Lunge Lessons
Once upon a time, I never considered riding my horse before starting with a twenty-minute lunging session. In my early learning-to-ride days, the dressage barn where my daughter and I took lessons, regularly lunged the horse before mounting up. Later, when I returned to lessons at a hunter-jumper barn, lunging was only occasionally used for very new riders. At first, I thought, huh, that’s different. But new discipline, new instructor, new philosophy. I began to appreciate more time spent in the saddle. We always warmed up the horses with transitions in all gaits before any serious under-saddle work. Also, particularly in summer, the lesson horses were ridden a few times each day so long warm-ups were not needed.
Lunging is a useful and valuable tool. Read More. For many horses, this is how their training begins. It develops focus, response to cues, and teaches respect for the human. Balance and flexibility, as well as muscle development, can all be enhanced with correct and regular lunging. Nervous or excitable horses can benefit from a 20-minute lunge session to take the edge off excess energy and get his focus back to the work. It also is a great way to work through a particularly spooky issue like the ginormous new tractor, or the one place where ALL the deer like to hang out and plot the best way to freak out your horse.
To lunge, or not lunge is not a debate into I wish to stick my stirrup. As with most things, I am middle-of-the-road on it. It’s an important skill for both the rider and horse to have, but endless circling without purpose is not an advantage. But I have decided to spend some time with Mae on the lunge line for a few reasons.
- Between a full-time job, being a part-time student, and just life, I am not riding as often as I should. And Mae as a pasture-puff is not ideal. The reduced saddle time in the last couple of years shows in her topline. Also, she is getting older (I hate that phrase), so regular exercise has a different and significant meaning.
- A close friend’s two children desperately want to do some riding, one of which is in remission from cancer and is in physical therapy. I am a huge fan of therapeutic riding. Some of the riding will be done on a lunge line.
- Mae can be…lazy. Some time on the lunge to freshen her cues and responses will –hopefully – help.
So this post will be a continual one as I track our progress. So stay tuned!
Day 1 – OMG, it was awful. It was like we both forgot every nuance of lunging. She either wanted to eat grass (I ride in grassy areas) or cut into me. The lunge line felt like twisted spaghetti in my hand. In fifteen minutes, with my frustration climbing, I gave up. I texted my friend Amanda, who keeps her horse at my place, and how badly it went. She offered to give it a try later that day when she came for the evening feeding. Later that day, she texted back. Mae was going much better on the line after a bit of a tantrum. Incredibly grateful to Amanda!
Day 2 – As we walked into the field she followed without diving for grass. A good start. Then as I asked her to move out in a circle, she did try to dip into me, but a couple of flicks with the whip at her shoulder and she moved out. Then success! She did great, keeping out on her circle. Some of the laziness still showed, but she so much better. We spent only a few minutes at the walk and trot in both directions. I wanted to end on a happy note. At the end as a rubbed her head and headed back to the barn, she licked her lips several times. I’m taking that as a good sign.
Day 3 – Another good morning. She took one or two steps toward me at the very start, but a quick correction and you could almost see her say, “Oh Yeah.” We did have an audience this morning. Mae saw her first. A female turtle at the edge of the field and she was laying eggs. Mae looked at her a few times, but there was no change in her gait. She is generally not a spooky horse.
