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HORSE In the training barn
Long Lining, Part 1
w i t h J o h n L a m b e rt
“I
n the early stages, long lining teaches the horse acceptance of the equipment so they do not become scared and are safer when you go to ride them,” says trainer John Lambert. “They learn to turn right, turn left, and stop. In this first phase, you do not put them in a frame, but in fact stay out of their way so you don’t impede their forward motion.” John Lambert walks us through the first phase of starting a horse in long lines.
DOING THE PREP WORK
Surcingle placed properly behind the withers and behind the shoulder blade.
A common mistake — surcingle placed too far forward.
It is all about acceptance. From day one to finishing a horse, the horse has to accept what you are doing with him. Everything I do, all the training, revolves around acceptance. If they don’t accept what you are doing, they will become scared of you or the equipment. First, the horse has to accept the surcingle. Every trainer has their own approach with a surcingle. They must find what works for them and the horse. I teach the horse how to wear the surcingle comfortably. When putting the surcingle on, the placement should be well behind the horse’s shoulder blade and behind the withers. It should not go on top of the withers or in front of the withers. This is a mistake made by beginners and professionals alike. If it is sitting on the withers it also affects the horse’s shoulders, and the back of the elbow will run into the bottom of the surcingle when the horse moves. The problem when the surcingle is placed high on the withers is that it will be uncomfortable because it is pinching the horse and the range of motion will be restricted. I’ll put the surcingle on and tie a line first to the left and then to the right side to teach the horse to longe with the surcingle and begin to come away from the pressure both to the right and to the left.They may want to buck, but I don’t ever want the horse to buck. When I was 20 years old, I thought that was fun, but I’m not 20 years old any longer. The reason I don’t want them to buck is because they get scared the first time. And, if they continue to buck the first few times, they might begin to think that bucking is fun and it creates a pattern where they try to buck all the time. Whether they are scared or think it’s fun, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want my horses to know what bucking is for the rest of their lives! 66 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b JULY 2017
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Above: Cal Poly student Christy Sims demonstrates the correct body position of a handler when starting to do tail work to introduce the crupper. The handler should be looking at the horse’s head for its reaction as the tail is lifted.
A common mistake — the groom is standing too far away from the horse to work the tail. This is usually because the person is scared and this transmits to the horse. Also, you are much more likely to be hurt standing away from the horse than right next to it.
The horse will learn to accept longing with the surcingle pretty quickly; usually in one to three works. I just keep it slow and consistent and let them gain that acceptance.
In the photo you will see my student, Christy, standing and facing away from the horse, and watching the horse’s head. She’s going to stand where if the horse kicks, it will kick toward the back of her knee, rather than straight on. The closer you stand to the horse, the lower is the chance of getting kicked, and if you do get kicked, it will be lower impact. One of the biggest mistakes I see is a person standing too far away from the horse. This is how most people do it because they are afraid and they’re in a hurry to leave the horse. The handler is scared of the horse before the horse even gets introduced to the crupper. To get the horse to accept the crupper, you first have to teach him to accept having his tail controlled and to be relaxed in the tail. Hold the tail about three to four inches from the base of the tail and raise it slowly so it comes all the way up. If they are “tight tailed,” you will have to wait until they release their back
INTRODUCING THE CRUPPER Introducing the crupper is a crucial step, and it’s where a lot of mistakes get made. It is not normal for a horse to have something under its tail. The underside of the tail has extremely sensitive skin and they can feel the slightest thing there. Doing it right at the beginning is critical. If we do a good job today, and if we continue to do a good job for about two weeks, the horse will be great with a crupper for the rest of its life. We want to teach the horse to accept the crupper and be soft in its tail. A horse can be stiff and rigid in its tail or it can be nice and soft. Before introducing them to the crupper, we get them used to having their tail raised up and lowered down.
Raise the tail up and hold it until the horse relaxes its back and tail.
Lower the tail in a controlled manner. Do not just drop the tail.
Above and below: When introducing the crupper, hold the tail with one hand and place the crupper with the other hand.
Bottom left: Here the backstrap is too long, and the crupper is too loose. A common mistake that can result in the horse getting scared if it clamps its tail. Bottom right; Correct placement of the crupper under the tail. 67 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b JULY 2017
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Long lines run through the surcingle.
Walking out for the first time, John stays close to the horse.
Asking the horse to give its head to the right and then to the left as it walks.
Below, left to right: Starting a turn into the wall to reverse direction, turning and completing the reverse.
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and relax the base of the tail. Then lower it down slowly. Another mistake people make is just letting go of the tail and the tail slaps the horse in the butt. When they are young and just getting started they are nervous about all of this stuff. If that tail comes slapping down, the horse may start clamping his tail out of fear. Keep control of the tail when lowering it and keep your hand on the tail until the tail is all the way down and your hand is resting on the horse’s hindquarters. To place the crupper under the tail, one hand is always on the tail and the other places the crupper. With one hand raise the tail, bring the crupper under the tail and buckle it with the other hand. Key point — even in the beginning, the crupper should go all the way up so that it is under the soft side of the horse’s tail. Make sure all of the tail hairs are out of the way, especially the little short hairs around the base of the tail. A lot of people place the crupper so that it is too loose. If you make that mistake the horse doesn’t realize it has the crupper underneath and when they realize it, they clamp their tail on it and then you are in trouble. That’s when the bucking starts, and remember, we never want the horse to learn how to buck. So once the crupper is placed properly, lower the tail slowly until it comes in contact with the crupper, and continue to hold the tail. Raise the tail up, lower the tail down, raise the tail up, lower it down again until the horse gets relaxed in the tail. If you feel the horse is going to clamp the tail as you lower it, you can’t let it go — you have to continue raising and lowering the tail until the horse is relaxed. Once the horse is relaxed with the tail and you have it lowered onto
the crupper, then you can let it go. Another common mistake is having the backstrap too loose — that is usually in tandem with a crupper that is too loose. I keep the backstrap just tight enough for the crupper to have contact with the base of the tail. It may not seem like a big deal, but how you train your horse to accept the crupper will determine whether the horse’s experience with long lining is good or bad from day one. If you apply the crupper properly every time, the horse will have a good experience. You can use a polo wrap if the horse just won’t accept the crupper. Ninety-nine percent of purebred Arabians can wear a crupper if you take your time.
FIRST TRIP WITH THE LONG LINES A round pen is the best place to long line a horse because it is contained. If you don’t have a round pen, you can still do it in an open area, but it takes more time and patience. If the horse gets loose, it is going to be a bigger problem. So when we enter the arena, the horse has already learned to longe with the tack on. It has had the surcingle on, and it has worn a bridle and snaffle bit with a halter over it. In the beginning I spoke about longing the horse with the surcingle and beginning to get them to come away from pressure to the right and left. That is part of the prep work that should have been done before the first trip with the long lines. Another very important part of the prep work with longing is teaching the horse what “whoa” means. They must be solid on whoa. They have to accept the tack well, they have to longe well and they have to know how to stop.
top left: Always raise the reins high to clear the horse’s hindquarters on a turn. top right: Failure to clear the horse’s rump with the reins by not raising the hands can scare the horse and cause it to bolt.
For the first lesson, I am going to use the second ring on the surcingle, or maybe the third one, but I won’t ever use the top one. When teaching horses to long line — for at least the first six months — it is not about teaching them to be in a frame. It is about getting acceptance. Until you have acceptance, you cannot move forward. If you try to put the horse in a frame before you have acceptance, it’s just going to get afraid and nervous. I am going to start this young horse and I’m going to stay a bit to the rear of him and just follow him but I’m going to stay close. I’m going to take a short hold to the right with no left rein pressure, then take a short hold of the left rein with no pressure on the right rein, so that he learns to bend to the left and to the right. That’s all we’re going to do. Right rein, left rein — he doesn’t have to turn his head all the way — just a tilt. You don’t want to have them turn their head all the way to the right or the left, just learn to find comfort with the bit. If they pull back on you, just stay soft with your hands and do give-and-take. Then I’m just going to let him walk, trot, and canter and let the horse find its own balance. I don’t want to get in the way of his balance by pushing his rear end up or pushing his nose in. I let him go around where he’s comfortable. I’ll continue asking him to come away a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right and stop. We walk, trot, and canter going to the left and then to the right without ever taking a hold of him. It’s called “soft pressure.” Stand up closer to your horse in the beginning, probably 12 to 14 feet away.
If the horse is scared and wants to move away more quickly, I’ll move toward the head. Moving toward the horse’s head is the brake, and moving toward the horse’s hindquarters is the gas pedal. When you reverse, it can be a scary place for the horse, because you reverse into the rail. If he reverses into me, he’s going to get all wrapped up into the reins. I do a quick forward motion, taking a hold of the outside rein as I walk toward the horse’s head and sort of cut him off. As soon as he turns into the wall, I release the pressure and he completes the turn. Doing the turn incorrectly will scare the horse. Do the turn while the horse is moving forward. If he stops moving his feet you don’t have forward motion, and he can stop and then take off running. When turning, you have to lift your hands up and raise the lines to clear them over his butt. If you don’t, and he’s not used to having something touch his hindquarters, it will be a big surprise and he’ll get scared and may try to run off. Or you’ll get a line caught under the tail with the crupper — then you have a problem. It takes a lot of time and patience to properly train a horse in long lining, and working too quickly or trying to push the horse into a frame too quickly will result in a horse that never has that solid base of acceptance to work from. Therefore, do your prep work properly — take the time to teach the horse acceptance so he can become more relaxed and confident as you take him to the next stage. The horse used in the photos is CP Cozmopolis (Vegaz x CP Cosmopolitan).
It is important that the horse know “whoa” when something goes wrong. The line has been caught under the horse’s tail. (This was done intentionally to demonstrate for photos.)
First session over, the horse is relaxed and accepting. John Lambert is the Equine Operations Program Manager for the renowned W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center at Cal Poly Pomona University. Prior to joining the center in 2015, John owned and operated Lambert Arabians for 17 years. Under Lambert Arabians, he won numerous Regional and National titles. He has been fortunate to learn from some of the Arabian industry’s very best, including Ray LaCroix, Bob Battaglia, Jim Lowe, and Shawn and Carmelle Rooker. He is a large “R” Arabian and USEF judge, and has judged numerous regionals, Canadian Nationals, and U.S. Nationals. He has served on the Board of Directors for both the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona and Michigan. John has a B.S. in Animal Science from Michigan State University, with an emphasis in equine exercise physiology and nutrition. When he’s not at the barn, John enjoys adventures with his family, coaching his son in BMX racing, and fly fishing. — Cindy Reich
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