Lunging and Long Lining

Lunging is a very important part of horsemanship. If you have been around a busy barn you have probably heard someone say “I would lunge that horse before getting on.” But what does it truly mean to lunge a horse? When I lunge a horse I always have a purpose to lunging. I cannot tell you the number of times I have gotten a horse in for training and the second I put the horse on a lunge line it starts to gallop off. I won’t argue that sometimes a horse needs a good run and a couple bucks to be ready to do its job. But most of the horses I work with, do not respond to this method of lunging. I work with a lot of green and young horses, most of them being off the track thoroughbreds.

I always say you will ware out a thoroughbreds mind before you ware out their body. Plus a lot of times if you just race a thoroughbred around they get more worked up and even hotter than before the lunge. So I start off every lunging session with at lease 5 min of walking. Hotter horses possibly more, slower horses I make them march the walk and get right to work. Once I have established all I want them to do on the lunge is walk, I start to ask for a bigger working walk. Where they start to loosen up and swing in their movement more. I focus my attention mostly on their shoulders and their hips. Just at the walk I can pin point where a horse is tight, not straight, and where they don’t want to hold themselves together. This helps me figure out what to work on during the rest of the session. The walk is the most important gait in my opinion.

Then I start working in the trot. Still not letting the horse shoot off into the next gait, and if they do, I calmly bring the, back to the walk and try again. I do many transitions from walk to trot and trot to walk. Every time trying to achieve a looser free flowing trot, and a forward downward transition to a working walk. I am constantly asking for a shape of the body, meaning the horse should track with its body shaping around your lunging circle and their head straight or nose slightly in. If your horse has a tendency to bulge out on the lunge line the next section about long lining will help with strengthening that side. Lastly I work the canter. Working it the least of all the gaits. I maybe have them canter two laps on each side, with a forward walk transition in the middle. This is a normal lunging routine for me, and then a training ride. But being pregnant and not being able to do as many training rides for my client horses as I’d like, I have also added long lining to everyone’s training program.

Long lining or long line lunging as I like to call it is to loosen the horse, bring the back up, and engage the hind under. The Pessoa system system is a good alternative, but with long lining you can feel the horse in your hands better. When they want to lean and become heavy in the hand you can correct it more effectively. You have separate “rein” aids and “leg”aids v.s the Pessoa system which has consistent pressure on both sides no matter where they are leaning. Long lining requires two lunge lines, a surcingle, and a lunge whip if needed. Once your horse and you are used to the long lines you can use the whip to not only encourage forward movement but also encourage a little bit of lateral movement if they are leaning into your circle. I long line all my horses in their halters, I just feel like it gives a better result for carrying themselves and discourages leaning on the bit since there isn’t one. To start you attach one of the lunge lines to the inside square of the halter, the other goes through the ring of the surcingle that lines up with the middle of their shoulder and hooks to the outside square of the halter. The outside lunge line runs behind your horses butt sitting just above the hocks. If it’s your horses first time they might thinks it’s a little strange to have the line behind them , so take your time getting them used to it.

With your body and the two lunge lines you will create a triangle, with you being the top point. I would suggest getting used to holding both the long lines before adding the whip. I of course start with a big floaty walk. You don’t want the long lines to fall to the ground, but you also don’t want them holding your horse so tight they are tense in the poll and jaw. Remember long lining is to help teach self carriage, not you holding them in place. I focus on the shoulders and hind legs the most. Followed by what I feel in my hands. If the horse is leaning on my hand, then I ask them to step up from the opposite hind leg of where they are wanting to lean. I do this by focusing my cluck or whip on the hind leg I want to to push a little deeper into a slight feel of the rein on the side they are wanting to lean. It takes some patience, practice, and sore arms but it all gets easier. Just know you and your horse will need many learning sessions together, don’t expect your horse to engage and be perfect right away.

Next is to start working the trot, with many transitions. A horse that is weak in the back will raise its head and hallow it back into the trot. The horse might want to race or want to go into a more up and down gait rather than flowing. We want to work the trot the same as we did the walk, if they are too tight and tense got back to the walk for a bit to get them to relax again. Don’t rush this you will not get the results you desire. Using half halts and pushing the hind into the half halt with eventually get the desired result, tell your horse good job and let them walk. It just takes time. Like normal lunging I do not work the canter much in long lining. It can be harder to hold the lines in the right place at the canter and balance everything. I recommend staying at the walk and trot until you are very comfortable with using this system. If done once a week you will feel the difference under saddle as well. Happy riding and thanks for reading!
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