Horse Lunging Techniques

What You'll Need

• Teaching a horse to move quietly on a long line is necessary before attempting to put him into a bitting rig. All you need at this stage is a halter, a lunge rope or line and a lunge whip. A 20 to 30-foot rope or lunge line allows for a big enough circle that the horse can walk, trot and canter without struggling to maintain his balance. The lunge whip is used to guide and encourage---not to whip the horse to go faster.

Starting Your Horse

• Stand at your horse's shoulder, facing him, with the whip in your right hand and the excess line coiled in your left. Extend your left hand to your left to allow the horse to walk forward and tap his hind leg with the whip while asking him to "Walk!" or clucking to him. Praise him when he walks forward. Don't let him turn in toward you. Walk with him if you need to, but stay on your own inner circle while he walks a larger one. Gradually, pay out line as he walks quietly on, so that the circle keeps getting bigger until he is at the end of the line. Encourage him to keep walking by flicking the whip or clucking to him. Point the whip at his shoulder if he tries to turn in and keep him walking. Don't get in front of him, as he'll stop; always be where you can drive from behind (aligned with his shoulder is best). To work on the right hand, reverse the whip and the lunge line in your hands and repeat the exercise.

Controlling Your Horse

• Once you have him walking on his own on the circle, use your voice to praise and encourage. State clearly "Walk!" in an upbeat tone when you want him to go faster and "Whoa," in a downbeat tone to halt him. Horses pick up on your voice well, and they learn, "Walk, trot, canter, and whoa" quickly. In the beginning, you will likely have to "reel in" your horse to slow him down or halt him, gathering up the line as you repeat "Whoa" or "Walk!" until he stops or slows to a walk. Dropping the whip like a bar in front of him is also a good way to get him to slow down. It is well to shorten the line immediately if he wants to buck and play, before he drags you across the arena or gets away from you and learns that you don't have good control of him on a long line. Bring him to a walk or trot and put him on a small circle whenever you feel he is getting too frisky and not working.

Keeping the Circle

• It is important to keep your horse traveling on a circle, not an oval or a square. The point of lunging is to build muscle across the horse's top line and to teach him balance. If he is wandering all over the arena, he is evading having to work. Hold your ground: stand in one place and make him circle you. If he cuts in or pulls out (usually at the gate), anticipate him by driving him forward with the whip a quarter circle before the point he wants to turn out, making him work through the bad spot. Once he has learned to stay on the circle, and can work easily on it at the walk, trot and canter, you and he are ready to begin more advanced work, with a surcingle, side reins and bridle to teach him to work into the bit. Be sure your horse is listening to your voice and understands the lunging process before you attempt work in the bridle. Forcing a horse into short side reins before he is ready often results in him panicking, often rearing over backward and injuring himself. Go slow and always keep him on as short a line as required to keep him under control.