Stop lunging your horse ..

Now I’ve got your attention… let’s unpack this!

I don’t mean completely stop, lunging has its value as part of a balanced training regime when executed well and with a plan.

Nearly every new combination I meet for a mounted lesson I prescribe ground work to support the ongoing development of the the horse.

Whether it’s to improve suppleness, develop body quality, grow understanding of the aids, increase or decrease reactivity (response to the aids) or simply add some variation to the horses workload without having to carry the rider, this is phenomenally beneficial !

Cue 9/10 telling me they will start to lunge their horse more, to which on more occasions than not I say -PLEASE DON’T. While single line lunging has its merits, it’s rarely done in a way that is actually going to target ad develop horses in overtly positive way, horses end up whizzing around on small circles potentially eroding their limbs developing poor body patterns and mental connections with this type of work. Ohh and yes, they get fit, very fit, quite quickly (way quicker than the human does, rider fitness is a whole other topic!) and that ‘fitness’ often comes with mental and emotional dysregulation, poor posture, incorrect loading of limbs and incorrect muscle activation, and to be honest there are million other things you can do to strengthen and supple the horse rather than blindly training in poor patterns and body issues for the future.

Emotional overwhelm

Slow down ! .... Speed is not your friend… however slow you are going with your horse you are likely going to fast and going fast is a sure route back to slowness (through injury or re training in the future) you will have to go slow at some stage, why not start slow and grow … a favourite mantra of mine is ‘be slow, to grow’!

So if you want to learn about ground work … of course I’d be happy to help you along your journey along side your riding, but please explore other options. There is a myriad of ground work options available, it’s just a case of finding what works for you.. the ground work I work with is peppered with an approach of ‘take what works, leave what doesn’t’ from many years of trial and error. In person learning will always win, hands down a coach working, with you and your horse con ticking subtle changes and improvements.

Single line lunge with the EquiCore system.

But if you can’t get a in person lesson, a good place to start is dressagetraining.tv there is a step by step ground work programme. if you're looking for a lunging program to learn form then check out this online course https://www.kudaguru.com/ropehalterlunging  from KudaGuru from Ashleigh, who is a colleague working internationally

Many others also have great qualities, TRT, Straightness Training and Balance Thorough Movement to name a few.

(I am not affiliated with any of these training systems).