What is it about ground driving/ long lining that makes it so beneficial?

[paintedpennypony]

I really enjoy ground driving/ long lining and my horse (coming 4yo) enjoys it too. I backed her with a lot of ground driving before I ever sat on her and found it to be very helpful. Today I ground drove her with our new surcingle for the first time since probably June. She was relaxed, stretched out, and it was productive (40 mins of walking, 5 mins of trotting). We are rehabbing from a soft tissue injury and her healing is going well so I figured this is a good step forward from hand walking and liberty stretching.

I understand that lunging is very hard on their joints and monotonous. What is it about ground driving/ long lining that’s beneficial in ways lunging is not?

[Demerara_Stables]

I’ll preface this by saying that longeing is not “bad” per se, if done correctly. Proper warm up, equal time left and right, not using too small of a circle, and not chasing your horse so she runs in unbalanced circles are all rules that have to be obeyed.

I like long lining for a few reasons:

It gives me more control over bend and head position (some horses will learn to stretch long and low after you flex them on a counter bend and then a true bend).

I can influence stride length and collection in ways that I can’t on a longe because I have reins

With a young horse, I can teach them about rein aids without being on their back (I start this the summer of their 2yo year in a halter before I move to a bit)

It’s fun! For both me and the horse. If I can’t/don’t want to ride, it is a way for them to get worked that teaches them things, is interesting to them (longeing can be monotonous, like you said), and builds strength in ways that longeing can’t (for instance, with lateral work or collection). I can also long line on the trail, which puts them in more of a “work” mode that a hand walk and is great prep for their first trail ride.

[paintedpennypony]

Agreed! All good points! How do you go about teaching lateral movements and baby steps towards collection during long lining?

[Demerara_Stables]

Caveat: all of mine learn to go really well off of voice commands. I had a boss about 20 years ago that told me to talk to the horses all of the time. When you handle them, teach them walk, trot, whoa, back, turn, over (sideways), etc etc. Every time I interact with them in the field, the stall, or during an actual training session, I reinforce these verbal commands. As I teach them voice commands, I reinforce with body language/weight (usually my shoulder), or a hand placed somewhere (for back or over). When I longe, they walk/trot/canter, change (direction), easy (slow down), and cluck to go faster, kiss to canter or increase pace in the canter.

Now that they know voice and physical touch, they know that “over” and a hand on their side means move laterally. I teach sideways in the long lines by standing directly behind them, and as far away as I’m comfortable. I lightly flap one line against their side while saying “over.” As soon as you get even the slightest shift of weight the correct direction, stop the aid and give lots of praise. The more you do it, the more you can ask for actual steps sideways. This takes an incredible amount of patience, because some horses take multiple sessions to really get it. Never ever tell them “no” (they rarely know what that means anyway), just correct what they are doing. Are they walking forward? Use both hands to ask them to stop (I try not to say whoa because I do actually want them to move, just sideways). Are they backing up? Make sure the pressure on their mouth is zero and give a little cluck. They also might move into the line you’re flapping. You can switch lines so they’re doing the right thing and then praise them. Eventually they’ll get it, and give them all the praise!

Collection is a little harder, especially because she’s young and not very strong yet. Start by doing walk/halt/back transitions and see if you can see her lifting her back and engaging her core. Make sure she backs straight Once you can visually identify the muscles working properly, you can move into collection at the walk and trot. The biggest thing I worry about with the babies is them dropping their back and getting hollow. They have to learn to lift the back. When you ride, you can feel their back soften and come up or you can feel it drop and get tense. She’ll be able to have a collected walk for maybe 3-4 steps at a time in the beginning, and just 2-3 steps at the trot. The trot will look bouncy with more suspension (like in video 3 here when she’s doing it right. Don’t get greedy or she’ll fall out of it. You want to control the transitions. And remember, the more you do, the more sore (in a good way!) she’ll be the next two days.

For a 4yo I would work on “new” things maybe 10 minutes each time you long line, and broken up into 3-4 spurts. Hopefully you will be able to tell when she needs a break (trail swishing, getting antsy, head tossing, kicking out when she didn’t initially kick out, pulling on your hand, trying to walk off, etc) and try to stop before you get to that point. You want the sessions to be filled with her trying, you praising, and her continuing to try instead of her getting frustrated.

[walktrot]

I had a Paint gelding for 21 years. He had a deteriorating knee and progressive lameness. I had to retire him from riding when he was 26 and put him down at 28 in July 2022. I long lined him for about 18 months and we both enjoyed it. I was casual rider (I’m 75 now). I did a lot better than I thought I would. It was much easier because all I had to concerntrate on was my hands - no seat bones. I gave him a long easy warmup at the walk. We did a variety of ground work exercises. He would do a little trotting in a large circle if the spirit moved him. It was a great way to extend our “working” relationship and I got a lot more exercise. He loved to hand graze and continued that until a few days before I had to put him down. The flexion was gone and his knee was losing control of his hoof.

Our vet of 20 years had retired after 50 years in practice. He did chiro. His tech, who was with him for 15 years, started doing body work. She knew us both well and was a huge help tailoring a program. There is a lot of benefit to long lining young horses but you don’t see that much of it. It certainly was a valuable part of our waning years. We really enjoyed it.

[Equibrit]

Good Book;

Long Reining: The Saumur Method

[Annie10]

I like it because it teaches young horses to go first alone. I also use it for a lot of desensitizing , to teach steering, and as someone else said, voice commands. You’re really only limited by your imagination

[paintedpennypony]

That was helpful, thank you! I’ll be screenshotting this comment to reference at the barn. She knows how to do forehand pivots in hand so lateral work on the long lines is a good goal for us I think. Collection is still a long ways off probably. She can stretch and round at the trot when we’re doing our liberty stretching and target training exercises, but she does have a tendency to hollow on the lunge or long lines. I’m not too worried about this at the moment though considering we’re rehabbing. What are your thoughts on tools like the Equiband system?

[Demerara_Stables]

A lot of horses will get hollow because they’re weak or uneducated admit how to use their bodies (or in pain, but with a young horse I’d lean towards weak/uneducated). That’s why it’s so important to do just a few steps of anything new. It’s like if you started doing squats and did 3 sets of 10 on your first day, even with light weight, 24-48 hours later you wouldn’t be able to walk. If you only did 10, maybe you’d be a little sore but would recover quickly. Muscles are muscles, so always remember that she’s increasing in strength slowly just like you would.

I honestly don’t have an opinion on the equiband either way, as I’ve never used one. Because I’ve been long lining so long, I just use that to encourage the horses to engage the hind end and lift the back. It sounds like a useful tool if used correctly, I just don’t have any first hand experience using it to say whether it actually works or not.

[ASB_Stars]

I can, and have, built dozens of horses from the ground up, in lines. Over the past few decades, I’ve put together different configurations that are beneficial to a particular horse, and exercises that make a horse an athlete. Also, lining is about touch- it is about letting go. You do not hold a horse in a frame, you send them forward, and touch them into where they are most comfortable. I have a set of custom lines that help me give a horse room, which is essential It’s wonderful to watch.

[barnesthenoble]

Where did you get your lines/what do you recommend for lines? I have a pair of nylon lines with rope for the first 10’ and regular lungeing material for the rest, which work well enough but I don’t love the feel. I’m not sure where to look for a nicer set.

[CanteringCarrot]

I have 2 sets of lines, basically a short set and a long set. I bought them ages ago and I don’t remember where I got them from. So I’m useless on where to buy.

I do love long lining and have done it with all of my horses. I like it because I can feel and see the horse. Sometimes I have little light bulb moments trying to sort something out in the lines because it’s literally and figuratively looking at things from a different angle.

It also gets young or horses that aren’t backed yet used to a few things that will make their transition to being a ridden horse easier. I do like it for confidence because when I ground drive around, especially outside of the arena, the horse has to go first. Plus, I get good exercise too from walking around the property or trails.

One thing I will say, is do not use your long lines as a forward aid. Don’t get in the habit of using them as “legs” so to speak.

Get yourself a good driving/driving stock whip and get used to managing that and your lines. I’m particular about whip balance and feel, and I have small hands, so I can be a bit Goldilocks about whips. I don’t always use one, but it’s especially useful in the beginning for making sure that forward is thoroughly understood and installed. Otherwise, for me, it’s a lot of verbal cues and body language.

There is a lot that can be learned from long lining for both horse and rider. Ideally, take a few lessons from someone experienced when you’re first starting out.