Horse Lunging & Fighting Agents of Dumb
August 30th, 2008
Lunging is a skill every horse should know how to do, and do controlled. Controlled lunging is an absolute must if other riders are around. A MUST. And, depending the reasons for lunging, it might be best, for the fresh horse, to be lunged alone, with NO other riders in the ring.
Though the act of lunging a horse is fairly simple, it is much more than putting a lung line on a horse’s halter and having it run around you. However pedestrian and possibly boring the act (for both horse and equestrian), lunging, just like all horse activities, actually takes some common sense.
Anyone see where this is going?
The barn I ride at has three arenas. One outdoor arena with a full jump course, fully fenced with a gate, one indoor arena that sometimes has a jump set up or trot poles set up, also fully enclosed, and one dressage ring, fenced, with no gate. Out back, a 20+ acre cross country course with a pretty large open field including hills and several other open areas. There are jumps spread throughout with some cool water elements.
I enjoy riding in the cross country fields one or two days a week. Alone. It’s nice to get out of the (crowded) ring, and the hills are a great workout for the horses. Also, the open space provides a great workout for me during 40+ minute gallops.
Last Saturday afternoon was a choice day to ride in the open space. My husband was with me, the barn was empty, and the weather was perfect.
I decided to take my big guy out back; a strong S.O.B. in the fields. Hacking in the ring takes all the leg I have to keep him going at a moderate pace, but in the fields, it’s no leg for me, just a lot of whoa!
Set right in the center of the biggest field in the cross country course is a large bank complex; my husband’s spot. He took his place accordingly, and after a nice 20 minute, very forward warmup trot, I moved into the canter. As I was trying to keep pace and not yet get into a full-tilt gallop (my biceps are getting huge), suddenly the only other person at the barn walked her horse into the field I was riding in.
Surprised, I think I jumped out of my skin even a bit faster than my mount.
I assumed, at first, the woman was walking her horse back to graze. Not so. In tow: a lunge whip, wadded lunge line.
40 acres of grounds; this gal has to come work by me.
Up to the top of the main hill she went, and so down immediately went the lunge whip.
I tried my best to go about my business and return to the canter, or then, the lowest speed of gallop as my horse was as irritated as I was that we had company. My first lap around, I noticed the gal’s horse eating grass at the jog as the woman nagged the horse (in full sentences) while the lunge line drug on the ground. Clearly, moving forward was not this horse’s priority.
Soooo…we stopped. We walked. Waited for badness. The woman noticed her “work” had interrupted mine, and she then rushed to pick up the slack and walked towards the horse. Just as we returned to the controlled gallop, my horse exploded. He went up, I stopped, we twirled around, and saw the horse being lunged taking off dragging both lunge line and lunger. She hit the dirt immediately.
Loosing site of the horse, we heard him gallop down the path, through the river, towards the barn.
Oh man, then my big guy was pissed. Excited, snorting, rearing, jigging, hell, I was pissed too.
According to my husband, the horse wanted to go one way (to continue eating grass at the jog), the woman wanted him to go another way, and the lunge line tangled around the horse’s neck.
Nice.
I had to jump off my guy and hand walk him until he settled down. The woman attempted a few apologies, but at that point, I was far too annoyed. PLUS – go get your damn horse!
After about 2-3 minutes of settling down, I got back on and forced a canter. No galloping until I trusted he had his wits to him. After a few times around, calm, and quiet, I decided to let him go. So much fun.
We turned up the hill and I gave him the reins. He knows what that means, and he pushed forward, excited, then JUMPED SIDEWAYS. I halted. WTF?
She came BACK. With now, super riled up, stubborn horse. She started a lunge, again, lacking any control whatsoever. Her horse raced around, bucking wild while she nagged him, again, in that (I can still hear it) meakish voice (you know the one), asking, “Please trot. No. Go to the right…” Ugh.
Thankfully, she only stayed another 5-10 minutes. Had she been dragged back towards the barn a second time, I hoped she would have gotten the hint that MAYBE YOU SHOULD WORK ON YOUR LUNGING SKILLS BEFORE GOING OUT INTO AN OPEN FIELD.
This isn’t the first time I have run into problems with inexperienced horse people attempting to lunge a horse in the company of other riders. Even in a ring, if one doesn’t have complete control of the horse, no lunging should take place unless alone, and preferably, with supervision.
Lunging a horse takes more than standing in the center while a horse whirls around you. Here are some lunging requirements:
- Don’t allow the lunge line to drag on the ground
- If you can’t lunge while holding a lunge whip you shouldn’t be lunging
- Understand that where you stand helps communicate to your horse if you want them to go forward, stay the same, or slow down
- Body position will also keep the horse going in the correct direction (a lunge whip is useful for those belligerent horses)
- Don’t lunge in an open area if you aren’t in control
- Don’t lunge with others riding if you aren’t in control
- Always ask if there are other riders if they mind if you lunge
After this incident, the biggest question I had over the weekend was “why was this girl lunging anyway?” There was clearly no point to it. I felt as though the only reason to lunge this horse, let alone lunge out in the only area where someone else was riding, was to annoy me. Yes, some fight the agents of death; me, the agents of pester.
What else could it have been? Quick exercise? Why not throw him in the indoor and lunge him in there, or better yet, free lunge him? She didn’t ride afterwards, so the lunge was not to pre-empt a few bucks. Even then, walking all the way out back seems a little silly…
Luckily (for her) she was gone by the time I got done with my ride. Though I was annoyed by the stupidity involved, I still managed to have a great ride while entertaining my husband with my irritation.
I’m his little pistol.
Tags: lunging
