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  Discussion on Introduce lunging
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Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Saturday, Jul 8, 2006 - 4:29 pm:

Usually when I start a young horse I do free work in my pen, join up, rub hands all over, then rag, then...etc until the horse is relaxed with what I do.
With a short rope I teach the horse to 'give', move his frontend over, his rear end over, back a step or two. This can happen in one day or it may take three or four depending on the horse.
Once the horse understands giving to the halter rope and leads willingly I ask him to go around me, with his nose in on a soft line.
Usually on the circle the horse goes nicely until at the farthest point away from where he wants to be then he gets stuck. Because I have taught him to move away from tap or push pressure,(as opposed to rope pressure on his halter,)I can tap on the hip and get movemenet again.
My problem is the two yr old I have now jumps every fence I have so I have to keep him stalled unless I am working with him, then he is on a lead rope. Since I haven't been able to teach the basic move away and go round me in the round pen when he gets stuck on that circle he is really stuck.
I am thinking if I keep with my program, modified to keep him on a rope, he will come along.
I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions to help teach him to go forward and around.
At this point he is not ready for a saddle ad two lines.
Thanks
Member:
Christos

Posted on Saturday, Jul 8, 2006 - 5:35 pm:

I do not quite understand, Lori.
How does he get stuck?
Does he stop and turn to face you or does he turn his back to you with his head over the fence?
Is the horse free when he gets stuck or on a lunge line ? Do you use a lungeing whip ?
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Saturday, Jul 8, 2006 - 7:05 pm:

OK, this particular horse stops parallel to me, sometimes turning to the inside, which takes him closer to where he wants to be.
He is on a line,10' yes, I use a lunge whip.
What I am doing now is; when he stops I start light tapping on his hip, gradually increasing intensity until he steps away, stop tapping, if he stops start tapping, I'm sure you get the idea.
When he arrived on Wed he was hard to approach tied up, throwing his head and shrinking away from being touched. Today, over the stall door he let me rub his nose without holding him there.
Because he is so nervous I don't want to use much stick with him.
Seems like a contradiction, hey horse I won't hurt you, rub, rub, go around me here's the stick, whack.
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Saturday, Jul 8, 2006 - 7:59 pm:

Can't help you, but wanted to commend you, taking on a horse that afraid is quite a challenge, gaining his trust may be just sitting outside his stall, then later in his stall with him...it's too bad he can't be turned out to get exercise...

Good luck!
Member:
Christos

Posted on Sunday, Jul 9, 2006 - 5:33 am:

I think I got it, Lori.
10 ft is too small a circle. You need to let that line out to 25-30 ft.
A small circle is too difficult especially for a young horse and puts a lot of uneven stress on his joints.
It also does not allow him to develop forward thinking, because the tightness of the circle kills his energy.
If you let him out on a bigger circle, the aids you will need to keep him moving will be much smaller.
When he tries to turn towards you, flick the whip towards his elbow to keep him on the circle. You may need to touch him, but not hit him with it.
When he loses tempo, getting ready to stop, flick the whip towards his hock.
When he stops and faces you, go there and tell him a good word or two in the beginning, then retreat to the center and ask him to move again by pointing or flicking the whip at his shoulder.
As he progresses, do not let him stop whenever he wants, keep him moving. But in the beginning be sympathetic, this is very new to him.
A very green horse who stops and looks at you saying "now what? How did I do? How did I do?" is not to be reprimanded.
To help them maintain movement, I prefer to walk a smaller circle somehow behind them, kind of chasing them gently, rather than stay in the center and demand that he obeys to cues he doesn't know yet.
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Sunday, Jul 9, 2006 - 8:17 am:

Christos is correct. I also think your horse is just asking you "now what, etc" He's very young yet, full of energy and frightened it sounds like.

I would tape the sash of the whip to the shaft perhaps, do away with that part for now. Sounds like you are in a tough spot here; you need to exercise him, not scare him, and desensitize him all at once. Tough to do with a young horse needing to be kept in the stall.

Another thing, you just got this horse? It may take him a month or 2 even to feel like he's at home. Slow tiny steps, repeated through out the day would be better than one long session.

What kind of horse is he BTW?
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 11, 2006 - 1:18 am:

Update on lunging.
The first five minutes in my corral he jumped the fence, I managed to get him back into the corral, within 20 min he was over again.
My pasture fence isn't as high as my corral fence and since we are only one lot away from a major hiway I was very concerned he might get out.
So I kept him in a stall at night, by day he was tied in the corral so he could see the other horses as well as get a pet every few minutes when I walked by, plus I worked with him 3x daily.
Now he is on his 5th day, I have been able to approach him at a near normal pace without flinching or pulling so I let him out of the stall yesterday, I stayed in the corral for some time working with one of the other horses, off and on catching him.
Today was even better.
I agree lunging on a 12' cirlce is too small but I do find it easier to teach the concept of going round, staying soft, nose in, reverse direction,, all at a walk on a short line.
Today I tried again, with a lunge whip with no sash. He did just great. I only did one direction today.
He is still very twitchy, if I move quicker than I have been, touch him when he's not expecting it, touch his underarms, etc he will still freak, but he calms down much quicker.
He seems to be very willing and smart, remembering what he did the day before.
I am quite excited about him and like working with him
He is a purebred Arab.
Member:
Amara

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 11, 2006 - 1:32 pm:

lori, exactly how are you facing before, during and after he stops to face you... a young horse like this, esp. being an arab, is an extremely reflexive horse... every little thing you do-just raising an arm a few inches, means something to these kind of horses... its very easy for us to get kind of lax when we lunge horses anad forget about our body language, even when we know better... if your body language is in a position to constantly "push" him forward, a horse that is reflexive like this will very rarely turn to face you, especially since you describe him as wanting to get away from human confinement (by extension that means us)...
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006 - 9:16 am:

Good advice Melissa, I will check my position to be sure I am not the cause.
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