Proper Lunging - Part 3

Proper Lunging Part 3, THE FINAL

By Lisa Wieben and Birgit Stutz

Correct: Here Lisa is using the whip hand to draw the line through her left hand. The left hand stays low.

Incorrect: Reaching down the line toward the head can cause the horse to raise its head, turn away, or get anxious. Notice how her body position changed toward the flank instead of remaining at the girth line. Let the handle of the whip rest under your forearm to avoid wrist tension.

(Horse: Pirro, 7-year-old Warmblood gelding, owned by Lisa Wieben)

In part three of our article on lunging we talk about halts, advanced lunging exercises, as well as the importance of transitions.

Halts

There are two different ways to ask the horse to halt. In the first, the horse is asked to turn in toward the centre. In the second, the horse stays on the line of the circle. When asking the horse to turn in and face toward you, pick a spot to begin asking for the halt. Back up 90-180° ahead of the horse keeping your line straight, with your inside hip (the one closest to the horse’s head) open in order to receive the horse's head while at the same time driving the horse’s hind end out with the whip, which will bring his front end in. As you are backing up the horse may continue on the circle for a few strides before turning in. This is acceptable. If the horse does not halt and goes past you, then turn and push them forward on the circle.

When first teaching this to your horse you may need to use a wall or fence line to act as a block that you back toward. The space your horse has to go past you gets smaller, but you always leave an opening so that the horse has a choice, stop and face you or go through and get pushed to work harder. ‘Make the right things easy, make the wrong things difficult.’ Eventually the horse will figure out it is easier to not go past you.

The second method is to halt the horse on the circle. Slow your energy down, say ‘whoa’ or breathe out while holding the line hand up slightly to prevent the horse from turning in. This is the preferred method of stopping a horse on a lunge circle as it prevents the horse from falling onto his forehand as he turns in and is also a safer way to halt if lunging a green rider on a horse. A sudden turn in could unbalance the rider.

Once the horse lunges well, is in a correct frame and correctly bent, you can add moving circles, making circles smaller or larger, or lunging over obstacles, both to challenge the horse physically and mentally.

Moving the lunging circle

Moving circles while lunging is a great exercise for lateral movement and also relaxes a horse that tends to be tight or highheaded. As you are walking your small circle as the horse lunges around you maintain your core position toward the horse’s shoulder/ girth. Step towards your horse’s inside shoulder without changing your angles. At the same time take the slack out of the lunge line by bringing your whip hand to your other hand, then draw the line with your whip hand, extending the whip toward the horse’s girth. This prevents the line from going slack and the whip toward the girth tells the horse to maintain bend. For example, when lunging to the left, the right whip hand (holding the loops) will reach across the body to the left hand and draw the line to take up slack. The tendency will be to reach down the line with the left hand which will put energy toward the horse’s head and can cause the horse to react or turn his head toward the outside of the circle. Once you have walked 2-3 steps toward the horse on a straight line (which has the effect of making your circle smaller or the horse to move over), hold your ground by taking smaller steps, still keeping your core toward the horse’s shoulder as the horse continues on the circle. Allow some of the line to release (slide back through your left hand) as the horse comes around the other half of the circle.

If you pick a spot in the arena or working area that you want to move your horse to it makes it easier to stay consistent with your timing of when to step toward the horse. After you walk toward the horse, as the horse comes around the other part of the circle, send pressure toward the horse’s hip with your hip, while maintaining your core toward the shoulder. This will help to turn the horse on the now tighter arc. Releasing some of the line as you do this will help the horse balance through the circle.

Always remember that to keep the horse moving forward as you move the circle your body needs to stay behind the line of the girth. If you step in front of the girth as you walk toward the horse, the horse may stop and turn in or get confused. When lunging to the left keep your steps out to the right (as if pushing the horse forward). If you step across the circle left foot first (as if leading the horse around the circle) it can put you in front of the girth line, which will slow, stop, or confuse

One of Birgit’s students is lunging Sam, a Morgan gelding owned by Falling Star Ranch, over trot poles.

the horse. Keep your steps and rhythm consistent so the horse does not get worried as you start to move towards it. Sensitive horses can often worry when they feel more pressure. In this case keep the whip low or don’t use a whip until the horse understands the exercise.

To recap:

• Send horse out onto a lunging circle • To move the circle, pick a point in the work area to move your horse toward such as the opposite wall or a fence post. • As the horse is lining up to that point begin to step toward the horse’s girth line, maintaining your core to the girth, keeping the arc of the circle, walk 2-3 steps straight in the direction of the horse while drawing the slack in the line with the whip hand. • As the horse begins to move around the circle, allow some of the line to release while sending energy toward the horse’s hip to maintain the arc of the circle. • Repeat sequence until you move the horse to where you want, such as to the other side of the arena.

Check out our video on moving circles: youtube.com/ watch?v=OWei524djvo

Lunging over an obstacle

Once you and your horse are proficient with moving circles you can then begin to lunge over obstacles such as trot poles, a tarp (held down by poles on each end) or cavalettis. In this case you will begin your lunge circle away from the obstacle; then slowly work your circles towards it. Maintain your body position in line with the centre of the obstacle and when moving the circle walk toward the obstacle when the horse is lining up to it. Depending on how long the series of poles is you may line up closer to the start of the poles, then walk with the horse (maintaining position behind the girth line) as the horse goes through the poles. Setting the poles on a slight arc will also help the horse maintain the line. When lunging over cavalettis soften your hand holding the line to allow a release so the horse does not get bumped as it jumps over.

If the horse gets stressed, is inverted, or rushing, ask for a lot of transitions and lateral work until the horse is stretching down and does the transitions calmly.

Moving circles and lunging over poles/obstacles can add variety to your lunging routine as well as improve the suppleness, bend, and relaxation of the horse. It may take some time to get all the coordination together, but it is well worth the effort.

If you are unsure of where you are heading, it is always a good idea to connect with a coach that knows the sport you want to prepare for. We (Lisa and Birgit) are both available for online and in-person lessons.

NOTE: “This is our last article for Saddle Up. We have written close to 70 articles over the past 6 years. It’s been a fun collaboration, and we hope that the readers enjoyed our monthly contributions.”

Thanks Nancy! - Birgit and Lisa

Lisa Wieben’s passion is empowering women in becoming confident and healthy riders. As an Energy Medicine Practitioner and Clinical Somatics Practitioner she addresses pain, tension, hormones, stress, and the issues that appear as a result. As a Centered Riding Instructor and Irwin Insights Master Level 7 Trainer she works with riders incorporating awareness exercises both on and off the horse. Balance the rider, balance the horse! Book a clinic that incorporates all the modalities! www.somaticrider.com

As an Irwin Insights Level 6 Master Certified trainer and coach, Birgit Stutz helps riders of all levels and backgrounds advance their horsemanship skills by developing personal and situational awareness, focusing on indepth understanding of equine behaviour, body language, psychology and biomechanics. Driven by her passion for both equine welfare and performance, Birgit believes that facilitating effective communication between horse and rider is an approach that fulfills our responsibilities to the horse and elicits great results. www.fallingstarranch.ca.