Teaching Canter on the Lunge Line

[FjordBCRF]

After some googling, it seems that I have the opposite problem than most trying to train the canter on the lunge line. We are solid at the walk and trot and are pretty good with upwards and downwards transitions and WHOA. Per Google, it seems many people have a hard time getting a canter from youngsters at all. Charlie will canter, but I’m 2 for 3 now with him bolting and having to let go of the line in the big arena. We had one good direction today! He picked it up and dropped back to the trot after about a stride twice which he got treated for. The other direction was a runaway.

We do have a round pen, but it’s small and it’s really sloppy footing right now which makes me nervous to have him really get going. (Arena and round pen are outdoors). I have visions of his back end slipping out and him getting something caught under a panel. I did take him in there after I caught him and got a halfway decent and responsive canter, but ended it in a high note quickly. He seemed awfully proud of himself after his runaway antics and then doing it in the round pen.

We don’t lunge regularly since he is so laid back so I’m planning start making a habit of doing it more frequently and drilling walk/trot/whoa etc.

I lunge him in his bridle with the line through the one side of his bit, over his head and then clip to the other side of the bit. I’m guessing for the canter the round pen is the best place to stay contained; would it be better to wait until the footing isn’t so messy in the spring and just keep at it more with the walk/trotting in the arena until then? Any other tips? I’ve not trained a horse to lunge before (well outside of our walk and trotting which is going well) LOL. I don’t want him to bolt off and have him or me get hurt, nor for it to be a habit asking for the canter in the arena. He’s like a fjord freight train when he does it.

[StormyDay]

The number one rule with lunging is keep the horses head angled towards you. The second the horse starts looking out and about or isn’t 100% focused on you, he gains the upper hand if he decides to leave. The horse needs to always have its head angled just a bit towards you. If he does, then when you ask for that canter and he tries to leave you have the leverage on his head to correct him. He tries to run, you pull, he ends up facing you because he can’t run in the direction his head isn’t facing. He will try this a few times before realizing you can’t be fooled anymore and he better do what you say. It’s the same concept with leading; if your horse is looking the other way and decides to go there, good luck stopping him. But if he’s looking at you and then tries to leave, you have control of his head.

-sincerely, a human who was well trained by a giant OTTB about how to properly lunge.

[signmypapyrus]

How old is Charlie?

Also, yes, “Fjord freight train” is a very real thing.

[Arelle]

Once they learn that trick, it’s hard to undo. I’d stick to the round pen if you can.

I also personally get better results with pullers from lunging in a halter with a chain around the nose than I do lunging in the bridle; especially with the way you have it hooked up.

[luvmyhackney]

Invest in a good lunge caveson and keep contact with it. Head to the inside. Much easier to control and contain even a freight train. I would even consider adding a side rein on the inside to help.

It’s such a hard habit to break once they learn it.

[MapleBreeze]

Loose side reins are your emergency brake to stop a runaway… don’t let the horse continue the habit… they dont need to be dressage level tight but enough that if your horse tries to move their head away from the circle to run out the inside side rein gets them… think of it as an extra aid.

For the canter on a greenie on a circle. You walk and trot withh true bend inside. Then you float the line out (give some room on the line so the horse can use their head) so the horse can move their head outside the circle while picking up the inside canter lead. They can’t get that inside lead in the beginning if their head is bent inside. Combine this with snaking the lunge whip behind at the same time you float the line and use your verbal cue “and canterrr”.

Then you have to take and give on the line to balance the shoulders and sometimes add gas with the lunge whip.

[SuzieQNutter]

As others have said the correct place for the lunge rein is on the nose, so get yourself a lunging cavesson. With this you have the leverage to pull the horse’s head towards you when needed.

You say he is good at walk and trot. Mine I use the words slow and quick, from quick I will say trot on 3 times and then canter. This depends on how hot your horse is. Mine is not hot and needs that to set him up for success. Sim is much hotter and does not need the trot on commands before cantering.

If you don’t know how to use side reins you should be taught. They should never pull a horse’s head in. Side reins do not maim and kill horse’s. Side reins being used incorrectly maim and kill horse’s.

[Willesdon]

Youngsters need to learn balance and can find canter on a circle really difficult, especially a small one. Also, any lunge work is hard work so don’t over do it. I was told many years ago that 20 mins on the lunge equalled 60 minutes under the saddle. Youngsters need to build up their strength too.

If you have an enclosed ring, try free schooling and allow the horse to establish the canter on his own. Use voice commands all the time, not so different from training a dog.

[FjordBCRF]

Awesome advice thanks! A lunging cavesson will be ordered! I do have side reins but have yet to use them. I’m also going to get a lunge line with a chain.

@signmypapyrus He will be 5 in 2022

@SuzieQNutter He is not hot at all. Our trotting up until the runaway was relaxed; neck stretching and happy to downward to the walk. Once he got that canter stride the second direction I’d say the hot dial cranked up.

@Willesdon This is exactly why I’m trying to work with him on it. He knows the concept under saddle; one of the reasons I want to get him going lunging is better balance on the circle. He’s pretty good with me on him, we’re not doing anything smaller than a 20 m when it comes to circles and he can’t hold it for very long. He gets his leads though and knows the cues/word. Our enclosed ring is too big, it’s a huge outdoor sand arena (much bigger than a dressage arena) with a big perimeter of grass around it. Some of which he tore up yesterday. I don’t and don’t plan on lunging for long. I cap our training rides at about 25 mins. I usually just ask for things and when I get them we’re done, so usually pretty short. I don’t need a sweaty hairy monster in the winter time

[endlessclimb]

I hate lunge lines with chains. Just get a 30" chain and then clip the line to that, that way you can use it when you need it and then can go back to the regular lunge line when he’s being a good boy.

[exvet]

I had a heck of a time getting my coming 5 year old morgan gelding to canter a full circle on the lunge when I started him in hand. He would either keep dying (breaking to a trot) or semi-bolt…in other words he would build up a big head of steam and cut into the circle but I would stop him then and there. Fortunately, I have not had to drop the line; but our progress was dismal, and it was clearly all about balance. Under saddle he was very quick to learn the canter aids and offer the correct lead. At liberty he has absolutely no problem cantering and will canter on verbal cue. I decided that training canter from the ground was not going to work for this horse without the risk of creating some undesired behaviors. I also teach all of mine to long line and ground drive. I was having similar issues at the canter; so, I ended up simply going with gradually increasing the demands/expectations under saddle. I started with straight lines only, then gradually started negotiating the end of the arena. Once that was solid I then started very large (greater than 20 meter circles). I was always very clear in keeping him straight and balanced (no motorcycle type corners or diving on the inside shoulder), really weighting the outside stirrup to help him. Some of the differences between this horse and some of my others is that he really likes to canter and offers it generously. This made it easier to ask and get a few good strides and then bringing him back immediately when balance or straightness became an issue. We also prior to cantering became very good at downward transitions being forward and to the hand and mostly coming from me taking a deep breath so that he wasn’t hitting my hands but instead meeting them. He is also very good…finally…at understanding inside leg to outside hand. I’m glad to say we are now successfully negotiating 20 meter canter circles without speed, panic or balance issues beyond what is accepted at his current level of training.

If a method of training is simply introducing and/or solidifying problematic behavior, I think it’s time to turn a page in the chapter and do something different. While I agree that it’s easier for horses to learn balance and how to use themselves without a rider/weight, some choose to color outside of the lines. I once had the luxury of having a very large round pen which made such issues/concerns not even and issue; but, I no longer have that at my disposal. Having started and backed more than a few the one greatest lesson I’ve learned over the years is to do everything in your power to set the horse up for success without training something you do not desire to…ie, it’s so much easier to train the correct responses by taking very small steps in the beginning than to ‘unlearn’ something.

[wildlifer]

Not a fan of chains, wouldn’t put one on my horse. I would try long lines first. You can use 2 longe lines. Run through surcingle, which gives you some leverage or you can even put them in a triangle configuration for more leverage.

If you have jumps available, you can also use them to block off a smaller area in your big arena.

[FjordBCRF]

@exvet Thank you for sharing your experience; what you describe is exactly why I’ve not gone hard with the lunging. A) he is lazy and doesn’t need it before a ride, and if/when he might, a trot would be fine which we are comfortable with and B) we are doing great under saddle. Im positive the issue with lunging is balance and it feeling funny. Not that he bolted with me under saddle, but we definitely had similar “arguments” a few times that had much better outcomes with me on his back. With that said, I don’t like that he want to develop this as a habit. Reading everyones comments and mulling on things, Im thinking I will wait for safer conditions in the roundpen and use more specific equipment with my trainer to start (cavesson/side reins etc). Im not going to stress/kill either of us to make it happen sooner than later. He is trained to drive and I do ground drive him a lot on our trails. We started carriage lessons in the fall as well since I have had no exposure/experience with driving…carriage instructor wanted to keep him haha.

[MsM]

Another way to help avoid run outs on the longe is to cut off part of the ring. A boarder working with a young TB would move cavelletti and jumps to create a border so that one end of the ring was a manageable square. It wasn’t a solid fence but it created the illusion. Kind of a pain moving all that back and forth but it worked for her.

Opposite to exvet my Morgan had trouble cantering under saddle but learning the verbal cue on the longe and then using under saddle got through to him.

[FjordBCRF]

Our arena is huge otherwise I would try something like you suggested. We don’t have enough of anything to block off any side hahaha.

Edit to add - photo kind of gives some scale; Im kind of halfway down the long side of it. The gray is right by where the round pen is

[NancyM]

For a lunging cavasson, you can consider an “iron halter”. The name sounds “mean”, but in truth, it’s just a solid lunging cavasson. Available mail order at a dressage supply company, I forget which one just now as it was some time ago that I found it there. But if you google “mannering halter”, you will likely find it. It’s not expensive. Made me laugh that it is available from the “dressage” crowd. (Warmbloods). It comes complete with a nylon headstall, ready to use.

You can use no bridle under or over the iron halter. No side reins. Just the tool itself. The lunge line (or lead rope if bolting happens while just leading the horse) attaches on the TOP of the nose, the picture on the sale site is incorrect with a line attached underneath (or it was the last time I looked). If the horse goes to tighten the tool, the oval metal ring starts to twist on the nose and the head is turned towards you rather than being able to bend away from you to bolt. The tool becomes uncomfortable when it goes to twist on the nose. So the horse doesn’t do that any more. “Learning” takes place in about 30 seconds. The option to bolt is removed. You don’t have to do anything other than hold the lunge line for the iron halter to do it’s thing, the horse operates the tool, and the option to bolt is removed. Works the same as using a round pen but without the fence LOL.

With the option to bolt removed, you can work on practicing the canter… getting the transition, and trying to maintain a few strides at a time. Praise for minor successes. The horse will need practice to be able to maintain the gait for more than a few strides at a time if cantering is a problem for him. He will need to learn balance at the gait, and how to maintain a rhythm at the canter, and it will take some time for him to do that. Weeks, at least, of daily light work. Don’t drill him at it, just let him try, and let him practice, and learn and find reward. You do not want to have side reins on him for this, this is something he needs to learn for himself, find his own carriage unfettered. You just need to show him how, and encourage him, and reward him.

It’s not uncommon for drafty types to be this way, they know they are strong, and can often get their way through using their strength (warmbloods). But by using the right tool, you can remove some options that they may think they have. Praise when the horse makes right choice, and for making a “try” to do something that a green horse might find to be difficult. With practice, it will get easier for him in time.

You may be able to retire the iron halter after the horse has learned his lesson, and has mastered cantering on the lunge. Or you may find that he goes better using it for lunging. Which ends up being your plan depends on your horse, and you will figure it out in time which way you will end up choosing for your horse. I have one who I always use the iron halter on to lunge. And another who needed it early on, and never needed it again, and goes better now without it.

[FjordBCRF]

Interesting!! I just googled both terms and they both came up with an array of different options. Could you post a link of the specific one you are referring to? I want to make sure I’m looking at the same thing!

[MsM]

My inclination would be to abandon cantering on the longe for the time being. If he canters well under saddle, work with that including transitions and figures to help him learn balance. If he doesn’t bolt under saddle, you can use bigger circles and gradually help him balance. And he wont be practicing bad behavior while you sort him out. If possible, I would use the round pen when first trying canter on the longe again to assure a positive experience - new equipment or not.

Longeing is a skill that many people have not developed themselves. Dealing with problems in a wide open space can be difficult as can mastering the proper use of any equipment used for more control. It would help if you had access to someone with this particular skill to help you both.

[SuzieQNutter]

I have never used a chain on a lunge rope or long reining or lead rope or halter or anything else.

When I started here I was lunging in a 50 acre paddock. I never had a problem. I am an experienced lunger.

I do not ask for canter in side reins until the horse can easily canter and calmly canter without them.

It takes as long as it takes. Sim we did not really canter for a year under saddle. I could ask for canter around the paddock under saddle. Canter we did not really work on until hubby made a dressage arena for us and there were walls to help with training him.

In the 50 acre paddock he didn’t really understand why you would want a 20m circle!

As a result his trot was a lot better than his canter and we had to work more on canter, until the day that everything clicked and his canter was wonderful and that was with a tb who had been off the track and ridden before coming here and he was still as green as grass.

[Alterration]

Once a horse gets away, particularly if they are a large bodied type, it can be a hard trick to fix. I’ve repaired a few that have figured that particular move out with rookie owners, and even then, you never trust them fully. The fix is not for the faint-hearted and should only be done by a professional.

I teach canter routinely on the longe because I splat now when I fall and I want to make sure they don’t buck to the sky or bolt off under saddle - but depending on the horse I may use side reins, long reins, or sliding side reins to keep them balanced and bent correctly. A lot of the bolting off is because of a lack of balance, which makes flight animals nervous. It’s also key to ask them at the right time, because asking at the wrong moment timing wise can cause them to take the incorrect lead, which then causes panic, and again - bolting.

It’s a tricky endeavor, and if they give me a few strides I quit and reward that. You’ll build more strides as balance and strength improve.