When lunging goes awry...

[RileysMom]

Hi all,

Quick question–when lunging, and the horse becomes explosive/starts galloping out of control, what do you (you = people who train and can handle behavioral problems when they arise) do in terms of letting go of the line. Let it go if it seems impossible to hold it and you need to get out of the way? Or really try to hang on and hope you can get the exploding horse back? I’m not talking about situations at a show/busy ring but rather in a self-contained ring as the only horse in there. Friend of mine who is quite good had this happen yesterday and she leg go, told me that she realized that the horse “won” but that there was no way she was able to hang into the line.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=RileysMom;7847545]
Hi all,

Quick question–when lunging, and the horse becomes explosive/starts galloping out of control, what do you (you = people who train and can handle behavioral problems when they arise) do in terms of letting go of the line. Let it go if it seems impossible to hold it and you need to get out of the way? Or really try to hang on and hope you can get the exploding horse back? I’m not talking about situations at a show/busy ring but rather in a self-contained ring as the only horse in there. Friend of mine who is quite good had this happen yesterday and she leg go, told me that she realized that the horse “won” but that there was no way she was able to hang into the line.[/QUOTE]

It depends on the horse and the type of explosion. If I know it is going to happen I will start to ‘lean back’ and bend my elbow backwards and reel them in – that way when it happens they hit the end of the line immediately and there is an immediate consequence. Putting my weight back and letting my elbow absorb the movement and effectively ‘check’ them backwards works very well, most of the time.

But if the horse I am working with is a known bolter, I lunge them in side reins and surcingles. I adjust the side-reins lower or between the legs for these type of horses.

Sometimes, however, it’s not about ‘letting the horse win’. If your life or your limbs are going to be in danger of being broken or hurt by holding the horse in, just let the horse go.

[M_O_Connor]

A horse that’s loose with a longe line attached is a dangerous situation. It’s not a question of ‘letting go,’ but of getting out of control to start with. If the line is held short enough and connected in an appropriate way to the horse the handler is always in control. If that is not the case, then the handler is overfaced, and someone with more experience should be doing the job.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=M. O’Connor;7847552]
A horse that’s loose with a longe line attached is a dangerous situation. It’s not a question of ‘letting go,’ but of getting out of control to start with. If the line is held short enough and connected in an appropriate way to the horse the handler is always in control. If that is not the case, then the handler is overfaced, and someone with more experience should be doing the job.[/QUOTE]

Not quite always true… You’re never fully in control of an animal that outweighs to 10-1…

[enjoytheride]

I step in toward the horse and behind the shoulder and yank. HARD. The angle gives me leverage. Then I put a chain on or switch to a rope halter and we try it again.

[RileysMom]

I think there was also an element of surprise–I didn’t see it, but the horse went from trotting in (relative) control to bolting and rearing/bucking. Normally, she (and I) can handle a bit of playing, tossing out a buck or two, but she said it happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to react.

[CHT]

I usually try not to get in that sort of situation, but it can of course happen. When it does I try to use the arena wall: either trying to run them into it, or using it so I can re-establish my grip and give a good pull to get them off balance.

[kdow]

If you’ve taken all reasonable precautions in terms of proper equipment and skill level and something happens - because, well, sometimes poop DOES happen - then you do what will put you in the best position to safely resolve the problem. In this case, if it was let go or be dragged, I’d let go.

It isn’t ideal to have a loose horse with a lunge line attached running around, but it also isn’t ideal to hang on and get dragged and get injured and then be injured with a loose horse with a lunge line attached running around.

[GoodTimes]

I usually lunge these horses with side reins as well, I want them to know that lunging mean business. They have to work a little harder this way, and they’ve got less freedom to explode.
Aside from that I try no to let them have ANY slack. I always, always, always lunge in a bridle.

If your friend is experienced then it was probably just one of those things. You can’t always stop a horse from freaking out or getting away.

[findeight]

Sometimes you gotta let go. Horse is strong we are smart so avoiding it getting to that point is extremely important as there is no way to hold 1100+ pounds of exploding horse at a full gallop.

When lunging in an arena, I like to use the corner so the horse is contained on half the circle and can’t get far on the other half. Try to stay away from jumps, poles or anything other objects found in rings you could trip over, slip on, tangle the line on or hit.

I have learned a surcingle or the saddle and side reins keep them in control as well as force them to work a bit on balance. Clip the line to the outside bit ring, run it OVER the poll and thru the inside bit ring. You do have to switch it to change direction. Wear gloves, carry a whip to keep the horse out on the circle and away from you, I tie knots in the line evey few feet as handholds. Try not to stretch your line arm away from your body, it’s stronger kept close instead of extended. NEVER, EVER loop it around your hand and don’t let the extra line trail where you can step on it. And use the trot to wear them out, once they canter they can build up to explosive pretty quick, the momentum they build is hard to control, don’t go there. Contained trot.

Friend is right, horse did win. It happens, only shame would be letting it happen again with him realizing he got away with misbehavior and did not have to work.

And next time one gets loose? They do NOT get a free pass back to their own little condo or quiet meadow with friends. Nope, they go right back to whatever they were doing and they get to keep doing it until you decide they can stop. Tired? Tough. Hot and blowing? They can walk the circle. But they don’t get to quit.(BTW, their attention spans are short, 10-15 minutes gets your point across).

Think it’s a good idea not to only use lunging when they are fresh, not setting anything up for success. Work it in regularly so they know the basic rules and that its not an excuse to yahoo, they can learn to uncork a few, snort and fahrt without ripping your shoulder out or doing the wild stallion routine.

[enjoytheride]

I try not to let go if it’s a problem horse or a baby because that teaches them that they can get away with it. Before I lunge I do lots of groundwork with a rope between their back legs, under their tails, etc so if at some point they do get loose they aren’t going to kill themselves running from the line.

[eastendjumper]

I’ll drop the whip if I need to, and hold onto Longe line with both hands, bracing my far hand in a fist on my waist near the small of my back, bend my knees, and lean back a bit. I’m very small but have never lost a horse when they’re getting really strong with this trick. Having the line go up and over the crown piece really helps get the control back.

[HicksteadFan]

Well I have to say I have a ton of experience with this. My horse used to be nuts! And I did have to let go sometimes. I’m not really into being the “winner”. I try not to get into fights with horses. Even if things don’t go well they just have to go better each time.

[QUOTE=beowulf;7847557]
Not quite always true… You’re never fully in control of an animal that outweighs to 10-1…[/QUOTE]
Like my favourite trainer Warwick Schiller says: before you can control a horse, it has to control itself.

So for your question: I would try to lunge in a smaller area, no jumps, poles or anything in the way, and not when others are in the ring/arena. Definitely wear gloves and carry a whip like someone mentioned. Do some groundwork and make sure the horse isn’t scared of the whip first or you’ll just make a bad situation worse. When the horse gets out of control, let the line slide and follow the horse so you don’t let go (this is where being in a smaller space is handy). Crack or flick the whip at the horse. My horse used to buck and kick at me, I touched her with the whip and she would gallop like crazy but realised I wasn’t intimidated and stopped kicking. Say “if you want to misbehave you’re going to work a bit harder.” Not about tiring the horse out. They generally don’t like to do any work so even a little extra gets the point across. You could try to pull the horse in, a cavesson might be good, but I wouldn’t try if the horse just pulls back. Better to follow and tell him that he’s not getting out of work that way. Unless the horse tries to turn around, then I would try to pull and keep him going in the same direction so he doesn’t get tangled in the line.

Also, just my opinion, I wouldn’t put a bridle or side reins on the horse until you can control it. Because if it gets loose it could end up with a broken jaw from either stepping on the line or getting a leg caught in the reins. Extra pressure might also make the horse more uptight.

Another approach you could try is to just start out walking until the horse is completely relaxed. Then trot for a couple strides and back to the walk until the horse relaxes. Add more and more trot until the horse can stay relaxed then do the same thing with the canter. The thinking behind this is that the faster a horse goes the more worked up it gets because it is a prey animal and running is its defence mechanism. I haven’t personally tried this but it seems like it should work.

And as always… I’m a huge fan of round pens if you have one.

[Sing_Mia_Song]

My ring is not fenced, so a horse who gets loose could easily get up to the road. One of the best lessons I ever learned (besides wearing gloves when longeing) was to get one of those rope cowboy halters with the knots on the nose. I put the horse in side reins to the bridle and then attach the longe line to the rope halter, and let the longe line out gradually. I also do a lot of transitions (trot-walk-trot and trot-canter-trot, all within 5-6 strides of each other if the horse is not being polite). Keep them thinking and they won’t try to get away.

[SuzieQNutter]

I will start by asking what you call lunging?

To me running around at the end of a rope is not really lunging.

I have been taught how to use side reins. It is people who injure horses with side reins, not side reins.

As to your question. The number one rule is of course safety first. A lunging cavesson has the lunge rope at the nose. This gives you more control as you have a lever in front of the horse to pull from.

When lunging you should always wear gloves and a helmet.

If the horse really explodes and she said it did and that she could not hold the horse well then you have to let go. You are outweighed.

My boy did this recently as I went away and left him with a round bale, (as I felt I couldn’t leave the rescue horse with just grass) He ate much more than I imagined and was now in the realm of overfed and overworked. Experience tells me that it took him 2 weeks to get to that stage so it will take 2 weeks to come down from that stage.

I was lunging him when he exploded. He knew exactly what he was doing and I couldn’t hold him. At the moment I have to lunge in a 50 acre paddock, so physically with side reins and the lunge rein on the front of the cavesson he went and I had to let him go.

WELL he didn’t think that through did he? 10 minutes on the lunge is equal to an hour of lunging and he was galloping full tilt around the 50 acres paddock in side reins. An ex-racehorse.

He went around 6 times before, as he was the furthest from me, I called out aaannnndddd trrrrooooot and when he next came past me I called it out again and he trotted and then halted.

I put him straight back on the lunge and he went around like a lamb.

His mouth was a little sore for the next couple of days, which I was very mindful of. He hasn’t done it again… yet!!

It did take him about a week to get back to normal from being overfed and underworked.

[merrygoround]

A fifty acre field is a bad idea. :lol: My sympathy.

The first part of longeing is to use the proper equipment. Bridle and well made, and well fitted cavesson. Side reins for an older “made” horse, and even loosely adjusted for a youngster.

If trainer positions their body so that their longeing hand comes across the front of their body with a bent but giving elbow,then their whip hand is closest to the horse. Trainers body pivots on their heel, so the angle in the line remains constant. If the horse leaps forward the line hand gives a sharp snap or two of the cavesson, If necessary the whip can be dropped and that hand also used to haul the horse into a smaller tighter circle. Never longe with a straight arm, without a bend in your elbow.

Longeing takes as much or more attentiveness as riding. If the horse is chronically naughty, I dispense with the cavesson. I had one who thought it was fun to strike out at the centrally fixed longe line. And if they are really bad, a chain can go over the nose until respect is learned. The last is to be avoided.
.

[Foxtrot_s]

Once they do it, the lesson is learned…If they get to towing you, it is a lost cause, you have to run to the side.

Safety first, and it would start in an enclosed arena.

A chiffley bit (stallion ring) works well.

[HicksteadFan]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;7848413]
Once they do it, the lesson is learned…If they get to towing you, it is a lost cause, you have to run to the side.

Safety first, and it would start in an enclosed arena.

A chiffley bit (stallion ring) works well.[/QUOTE]

I would definitely not use a chiffney bit! These are extremely severe and are not meant to be used for lunging. They are a supplementary aid used with a regular halter. They shouldn’t be used as a bit while lunging or riding.

[M_O_Connor]

[QUOTE=beowulf;7847557]
Not quite always true… You’re never fully in control of an animal that outweighs to 10-1…[/QUOTE]

Actually, yes you are.

Which is the whole point, and why our relationship with horses is so special, that with the proper training and knowledge of horsemanship, they will submit themselves to us and do as we ask.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=M. O’Connor;7848935]
Actually, yes you are.

Which is the whole point, and why our relationship with horses is so special, that with the proper training and knowledge of horsemanship, they will submit themselves to us and do as we ask.[/QUOTE]

I don’t think, at any point, no matter how beautiful the partnership, a person is ever fully in control of another sentient living being. JMO.