Recently bought a 6 yr old horse as a lower level dressage prospect. His background was that he was driven for a couple of years (pleasure & combined driving) and then ridden for 3 months before being sold. I was not able to try him before buying, but saw video of him going over small jumps in a field, all 3 gaits, and he went very well. He is very willing, brave, not spooky and seems like a genuine good guy. However, when I tried to lunge him, I discovered that he does not know how to do that at all. Would really like to teach him this so I can eventually introduce side reins and the concept of going on the bit. Also, would prefer not to get on him until he can lunge quietly. However lunging is not going well. Iâve done it about a dozen times, and he does ok at walk and understands whoa. But as soon as trot is asked for, he zooms off 100 mph. I can stop him with âwhoa,â but I cannot slow him. He trots as fast as a Standardbred racer! And he just gets more and more cranked the longer he goes. Sometimes he takes off in a gallop and sometimes bucks. I do give and take on the line to try and slow him and sometimes he will slow for a couple strides, but immediately zooms off again. He does a little better on the closed end of the arena, but as soon as he hits the open end, he takes off. This is getting worse and worse and he is not getting the concept. He is getting more nervous about lunging each time. I do not have access to a round pen. I am using a Monty Roberts dually halter. Tried a rope halter and that really upset him. Canât use regular halterâno stopping power. Afraid to try bridle for fear of hurting mouth. Iâm not new at thisâhave trained several youngsters but never ran into this evasion before. I donât want to screw up joints and tendons. Any ideas on how I can explain this to him would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Do you have access to a 2nd set of hands? It sounds to me like he doesnât not understand, he still goes in a circle, and is just excitable on a lunge when youâve given him no parameters. Lunging without side reins or even a bridle without a round pen is kind of a disaster recipe here. For horses that lunge well sure you can spin them in a halter, but this guy just doesnât seem to want to calmly lunge, heâs probably just having fun.
If you can work him some directly in hand, so he learns to job next to you, then have a 2nd person jog next to him-with a rope, they are truly the one in control and you in the center giving the commands. You can then work up to using a lunge line.
Has this horse been ridden by anyone while this is going on? Truthfully it sounds like he just has a lot of new energy and is nervous about his surroundings. He needs to work off some of that energy, maybe more time outside or just bite the bullet and get on.
Iâve only had him for 3 weeks and no one has ridden him since I bought him. I do think he has too much energy, but he goes out 24/7. Unfortunately, he does not work off any energy when he is outside. He just walks everywhere. No one has ever seen him even trot in his pasture. I am going to have someone help me with him next week and see if I can get a handle on it. Being in an indoor arena is a first for him, so I think that is also making him nervous.
3 weeks off for a young or in this case more inexperienced horse can definitely throw things back a bit, as can trying an indoor arena. Youâve really thrown his whole world into a bit of a tumble with all of these changes, and since you only bought him off a video you donât know if he usually spends the first 30 minutes being silly. But since you do know he can behave himself under saddle eventually I would find someone willing to take a spin on him before too much longer.
Do you know how to long line? If he can drive, he should be able to long line. You can transition that to double longeing.
There are also a bunch of different groundwork techniques you can employ to get him understanding your cues better. Youâll start closer in, on a shorter rope. Itâs hard to explain, but there are a lot of videos you can watch if you donât have someone who can help you in person. Iâve gone back to basic, basic groundwork with one horse who thinks heâs supposed to just zoom around on the longe (I think he was always longed to âget tiredâ). I have had to teach him itâs more of a mental exercise and that he needs to keep paying attention to me.
But basically, giving and taking on the line isnât getting you anywhere. You need more full stops before you can ask for a simple rating of speed. Same as you teach the full halt before you can do a half halt. The questions are: 1) Can you go when I ask? and 2) Can you stop when I ask? Once he does each of those things, release all your pressure. It doesnât matter at first what he does (so long as you arenât skiing off behind him) after you get the desired response until you ask the next question. Be sure that you donât continue to drive him with your aids (even just holding the whip out is too much for some horses). Start with walk, stop, walk, stop, change direction, walk, stop. Then try to do things a little faster. Be sure you ask slowly each time but if you donât get the response you follow up firmly till he hears that youâve said something.
Iâm with IPEsq, just wanted to add that a good longe cavesson will be invaluable whichever tactic you use.
If you know how to double lunge do that, because I think most driving horses are used to that. But if he did Combined driving he is probably pretty hot. You will need to reteach him about his new job. When you lunge him do not ever allow him to take off⊠Let him walk and when he seems quiet, start to trot him but be prepared to immediately stop him if he gets faster. Once they start to speed up it gets trickier and trickier to stop them⊠You have to do before he speeds up. Do this everytime⊠I suspect you will need a lot of patience in the beginning. Good luck and you will see how much he will improve once he understands that you want him going slow
Get a pair of blinkers. Most driving horses are used to lunging and long lining with blinkers. Go pick up a set and I bet he does what he is supposed too. If he picks up speed use your voice and usually wup, or easy, and make your circle smaller. Heâs probably not used to seeing a whip all around. If he drives he knows how to do everything on voice.
BTW you can get pretty good stopping power with a halter by running the line over the poll and doing some ground work prior, a few lateral steps, moving the hind end over. Start on a small circle at a walk, then a smaller circle at a trot, stay close at first and donât be afraid to make the circle small per say and give half halts. I like to walk about 10 ft from the hindquarters and make large shapes on a lunge line with you closer than you would normally be. Once he listening, then you expand the distance.
Is he started in the bridle? I would only longe him in the bridle from now on so that he has control and learns that a bridle means work. I learned from a very well known trainer to thread the longe line through the inside bit ring, under the jaw, and attach it to the outside ring rather that threading it though the inside ring, over the poll, and attached to the outside ring.
I teach voice commands that I can use under saddle âwalk-onâ ok, trot" âOookaay, caaanterâ slightly different so the horse knows whatâs coming. Downwards are similar âwhoa, trotâ and Whoa, walk- ooooonnnn". I use postural changes so the horse can better understand. Under saddle, Iâll use the same voice aids with my body aids so the horse can make the association.
I suggest using ground rails that you can trot over them - they will slow him down/make him think about it or else heâll trip over them. i suggest letting him trip over them until he slows down. Put them in all areas of the arena. Spacing can be found online.
You can work on the stopping by teaching him to walk as if he was on a longe line but on the lead. At first, walk beside him and say Woa and stop walking. When he gets this (listening you your voice and body), teach him to walk around you on the lead line, stopping with body posture and âwhoaâ. When he gets this, try attaching your longe line and giving him more space You can use a whip to keep his body out (I say âstay outâ so he understands the cue), but I suggest teaching him in a round pen (with fixed sides) or at the end of an arena with some ground poles that delineate a 20m circle to teach him at first. Then I use the whole arena. IME, with a solid foundation, horses learn fairly quickly how to longe, what the rules are, and what is expected of them. For example, it he bucks, no. He trots and has to work at that trot and then he canters again. Repeat if necessary. Bucking on the longe is not acceptable to me, itâs work time.
Youâve got some excellent advice above. Iâll add to always use gloves.
If heâs used to a bit, put him in a bridle. The cues in his mouth may make more sense to him, coupled with the advice above about establishing voice aids and good transitions at the walk.
Good luck.
Since you are longing in an arena use something ( hay bales, chairs, etcâŠ) to make a smaller area. Start with walk/halt only sessions and walk beside him in a circle. Donât work off the bridle with an inexperienced horse unless you use a halter or longing caversson over it and work off of that. Especially with a horse that pulls. You must keep his attention on YOU. Lots of praise and when heâs comfortable with walk/halt you can move onto trot. He will probably play (buck-pull) at first but keep you line as short as is safe to start and let him know that is unacceptable with quick jerks of the line. Go back to walk if necessary. Try again. Keep his feet moving forward. Reward every trot/walk transition and donât forget to use consist whip and voice cues.
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I have hired someone to come out and help me with him. Hoping an extra set of hands will help show him the way. He is very good with groundwork at a walk. He will work off body cues when Iâm leading him. He will whoa, back up, move hindquarters away just with voice or body language. I just have not been able to get him to go to next gear without tearing off. My helper is going to head him while I line drive him and then hopefully eventually switch to double-lunging. Iâm very familiar with all these things and have trained several other horses myself to do it all. But with the horses Iâve trained, Iâve started them myself, and with this one, I suspect he is just accustomed to a different way and is unfamiliar with my way. Hopefully between two of us, we can get him started in the right direction! Thanks again.
make your circle smaller
Ask him to walk, encourage relaxation. Exhale and reward anytime he flicks an ear to you, or drops his head. Change directions at least a dozen times. Then ask for the trot. The second he trots exhale, praise and bring him back to the walk. Do this a dozen times each way. Then end.
Do this until he starts asking to walk as soon as he trots, then you can encourage him to continue a few strides before doing a downward transition.
Anytime he gets excited and wants to trot fast and buck, immediately bring him to the walk and ask for rapid transitions- trot,walk, trot, walk, trot walk.
You can start to influence him tempo by âhalf haltingâ with the lunge by pulling his nose towards you while pushing his barrel out as well.
These transitions and half halts make the horse work harder, and force him to maintain balance and continue listening to you
Teach yourself and him to free lunge, itâs very easy, it removes all equipment related risks and, in my opinion, is step 1 before lunging with equipment.
Load your pockets with treats or grain, show him you have treats by feeding him before you release him and send him on his way. He knows the walk, ask him to walk on, halt him and offer a rewardâŠrepeat several times. Ask him for a trot, you donât care if he explodes, you arenât attached to him. Let him do his thing for 10 seconds then ask for the halt and offer the reward. All of the horses I have started this way, figure it out very quickly and will circle meâŠand most importantlyâŠfocus on meâŠand watch me for the next command.
Once they learn to free lunge in a controlled mannerâŠwith lots of rewardsâŠit has been a very simple matter for me to add equipment. I continue with the rewards with the equipmentâŠthey know what to expect and they know what to do. This has been a great method for me to teach a horse to âfocusâ on meâŠa great formal training starting point.
When dealing with a horse such as this, I use every bit of equipment I have. If he has done combined driving, he must understand a bit.I would dress him in a bridle, with a well made classic longeing cavesson over it, preferable one that has a chin strap that can be used as a dropped nose band, fitting it as you would a drop. In order for this to work, the cavessonâs hardware needs to be made properly
With that I would use side reins, fitted so that when he is standing relaxed they are barely in play. The longe line goes to the center ring of the cavesson, a gentle snap, and I mean gentle ,will move the bit in his mouth, a sharp snap of the line will give him a solid thump on the nose as well as working on the bit. It is up to the timing and discretion of the person longeing how hard and often to snap the line.
Your next line of defense is a line over the head working strictly from a bridle. Your last line of defense is a chain over the nose.
Gloves, paddock boots, and a helmet make sense.
USHJA has just put out a fairly good video on longeing. Alois Podhajsky has an excellent explanation in his book âThe Complete Training of Horse and Riderâ
