Longe in America. Lunge in other parts of the World.
Same with favor and favour.
The list goes on.
We have to click on English England so our phones don’t ‘correct’ to American English.
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I have lived in the US my whole darn life…
I use Lunge.
Just for fun, I went to Smart Pak and they use Lunge too.
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Argh to this thread.
There is lunging and there is running a horse around at the end of a rope.
These two things are not the same thing.
You have to remember in this forum that when a lot of people say they are lunging a horse they are probably not lunging and just running a horse around on the end of a rope or worse with no rope.
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this type of “lunging” I have seen since the late 60s It is simply the part of the pounding, droning, LTD ( lunge til dead). It is not a training exercise, it is not designed to muscle. It is simply to burn calories and bring the horses temperament and attitude down
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This! Under normal circumstances, bucking is not acceptable behavior while on the lunge line.
However in a situation where we are at the Congress for a week or major ice storm and no turn out, I will lunge and allow my horse to be a little dumb. Most of the time it’s a few head tosses, a crow hop and a squeal and it’s over.
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A horse I used to own, young home bred mare, would play on the lungeline if she was naked. As soon as the tack went on she was all business, no shenanigans.
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Meh… if I’m lunging my youngster, it’s a learning deal. She is not allowed to buck and fool around. My 18 year old occasionally gets a few turns on the lunge to stretch her out etc as she comes in and out of soundness issues. I don’t care if she wants to buck on the lunge line- she’s always very well mannered US. Like everything with horses, it’s not an either or situation
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Agree. I won’t get on The Old Man’s case if he wants to sling his head around on the first canter transition or two. Whatever. He always gets right back to work, it isn’t sustained.
The young one has to go to work, as she has a propensity to get real, real stupid… real real fast. No shenanigans allowed, at all.
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I think it is for both .
There is no better way to get an accurate estimate of your horse’s mind( if in doubt) then to put them on the lunge( my preferred spelling) If my horse is going to buck I want it done when I am not on.
I feel this method has kept me from parting company on many an occasion and my horses do not buck under saddle and have a great work ethic.
That said–we work on the 3 gaits and do not race around at top speed. Just to clarify.
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If my horses blow up on the longe they get muscled down to the attended turnout arena to blow off steam. It’s safer and easier to get the bucks out loose. I do think some horses need to buck periodically. Horse yoga.
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I have one that I longe “for respect”. Not a la parelli, but if he’s had an extended time off (which has happened from time to time because he’s a fragile flower) he goes on the longe line. He will refuse to move, and we have a conversation about this where he will challenge me and I will tell him no, and from then on life is easy. I could do that under saddle, but he bucks pretty hard, and I’d hate to see what that turns into under saddle. On the longe line I can just growl and smack him once and the conversation is over. Then the longe line gets put away until he has another issue. I’ve owned him for 12 years, and this is just what we do. His ground manners are impeccable, this is just his thing.
I have another that I longe to school and build topline, as he’s a bit greener and he’s somewhat rubbery, and sometimes having a rider on his back can be terrifically distracting. He’ll every once in a blue moon get the zoomies, but rarely will buck, and usually I attempt to bring him back quickly to work. If I were to try to longe him behind my back he’d be confused AF since he’s really keyed into body language. I didn’t realize how keyed in he was until my husband (who does “get” longing, but didn’t really understand body language) tried to longe him while I was off for surgery and had trouble keeping him moving. I like having him be that sensitive to what I’m doing…can’t imagine wanting a less keyed-in horse.
In neither of these cases (nor the many more I’ve had in my lifetime) would longing behind my back be a useful exercise because that implies that the horse isn’t waiting for me. I want them waiting for me not going “in spite of my body language”. I don’t want my greenbean mindlessly going around in circles for someone who doesn’t have a clue as to how to longe.
But I’m also not selling either horse as a beginner’s horse. After interacting with beginner owners (who have no guidance) for awhile, I’m less convinced that training them to that level is a good thing for them long term. That may be a whole 'nuther topic entirely.
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zips up fire suit
This reminds me a lot of the parents that punish their children for crying and expressing themselves and then wonder why their kids constantly have tantrums. If kids are allowed to cry and express themselves and know that their feelings and emotions will be validated, they rarely ever throw giant tantrums.
IME, same with horses. If they’re “allowed” to buck, they never do but if you try to shut them down when they’re trying to tell you something or express themself they’re forever a “stupid one” aka the tantruming child. 
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right? aside from being downright lazy, the keep torso in one spot while horse runs around you is a recipe for a broken wrist or shoulder injury if horse was to bolt while behind you. So dumb.
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@Alterration, one of the most fascinating horse experiences I’ve ever had was longing a 30yo Trakehner dressage gelding. He had environmental allergies & the owner wanted him longed for a few minutes prior to each ride so he could clear his pipes, so to speak. He watched you intently the entire time. Longing became an elaborate dance of body language where he sussed you out just as much as you did him. It transitioned to under saddle well, too.
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I’ve seen it. Thank the Parellis.
It’s nice when they watch you and let you know they are watching. Truthfully I believe they all watch us very closely. It’s just that some of them roll their eyes and say “fine, this human doesn’t know what they are doing so we’ll do what we think they want.” 
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Not sure who that was in response to.
If it was to me, I’ll clarify that when I said that my older horse bucks in his longing challenge, he doesn’t just buck, he kicks directly at the long-er, and the growl and smack (if I can reach him) is to denote that particular behavior is never ever ever ok.
But if it wasn’t, carry on.
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It wasn’t necessarily at you specifically, I was just disagreeing with the consensus. But if your horse is kicking out at the person on the ground lunging them there IMO there’s a reason why and probably a pain issue if they’re that mad about being pushed forward.
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Nah, he is salty when asked to work when he’s been off for a long time. Fully vetted, it’s literally a challenge. He does it once when coming back into work and then never again…until the next time he’s off for a long period of time.
If he thinks he can actually intimidate someone he escalates. He can dink around quite happily for me and then for a rookie charge them on the longe.
I got a call once after I’d had him for a year (and a trainer - not mine - wanted to use him for her elderly client) that he charged her and was dangerous. This is a horse I longe on voice commands only (unless he is coming back into work, as I mentioned). I was perplexed. Then I discovered his pattern.
It’s literally just his personality. He’s been that way since he was 6 and he’s 15 now.
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Sorry no. I don’t buy this “there’s nothing wrong he’s just quirky” nonsense. I understand the rest of the horse world goes for it, I do not. Why would they kick out at you if they’re going to be punished for it?
Also lol at the “he was vetted” some of the most ulcer ridden or lame horses I know have owners that always avoid the issue and say “oh but he was vetted.” It doesn’t mean squat. Just because a vet hasn’t found an issue yet, doesn’t mean there’s not an issue.
Also I’m not saying there’s something always physically wrong. If your horse has a behavioral issue that he’s kicking out at you on a lunge line… that just says he’s not happy. It could be physical but he could also be so sour and unhappy and that’s just as big of an issue as a physical one is IMO.
In any case, if my horse is kicking at me while I’m just trying to lunge it, my first thought is “somethings wrong” not “bad horse don’t do that”.
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