Lunge
I started Bella on the lunge line today. She was only slightly curious about the line and the whip until I insisted that she get going and not stand there. She figured it out so quickly that I keep wondering who else has been working with her. After about 10 minutes of walking and trotting in both directions I went and got her bridle. I slipped it in her mouth and over her ears with very little complaint from her. Then back on the circle to trot a little more. She started getting somewhat strong and a little opinionated about which direction she wanted to go, so after a few circles in the direction of my choice I thought it was time to quit. While standing, I asked her to bend her neck around by gently pulling the bit. She got that beautifully. We went back into the barn and had a nice grooming session. Actually it felt like she was more willing to stand and enjoy my attention than normal. So, my question is how do you get your lunging horse to stop and then reverse direction. I had to reel her in quite a bit before I could ever ask for a reverse, and the stop never happened without bringing her almost all the way in to me.
7 comments:
Have you read the book "Still Life with Elephant" by Judy Reene Singer? It's a relatively new book - I got it from the library after reading a review about it. The main character is a horse trainer who loves animals. Thought you might like it.
-Ami
http://www.igallopon.com/
You might want to eamail this
person she does some great
training with her horses.
kay lee
Ami! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look for that book when I head up in a few weeks.
Kay, good idea. Kim is a must read daily.
The only thing that works for me is getting behind Miss and holding the lunge whip straight out from my arm, almost like a railroad crossing.
What kind of area are you lunging in? Walls, etc?? I tend to use what I have to help teach a horse to stop.
I only have an arena, not a nice round pen. I'm working on saying "whoa" and raising my hand. She just might be catching on.
Molly---good to hear you started with Bella. I had a lot of problems teaching Maddy to lunge. She went straight up--loved to rear! So feel fortunate you don't have those problems. It just takes time:-)
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