Improving your horse’s work prior to the show season-

Part 1- Lungeing

Whether you have a young horse commencing his competitive career or a thoroughbred being converted from race horse to show or dressage prospect, a very good place to start your horse’s serious education is with lunge work.

Go to any Royal Show and you will see countless people lungeing horses, often in an almost mindless manner. The nightmare stories you hear of, with horses being lunged all night so that they will be too tired to misbehave in an important event, are real and to my mind this borders on cruelty to the horse. Often this plan backfires anyway as the horse is so muscle sore that he goes unevenly in the event and fails to place.

I will often see horses simply being lunged off a headstall. Now perhaps they are receiving some form of low grade exercise from this but the training value of this is simply non-existent. Lungeing is an art when performed correctly. It should be giving exercise (particularly to the horses back and topline) and training, by continually improving a horse’s suppleness, balance, rhythm and self-carriage.

Like many aspects of equestrian knowledge, many roads lead to Rome. Ask six experts how they lunge and you will get six different answers- possibly all valuable! I was fortunate that I was taught to lunge by two experts, each with many years of elite overseas training. Yet even these experts hold different approaches to lungeing. However, as one very wise trainer once said “Don’t dwell on the differences in training methods – instead embrace the similarities.”

So, for what it’s worth here is the “Dunstan method” – which sits more towards the purist end of the spectrum. I’m not one for gimmicks or gadgets. I do require a lunge rein, lunge whip, lungeing cavesson, side reins and roller (if my training session consists of lunge work only). If I intend to lunge for approximately 20 minutes, followed by perhaps 30 minutes ridden work, I will have the horse saddled (stirrups secured) and bridled (Hanoverian noseband and loose ring snaffle is my usual choice for a work bridle) with the reins twisted and sitting up under the throat lash, safely out of the way during the lungeing process. With side reins, I strongly recommend they are elasticized at a point close to where they attach to the bit. I like clips at either end of the bit (rather than buckles – for safety) and a middle buckle adjustment with holes for accurate length.

When I intend to lunge and ride (especially if the horse is very capable on the lunge) I will disperse with the cavesson and lunge directly off the inside ring of the bit, with the lunge rein attached above the inside side rein. I ALWAYS allow the horse to have a few minutes in each direction without being attached to the side reins as a preliminary warm up to allow the horse to stretch his back muscles or get rid of any exuberant energy he may have, particularly if he has been stabled. I will also have given the horse a few minutes of relaxed walking in the area he is to be lunged in. During this time (and briefly while the horse is standing beside me) I gently stroke his neck and quarters with lunge whip. It is a very helpful aspect of lunging if the horse shows a calm respectfulness of the lunge whip but no tension or anxiety.

I like the image of a circular clock when explaining lunging. Think of yourself at the centre of a 15-20m diameter clock. The horse follows the perimeter of the clock and the lunge rein is one hand of the clock going directly from your hand to the horse’s mouth. The whip is the other hand of the clock going directly from your other hand to the horse’s tail. The horse’s trot should have a consistent, even, active rhythm – like the ticking of a clock. Be prepared to be flexible with the size of your circles initially however gradually try to develop more accuracy as the horse becomes more proficient with his lunge work. Later, intentionally increase and decrease the size of your circles as the horse’s progressive balance and suppleness permits.

Have the inside side rein one hole shorter than the outside. This, combined with the gentle giving and taking of the lunge rein on the horse’s mouth will gradually (over a few weeks) develop the suppleness you wish to achieve. Try not to let the horse “cut in” on the circle. Keep pushing him forward and out gently with the whip until there is a constant elastic contact in the lunge rein between the horse’s mouth and your hand. It’s as if you are riding him from the ground, the whip being your driving inside leg and lunge rein you soft, giving inside rein.

Work equally in both directions. Change rein approximately every 5 minutes – a 20 minute session is usually enough. For horses first commencing lunge work, begin in a safe, enclosed area ie a large round yard, an indoor arena or one end of a fenced in ménage. The walls will help you with control while the horse is learning what is expected of him.

When it come to side reins, it is always better that they are too loose than too short and tight. The contact and the desired frame should be achieved gradually over a few weeks, not over the space of one lunge session.

In the second half of the lunge session, you could vary the work with canter/trot transitions – trot a few circles then canter 2 or 3 circles. The transitions will improve both the canter and the trot as well as your horse’s obedience.

Finally your voice is very helpful with lunge work. It’s not the word that’s important – more the tone of your voice. A short, sharp command for upwards transitions and to activate the paces and a long, drawn out, calm tone to achieve more relaxed paces and downward transitions.

Lungeing is an integral and ongoing part of a horse’s education. It is the quickest and simplest way to improve a horse’s work and even a less talented rider, who is observant and patient, can become very capable at lungeing.

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