In the last article we described the technique for lunging, how lunging benefits your horse, and what you can learn about your horse by observing him as he circles around you.
Lunging lays a good foundation for under-saddle work. Your horse learns to be attentive to you, and to watch your body language as you dictate the pace that you want him to travel and also as you determine the exact path of the circle. PACE, PATH and POSITION are the building blocks for the lessons we teach. Having discussed pace in the last issue, and leaving POSITION (which I describe as the horse’s frame, or degree of collection) for a future article, we will now talk about PATH. Lateral or side to side control and how practicing these techniques on the lunge will make you a much more effective rider.
YOU’RE INVADING MY SPACE!
As any rider will certainly have experienced, most horses want to change the O shaped circles we intend to ride into D shapes. Whether they seem to be magnetized toward the barn, the gate, or another horse, they tend to cut in on one side of the circle, and bulge out on the other. It is the rider’s job to round out the drift, and flatten out the bulge (kind of like cosmetic surgery!). On the lunge, the whip does what the rider’s inside leg would do. If your horse drifts in towards you, rather than taking a step backward to maintain the tension on the lunge line, point your whip to his belly and walk toward you horse, invading his "personal space". If he moves away, lower your whip as a reward. If he does not, I often make things simpler by stopping and holding the horse close to the halter with one hand, and using the handle of the whip in the other to push him away from me in a side-pass. Again, when he does get the idea of stepping laterally away and respecting my space, I reward him by lowering my whip and taking a "breather". Eventually, your horse will get the idea of moving away from your inside aid rather than moving faster, or worse, running into you!
This will give you and extra measure of control when, on the lunge or under saddle, he is unsure of something on the rail and wants to spook, inward, or tries to face to the inside on a canter transition, or simply cuts a corner.
BATTLING THE BULGE
If, on the other side of the circle, your horse bulges out away from you, stand your ground and pull on the lunge until he makes the effort to come in toward you a bit, and then soften the line again. The idea is to lunge your horse in an imaginary round pen. When he hits the outside "wall" and you’ve determined it, he’ll feel a tug, but when he remains within the boundary, he’ll feel no pressure on his head. Refrain from hanging on to the lunge line in "tug-of-war" fashion with your horse bracing against you. Again, I usually run the chain across the bridge of the nose to provide extra control if I need it. For horses that really pull to the outside, and you fear may drag you water-skiing across your arena. If you don’t have a round pen, try placing some poles on the ground to keep him within your perimeter.
You will soon determine where your horse wants to leak outside of your circle. As with every situation in riding, if you pay attention to the warning signs, you can often nip the problem in the bud. Bulges are often preceded by a slowing in pace, or the horse may look up and to the outside at something like the gate or a buddy and then try to get his body over there. Increase the rhythm and try to pull the horse across that part of the circle, envisioning it as a stop-sign shape rather than a curve.
The benefits of studying your horse from the ground before you climb aboard, and learning to anticipate his movements by lunging him will be enjoyed when you ride, and also when you are beside him on the ground. He’ll be more attentive to your body language and therefore safer and more pleasant to be around. After all, horses communicate by reading each other’s body language, and thus determining their hierarchy. Lunging provides a warm up and a chance for you to assess your horse before beginning your ride.
Lindsay Grice