit ring because i was lunging her at all of a sudden the line falls away and off she trots round the field! Lucky enough she was easy caught!)
We twist her reins up as well.

The first time i lunged her she was quite forward going and responded to body language and voice. Now every time you lunge her she is so lazy. We bring her in and dont lunge her till 1 hour after. We crack the whip, wave it like a cowboy, growl, chase her (yes we have resorted to all that, lunatics that we are!) and every thing we can think of. She just doesnt respond and keeps putting her head down to eat grass and no amount of flicking it around her butt and growling will get her to sharpen up - she always has to have a mouthful before she responds. She just ignores it. Every now and then she will liven up and shake her head and prance around or have a buck or start cantering but mostly she is like a plod.

So we tried trotting until she kept her head in a sensible position, then a walk, and then if she put her head lower than her elbows it was straight back to trot again. This is seeming to work a bit but i dont know what else to do now.
I thought maybe the circle was too small so we let it out but it gave us less control and then having to gather it up and out quickly whilst using the whip and chasing her on was too tricky. So we ended up mum with the whip and me with the lunge line.

Maybe its just because its in a field?

In her usual field the grass is harder to reach but its getting too tramped up which is why mum wanted to use the other field. Also we have found she gets more forward if you add poles in.
If only she would be as lazy being ridden!

[fleabitten]

Have just looked at Wikipedia and it says i have attached the line wrongly?? That i should but it through the inside ring, over the poll and buckle to the other bit ring? Now that i think about it, i see the sense in it as it acts like reins so will try that method tomorrow.

[Jen]

thats what i susally do - bloss is good to lunge.... trot trot and more trot - she doesnt seem to do anything but that. she physically wont walk and only canters when she wants to - she even does this with someone running next to her!!!

[florence]

Yep, that's the way I have to lunge, too. Through the bit ring, over the poll and clipped to the other bit ring. I was taght to do it this way because he's so strong on the lunge. Of course, the "experts" said I should use a lunge cavesson, so I let one of them try and smugly watched her eat sand! (Closely followed by humble pie when she had to agree I should carry on with it)

Anyway, can you get your instructor to show you how to lunge properly (if you haven't already)? It sounds like you may not be positioned correctly. You should be behind the eye (more level with the shoulder) and walking small circles so it seems like you're walking towards her so to speak. I'm sure some of the others can explain this much better but if you're level with or in front of the eye then she can stop, turn to face you or run in etc. You may have to give her heels a little flick with the whip so she learns it's not just there for decoration!

[racaille]

OMG Flea - you have my sympathy, some horses are very lazy on the lunge and Paco is one of them. It drives me MAD.
Yes, the line should go through the nearest bit ring, over the poll and clip onto the furthest ring.
We stand so that we are facing the horse's bum, with the lunge held like a rein, but slightly away from our body (rein d'ouverture). That way you do not 'block' the horse's forward action.
Then yes, how to make a horse active? The only thing that works with Paco is to keep changing the size of the circle so he is constantly wondering what comes next. He knows perfectly well that if he is in a big circle he is outside the range of the whip (not that he cares) so I bring him in, give the whip a good crack and when he gives me a good active trot I reward him with letting the circle out a bit.
I rarely try to canter him on the lunge because I end up working harder than him. Sometimes he will do a little and then he is usually more active in trot afterwards, but if it means I have to run after him to get it, I don't always bother. It is the trot work that is really useful anyway, as I lunge him in a gogue.
I lunge in the arena so Paco doesn't have the temptation of grass to eat like Princess!
Have you perfected the technique of cracking the whip so that it flicks her behind? That works on a lot of horses (although sadly not on Paco. He can go hysterical if a fly lands on him but if he is stung by the lunge whip he couldn't give a damn.)

[jane]

Hope you don't mind me saying this but perhaps she is bored.... can you do a bit of hacking rather than lunging, or even just take her for a walk?

jane

[brigadier]

Hi
The gag method you are thinking of using for fastening the lungeline is great for strong horses.
I also use the outside bit ring and straight through the inside one if the horse is obedient.

I never use a lunge cavesson, I dont like the pressure on the horses nose- although the Spanish riding school use them all the time for leading and controlling the stallions.
I would alternate lungeing with long reining to keep your horse interested- she sounds as though she is having a laugh!!!

[duckles]

When I saw this thread I thought great, I will learn to crack it- as Cori is really lazy on the lunge. Well, to be honest, he is very bad to lunge. I usually have to make a little corral as otherwise he will either take off around the arena or consistantly wander around the arena. (He's very strong) He has also jumped the corral on several occasions!! But I can cope with his high spirits better than his more successful evasion which is - thingyfooting like a plod wearing heavy shoes that weigh a ton so he has to shuffle slowly around in walk, pottering into halt every time voice and whip is relaxed - and never in a circle! If i try trot, its worse, he changes the size and shape of the circle, falling in or pulling out and trots in such aslow slow pottering fashion that he falls into walk every few strides. And that's with plenty of encouragement. ANd, yes, he's being checked everywhere and is totally healthy and has loads of energy. So I don't lunge him!! He is a lot better long reining by the way, Fleabitten so maybe try that, as Brig suggests. While I don't much like lunging, I can do it ok and so can he. He just is being deliberately unco-operative I think, because he can and because he has learnt that the slow evasion is more successful than taking off, bucking, rein back, quaters out (all of which he does well). So I am sorry I don't have anything positive to offer!! (By the way I haven't given up on improving COri but we working on other things rather than lunging at moment)

About the bit, the method you suggest is how I was thought, ie threaded through ring and over head. BUt like Brig, I don't use it with an obedient horse. I do use the ring on the Michlem Bridle (which I suppose is a bit like a cavasson)and prefer it as no pressure on horses mouth and also it can't lean on bit (my other horse has habit of snatching bit)

Follow the better tips given here! Good luck

[spotti]

Long reining is super! Its good fun both horse and human alike - it gets the horse fit and using its body properly without the extra weight of a rider AND its a fantastic way of getting fit! (I attempted to longrein Faith the other day and although she was as good as gold, I had to walk her most of the time because I was knackered after a short trot - really need to build up my fitness levels lol - amazing what a month or so of not really doing much (i.e. no mucking out, no riding, no walking inhand, no longreining etc) can do!)
Anyway, like I said, longreining is great and actually surprisingly easy (although I have to consciously concentrate on what I'm asking otherwise Faith gets confused and we just end up going wide the whole way around the arena...) and I always start off in an enclosed space - atleast for the first few times of doing it just incase she decides to be silly and tank off/be silly and go really really s...l....o.....w......l.......y............)

As for the lunging, maybe she just finds it hard work? She's been out of work for quite a while and maybe she finds going in circles quite difficult??
Or maybe she's not very balanced and so circles are again, hard? Have you tried lunging her with double lines i.e. one one each side of her body so that you can keep her upright and more balanced?

[Becca]

It sound like she knows what is coming, try vary the work you do with her, lunge one day, long rein another, take her for a walk, lunge with poles every other lunge day?

Also you don't have to stay on one size circle while lunging, i was taught something at college which involved having the horse walk on the track while you walk along side (at end of lunge line) then when you are level with each marker, stop and encourage the horse to circle off the track in a circle around you, then when they get back to the track straight on till the next marker.

hope that made sense

[abi]

i havn't time to read the above so sorry if i'm repeating!

if yoan, put her saddle on and use loose side reins, not so tight that they pull on her mouth but enough to prevent her eating grass- makes life a lot easier!!

is she lazy wen ridden too? if so i'd contac t the feed companies (bailey's are good!) and check you're feeding the right amount!

keep her interested too, using transitions and poles and anything you can think of x

[fleabitten]

abi - no she is definetly not lazy being ridden. She is very obedient and well trained both lunging and riding.

She isnt strong either when lunging or really when ridden although shes a strong stocky cob type so i would say if she got excited she would get pretty strong.

Tonight i attached the lunge rein with the over the poll method and lunged her in her own field where there is shorter grass and its made a difference. Now time will tell if its going to continue to work. She was much easier got moving - especially when i added a pole, she just went into such a nice active trot.
I would like to try long reining so will maybe go out and get another lunge rein.

Will maybe ask instructor to teach me how to lunge too - sounds like a sensible idea!!

I have also noticed that when she goes into canter on the lunge she goes very fast and gets pretty strong - short quick strides instead of nice calm long slow ones. But im not cantering her at the minute, just sticking to walk and trot.

Im practicing cracking the whip racaille - sometimes it does a nice crack and sometimes it doesnt - i tried it down at her heels whilst she was being naughty and eating and she jumped up into the air and trotted off.

Also just to say im not riding her anymore as im too wimpy .

Thanks for the advice :

[Becca]

I have also noticed that when she goes into canter on the lunge she goes very fast and gets pretty strong - short quick strides instead of nice calm long slow ones. But im not cantering her at the minute, just sticking to walk and trot.

If she is heavy set like bernie (sorry can't remember how big she is right now) then lunging will be hard work anyway and cantering on a lunge will be a big struggle for her, sounds like she is rushing and pulling because the circle is too tight. If i want to canter bernie without me on top i tend to go for lose schooling as his hocks cant take tight circles any more let alone in canter. Cobs aren't designed to be naturally agile, bending is not usually their best point, so i would make sure she has a nice big circle while also being a decent distance for you to control.

[maximum]

whip crack away, whip crack away, whip crack aaaawwwwaaayyyyyyy!

sorry!

[racaille]

Maxie you need to stop watching those Doris Day movies .... ;D