“To Lunge Or Not To Lunge”
Andy Curry discusses this… follow along:
Lungeing.
It’s valuable.
Some trainers use it.
Some don’t.
I do.
Should you?
Depends.
On what?
How you view lungeing.
I know trainers who see lungeing as
a forced control.
Those trainers want to control the
horse’s obedience through “just” his brain and nothing else.
Should you agree with that?
Maybe…maybe not.
I see it this way.
When I lunge a horse, I’m still getting earned obedience
from him – it’s still getting into his brain that I have control.
That’s what I’m after anyway.
Lungeing can serve many purposes.
One is this.
When we filmed Danie and Doug Hewlett
for the “Reining” DVD, Danie started off by lungeing the horse.
Why?
Because she’s using lungeing as a tool
to check her horse.
Just like a scientist would use a microscope for his tool
of the trade…Danie and Doug use lungeing as “their” microscope.
Your horse will reveal many things to you if you lunge him.
For instance, Danie says she wants her horse to walk
quietly around her when she first starts.
Why?
First, a quiet horse is a calm horse. A calm horse learns
better, is more cooperative, and therefore trains better.
(and is also safer)
But if he’s walking around, swishing his tail, shaking his
head up and down, his ears are pinning,…then you need to
figure out what’s going on.
If he’s walking around you quietly, then that’s a good
sign he’s okay with you, he’s likely not in pain, and so on.
Next, while Danie lunges the horse she will ask him
to walk, canter and lope.
When she says “walk”…he walks.
When she says “canter”…he canters.
And so on.
So guess what?
If he doesn’t walk, canter, or lope when you ask
him to…then you need to fix that.
Why?
Cuz he ain’t gonna know it when you’re in the saddle.
You want to teach it from the ground first.
Get all the confusing stuff outta the way and
get him knowing it before you get on.
That’s just one of the valuable things about lungeing.
There’s more that Danie reveals about lungeing.
If you want to read about it, click the following:
Here’s another reason to lunge.
When you lunge, you teach your horse to control his gait.
You never…repeat…NEVER want him telling you
what speed he’s gonna go.
Why?
Do you wanna be in the saddle with him telling
you what he’s gonna do?
Uh-uh!
Especially if you’re kinda new to this horse thing.
You dang well better have him asking you how fast
you wanna go – not the other way around.
When you push the gas pedal…he moves.
When you hit the brakes…he slows down or stops.
And that, my friend, is a small sample of why
lungeing is so valuable.
Ok… there ya go. Stay safe around your horses!
Charlie
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