It is going to be a little bit before I start doing this but thought it would be a good way to help work her before getting on her back. I am assuming it would help to be able to lunge properly first, so how do you go about teaching an excitable thoroughbred to lunge when they have no clue what you are wanting them to do in open spaces? I don’t have a round pen or other safe location other than the large field. When you transition to ground driving, any tips? Thanks again.
Groan been there and done that. It is much easier if you do have a corner of two fences to lunge in.
If you have not taught a horse to lunge before get lessons. Otherwise the horse will end up lunging you.
Mine are taught to face up. Stand still and to stand still if they get a fright. They are used to ropes and the lunging whip all over them and around them.
A lunging cavesson is really a must as you have a bit more leverage.
Teach them that when you click they walk forward before you walk, when you say “halt” they halt before you halt. Back is a thumb on the chest and the word “back”. Always two signals are used for asking them to back. You can also teach them “trot” if you want. You can also teach the words “walk on.”
If you are long lining the clips go on the bit. The horse must NEVERget away from you. The reins then go through the stirrups which are up, the loop then gets pulled forward, go through the stirrup and under towards the back and the strap from the stirrup goes through the loop to secure it. The reins go back to you. You can hold them the same as under saddle. You should be wearing boots, a helmet and gloves.
You call “walk on” and can tap with the lunge whip if you need to. You follow the horse and can turn left or right with the reins. You can shorten one rein and have them circle around you like on the lunge.
To teach to lunge you have one rein on the front ring, of the lunging cavesson, to you. The other rein goes on the outer ring, through the stirrup and around the hindquarter to you.
You click, they walk forward, you step back 2 steps and you are in the right position to lunge. The outer rein is only used to stop them turning in. My second post in the ‘I am new and need desperate help’ says what I do next.
Thank you. It is moments like these where you really miss being on a training farm, lol. They have ALL the GOOD stuff! 
I have taught lunging, but it was always in a round pen at first. So the open space and trying to relay what I am asking without getting dragged from one end to another was a bit perplexing. I appreciate your answer though and will use it. I am teaching her walk on, whoa, and back with a lead rope to get a little base started and some ground manners before moving on. She needs a lot more weight before doing much of anything right now, but I want a few basics in there she can get familiar with again.
You’re welcome.
I will add that you teach them to lunge in walk and trot to start with.
They must halt when you say halt and not turn in. You then go out to them and change the ropes to change direction.
Once they are lunging you don’t need the outside rope.
They still must not turn in when asked to halt and you go out to them to change direction.
Changing direction is a reward so use it as one.
Again the lunging cavesson with the rein on the middle ring makes changing rein a lot easier.
Susie, do you teach driving horses? Do you drive horses with a vehicle behind them?
I am not agreeing with some of your methods/steps in the process of training, to end up with a skilled driving horse. Notably lunging a horse at all on a single line and expecting him to learn about going evenly, balanced out on the circle.
Also not mentioned is the chance an excitable horse might not be a good driving candidate, even with the best training.
OP might like to read thru the sticky notes at the top of Forum, which contain MUCH helpful information on training driving horses. A search using ‘train to drive’ will find a number of older posts on this Topic that contain great ideas, alternatives if one method is not working for her.
No I have not taught a horse to pull anything. When the OP asked about long lining and lunging I did not think of it being for carriage work. I have used long lining to break in horses.
Lunging is normally done with one rein for dressage. The horse does go forward, evenly and balanced in side reins which are in the post I spoke about in the other thread.
Later another lunge rein is added for the lateral work. I would love to learn that.
I responded as I have just done all this with my tb and qh/sh mare in a 50 acre paddock, which is what the OP asked about.
Thank you all. Suzie did go from what I was asking. I am not looking to turn her into a driving horse. I do want to work with her from the ground and need to teach her to lunge and longline but was not familiar with how to do it in an open area vs a round pen which is far more controlled. I am looking for experienced suggestions so I don’t end up dragged from one end of the field to another. She is a big mare and when up to weight, I am sure will be a handful as she has her excitable moments now. I am looking to do basics and things that will be easy on her so that when it is time to ride, we will have some ground work laid and hopefully some muscle built so she will be able to support my weight (normal female weight) comfortably.
I will look at the sticky’s to and see what I can find. I posted her because I thought if anyone would know about starting ground driving and lunging a hotter horse in the open, it would be here.
Can you create at least 2 sides with an existing fence and maybe some jump standards/poles?
Also, if you are alone, start with her being close to you. Not out on 25 feet of line. Whenever I have started lunging I start with ground work where the horse is close to me. When they understand go/whoa on a short line, I let them out further away from me and work that way. If they begin to get out of my control, they are back on a smaller circle until they get it. (or you and the horse are on a larger circle but you remain close to the horse) The distance between you and the horse gets longer as the horse becomes more schooled. And always use lines that are only as long as you need for that day’s work/can manage so you do not risk getting tangled.
I think this type of work is good for riding and driving horses, as it is basic obedience to voice and body language.
Thank you Suzie. Pretty much everything on here is aimed towards finishing with a usable Driving horse, so I presumed the OP was setting that as her goal.
The use of a lunging cavesson is considered pretty much “old fashioned” and not done with modern training of Driving horses. Doesn’t produce the results many of us want in our horses. Also the use of sidereins is not as common as can be found in other disciplines. Use of long lining (two lines) allows the handler to be MUCH lighter, rewarding of ‘give to the bit’ faster, than static set of the sidereins. And we ALWAYS want the horse rump contained with that outside line to prevent pulling and going unbalanced. Horse does NOT turn to face center when halted. That is BAD for a Driving horse. You can prevent that turning in with two lines, but not a single lunge line.
I am going to disagree with Hilary, on using short lines. We do a lot of in-hand work to get the commands down, walk, halt, slow down, trot as handler jogs out. Horse KNOWS the words and obeys, before getting “out there” on the lines.
We find with use of short lines, that horse is CONSTANTLY pulling, since going bent is HARD, makes the rump swing out, even with two lines because horse doesn’t KNOW HOW to move smaller yet. This kind of work is hard on the body, going crooked most of the time, not allowed to move smoothly or freely, just because of the restraint forced with short line, small circles.
The idea of using a fence line, temporary barrier with jump standard is interesting, does give the impression of containment and most horses don’t want to hit things. Depending on the horse, it could be helpful.
For the OP, I would start working the horse now in hand, get the basic voice commands for obediences in place, to move horse on to lunging or long lining, as you choose. If horse is excitable now, she will be MUCH more difficult when up to full weight and “full of beans” as they say. I do suggest you get horse familiar with a long whip, not being over responsive when you touch her with it. Whip is a tool for work “out on the lines” and you need to be able to touch horse if she is not being obedient when asked to speed up. TOUCH is all she will need, gentle flick with the end of whip lash.
Long lining has been a great tool for us, but lunging with a single line has never taught any of our horses good things. We just don’t lunge at all these days. We long line in a bridle, want the rein contact as they have with riding or driving. Our lines are about 30ft, so circles are 60-70ft across. Horse is not tightly bent all the time, can move as we want them to in each of the gaits.
Different disciplines means different final goals, so we use steps that may not be usual in the ridden horse training world. Driving horse has to meet very high goals to be considered “well-trained” because it could mean the difference in him obeying or a wreck. No middle ground there. Few Driving horses are anything like what you see on TV or in the movies, not dead heads at all.
OP, you might want to also check posts in the riding forums like Dressage, where there could be more information pertaining to Riding goals for your horse. More folks ride than drive, so it could be helpful in their variety of helpful ideas.
When I do this work it is with one line (long lead rope) to establish obedience, and you absolutely can go in a straight line - but you must go with the horse. And when on a circle, you can make whatever size circle you want but you remain close to the horse - you don’t only make the horse just go around you when you stand still, but you can do that too. I didn’t explain it very well. Most horses graduate to either lunging or long lining in a very short period of time. Some even get it in 20 minutes.
As with most horse training, it is one tool, that can be useful in some situations. I read the OP’s post and saw the words green, strong, open space and alone. I want the OP to be safe and this is a safe way to work your horse. Not for everyone or every situation.
I do agree, though, that now that I know how to long line I will never go back to regular lunging. It is such a better training opportunity whether your goal is riding or driving.
Thanks Hilary, for your further comments. We sure do want OP being safe!!
I know that an unconditioned horse should not be lunged in a small circle, but if I was working with a horse that was unfamiliar with lunging and I had no contained area to work them in, I would do just that. A very short line and voice commands until the horse understood what I was asking, then in a small circle in the other direction, over and over. Eventually I would let out more line and enlarge the circle. I would rather the horse be close enough to me to control the head at first then take a chance working them on a long line and hoping for the best! Good luck!
Thank you for all the wonderful information. I am working with her more on the lead rope to understand my voice commands for walk on, whoa and back up. Yesterday I took a lead rope and let it move around her back, butt and over her legs to become familiar with it. She was a little spooked at first but we ended on a good note and she really didn’t move to far away. I believe by the time she is actually ready to start doing a little work, she will be confident enough in herself and have more trust in me to be successful. 
The reason I suggested a lunging cavesson is that you said you are out in the open. You have extra leverage at the front of the horse if they go to take off to pull them around and gain control back. Remember that she has more muscle in her neck than you have in your whole entire body!!!
That sounds like a good start. Once she is used to the ropes do the same with the lunge whip. The lunge whip is an extension of your arm and should not be feared.
The way I explained it was for dressage. With the long line they learn to halt and turn from the reins. With the lunging in side reins they learn their paces and to give to pressure - of course with never pulling in which I stated in my post in the other thread.
They also learn to be on one track and tracking up and working their muscles, so by the time you get on them they just have to figure out how to carry your weight and nothing more.
They know to go forward when you click or say walk on, so you do that and add your walk on aid, then you can drop the verbal command. The same with trot and eventually canter.
As I said in the post on the other thread, remember that lunging in side reins and working, 10 minutes is equal to an hour of riding, so be careful of her joints and respect how much work she is doing.
