Aspects of correct lunging and early work under saddle
Why do we need to prepare the horse on the lunge and in hand rather than just hop on the green horse, desensitize it and start riding?
Horse were not made to be ridden. Carrying a rider is a totally unnatural and foreign concept for a horse, one for which nature has not equipped it. Well, at least not without taking significant damage both physically and mentally.
You hear the term “natural balance” in conjunction with horse training and riding. Obviously, there is such a thing as “natural balance” that each horse possesses by nature, otherwise it would fall down. But when it comes to riding, to put it bluntly, we have to get rid of this natural balance. It neither serves the rider, nor the horse, because it is linked to overloading of the front legs and crookedness. Again, this serves a horse in nature perfectly well, but if not addressed right from the start in the career of a ridden horse, the horse will gradually start to break down.
The word “dressage (which means “training”) is the pursuit (or the art) of training a horse to stay healthy under saddle and be able to follow the rider’s commands in various situations.
For this to happen, we need to gradually de-establish the horses “natural balance” and put it into an “artificial balance” which ultimately serves it better when carrying a rider.
So, in short, we have to embark on a complete physical and mental re-education program!
It is not unlike a person trying to learn golf or tennis. Eventually we could all manage to hit the ball, especially if we had some talent, have an athletic figure, good stamina and higher than average hand to eye coordination. But, if we had to do this every day for 1-2 hours and possibly being asked to excel at it, without ever learning the proper technique? Would we end up sore, have some sort of overuse injury, sore joints, strained tendons? Most likely! A lot of sports put our bodies into shapes and postures that are not natural and the same is true for the horse when it is ridden.
The first reaction a horse would have to weight put on its back would be to tense up and brace the muscles in its back. That leads to sinking of the back, narrowing of the DSP (dorsal spinous processes) of the vertebrae, tension and likely a lifting of its neck and head and standing his hindquarters out behind (picture a saw horse). The longer the horse will hold this posture, the more the tissues will tense, which leads to lack of blood supply, pain and finally the fascia tissue will become sticky and dense and likely stay shortened permanently. End result is a contacted, lowered back, that looks and feels tense and possibly sore to the touch and a horse that is pretty unwilling to lower his head and neck (unless you use some crude influence with your hands and the help of various bits).
Question: how many ridden horses have you seen that have a poor top line when the saddle comes off? That should not be the case!
This scenario is only but a very superficial explanation of what happens, we have not even touched on the mental and emotional aspect, brought about by latent stress (from discomfort and pain), and the effect of various muscles and muscle groups including their connective tissues, if they are asked to work in a less than optimal way. But this is really too technical and does not help to understand the basic “HOW” of approaching correct horse training.
In order to avoid this process and stop a vicious circle right from the start, be patient and spend a bit more time to condition your horse’s body and prepare it for his riding career.
The best position for this initial postural stability training is what used to be called the “remount” position. It means that the horse has to have his neck a bit extended (not fully stretched) and his head with the nose line at or slightly in front of the vertical, with his mouth more or less at the level of the point-of-shoulder. There are various anatomical and biomechanical reasons why this position is the ideal posture, but I will talk about this in another post. In short, by utilizing this position, we take advantage of SOME of the horse’s natural postural support habits ( see above “natural balance” ) which create a framework of stability for a time and with which we can start to develop other muscles that in the end can properly support and carry the horse with its rider.
Picture a frame(work) for people, much like a walking stick, or better, a walking frame that not just older people use, but say, people that had injuries. Whilst their damaged muscles, tendons and ligaments are being rehabilitated or trained, they use a walking frame (or other means of support) to help until they are strong enough to do things without.
So picture this “remount” position described above as a kind of “walking frame” for the horse.
If we would not allow the horse this frame, it still would do as we ask, but with its body in a bad position, which means muscles would tense.
From the above, you now understand that this position is not natural to the horse, and some horses will offer all sorts of contortions trying NOT to go into this position. So we need to gently and with patience and knowledge, introduce the horse to this position and gently persist in asking for this position to be held during simple transitions. Little by little, the horse understands that life is easier and more comfortable, moving like this and concurrently, the neural pathways in his brain will be established for the horse to “learn” and adapt this way of going more reliable.
It is easiest to first introduce the horse to this position in hand prior to lunging. As basic equipment you will need a well fitting bridle with a nice bit and possibly a cavesson (especially if you want to lunge afterwards). The cavesson is not absolutely necessary for in hand work, but especially with either young or very strong horses or re-train horses, I often use a cavesson with a lunge line attached, so if the horse starts putting too much weight into the reins, I can check it with the cavesson rather than being too harsh in its mouth via the bit.
However, organizing the lunge line and the reins when you are just learning to master this technique can be challenging.
You will start with simple exercises along the long side of the arena, slowly walking forward, stopping, walking on again, stopping again. Once the horse is established in this, you can add a short rein back. Always keep attention to the position of the head and the neck, ensure the horse keeps it in this position, does not want to lift the neck, or lower it, or shorten it (happens a lot!) or twist or tilt the head one way or another. You are aiming for an even and light contact on the reins and using your whip on the side of the horse (level with the leg of the rider when ridden), the horse should step forward easily with one gentle touch (you can add a voice cue if you like)
Photo showing the rider's position during early in hand work to prepare the horse for lunging and introduce it to the first steps of postural rehabilitation. (Note: the horse in this example is a more advanced ridden horse but was not used to this kind of work).
This exercises looks very simple and is not spectacular, but it takes some coordination from the handler, so it is best learnt during a practical session with an instructor.
This approach also teaches the horse to step forward without taking extra weight into the reins, maintaining an even and light contact. So here you have the earliest version of the well known training term of “keeping your horse between your legs (whip in this case) and your hands. Additionally, this exercise is also the beginning of straightness training, establishing horizontal balance (ie back to front and front to back) and initiates the horse in the concept of lifting through the back and engaging its core.
After this, you can start lunging. On the lunge we are using the same principles. We want for the horse to establish and maintain an even contact and stay between our hands (lunge in this case) and our legs (lunge whip).
For this to happen, the rider has to take responsibility for his/her own balance and position, and if the horse finds a nice contact, the rider has to also help maintain that contact. Sounds easy? Yes, but how do you do that when lunging?
You have to stay still in the middle and only pivot around your own legs! Do NOT move forward (or back), your own core has to be engaged, your shoulders have to be squared to the horse and your elbows have to be connected to the sides of your body. If you go backwards and forwards with your hand holding the lunge line, the horse will either pull you with it when it falls out of the circle or you drop the contact that your horse is trying to establish. So you become a moving reference point, which is counterproductive. You have to be a stable reference point!
Picture a post, and be that post, but without being harsh. Just be firm, centered and the best reference point you can be. Your horse has to learn to move on a circle, not an egg, pear, or any other crooked shape, or else it will never learn to balance or be consistent in its rhythm.
A cavesson is important here, with a ring at the centre to attach the lunge line. Through this, via the lunge, you will have to establish and feel the quality of the contact your horse will offer you. If it pulls or falls in, you can correct it without the horse tilting the head (this can happen if the lunge is attached anywhere else).
“Pushing” is done with the whip action in the direction of the hind quarters, if the horse fall in on the circle, point your whip in the direction of its shoulders and/or flick a wave through your lunge line which will action on the horses face and ask it to step out of the circle. Be careful not to act on the lunge and use the whip at the same time. Only do one thing at a time and keep your correcting in the rhythm of the horses gait. So “legs without reins/hands, and reins/hands without legs” ie. the separation of the aids, even applies to lunging.
Diagram showing the position of the rider in relation to the horse and the two sides of a triangle made by the lunge line and the whip. (Source: FN 1, 1986)
You don’t really need more equipment than that, although some horses might benefit from side reins to give them more guidance. But these techniques should be done after some practical training of the person doing the lunging and also with the knowledge of the correct length and placement of the side reins. This differs from horse to horse and case to case.
Start with the walk, easy, relaxed, rhythmical. Maybe have the horse on a smaller circle, possibly even just a few meters away from you, so you can establish the contact first. If you don’t have a contact, you cannot place the horse in the arena and it could go anywhere. Allow the horse enough time to relax and familiarize itself with the arena and you working with it from some distance.
So this is just again a brief outline of some absolute lunging basics. There is more to it and you can become very good at it to help your horse a lot with its training. You can also use it later on, to check the progression of your horse’s training under saddle.
Timetable for a young horse or a horse coming back to work
20-30 minutes lunging initially, start with 15 minutes in a very green horse or horse that comes back into work after a longer break (including mares used for breeding)
Work up to 20 minutes, walking and trotting
Change the rein often, at least 4x during a 20 minute session
When the horse can easily trot for 20 minutes holding the desired position, it is fit enough to start being ridden.
Start the lunging session with 5-10 minutes of in hand work to help establish the horses position and correct way of going. This is done in a slow walk, paying attention to the way the horse uses its body and helping to make it understand as much as possibly how to move correctly. Some of this work is done very slowly, paying attention to each step of the horse and the way the horse holds its body whilst stepping. Pay attention to a correct head and neck position, making sure the horse does not change this position during a halt - walk - halt sequence. Look for a light even contact on the reins and an active hind leg, but don’t have the horse rush or fall onto its shoulders.
This slow work establishes not only a physical position of the horse, but also helps the horse learn how to hold itself better. It helps to lay down neural pathways in the horse’s brain that it will be able to hold this position also when lunged and under saddle.
Total time for initial lunging: 9-12 weeks.
Toward the end, you can gradually introduce riding. First adding 5 minutes at the end of the lunging session, then increasing the riding session and decreasing the lunging session.
The total time for the entire session is 6-12 months, but which time you would have a young horse that has strengthen its back sufficiently and is moving forward with early understanding of balance and rhythm.
Longitudinal and vertical balance - aspects of straightness and balance
How to establish the correct “working trot” for your horse? (both on the lunge and riding)
The working trot is the most useful gait (other than the walk) to condition the young horse. It is neither a collected trot, nor a medium trot, nor an extended trot. It falls somewhere between the collected and medium trot. Each horse has its own working trot in terms of pace and rhythm. But how do you find it? And I say “find it” because if you do not settle the horse in exactly its correct speed and rhythm the benefits will not be there.
Here is how to do it: ride your horse in rising trot, very relaxed and easy. Don’t influence it with the reins at all, just enough so you can keep him trotting along the whole school, or on an easy 20m circle. Do this until you find the horse has settled and trots along in a relaxed and rhythmical manner. At that point, you have found the natural trotting pace of your horse. Once you have achieved that, push (using your legs), just a LITTLE MORE, so your horse has to work just a little bit harder. If you push too much, the horse will either speed up and/or change the rhythm of its trot. Then you know you have done too much and you need to allow your horse to slow down a bit and settle back to its original rhythm. So paying attention to the rhythm, at all times, is paramount. If you manage to push your horse just that little bit more and it stays in the same rhythm and balance, you have found your horses working trot! Congratulations!
One word of caution; you have to be very aware that you do not loose or change your own balance/position in the rising trot when you do this. Remember, a young horse still needs to find its own balance, so having to carry a rider who cannot take control of his/her own balance, makes it just that much harder for the horse. Resist the urge to fall forward, looks down or even slightly bend forwards from the shoulders, any movement of this kind, no matter how small will unbalance the horse and likely tip it further toward its shoulders.
Likewise, pay attention that you have even weight distribution through both stirrups and try to stay as much as possible in the centre of the horse/saddle. This is not always as easy as it sounds, because young horses constantly struggle to maintain their balance and this is why they speed up and slow down all the time. So any instruction that tells you to “go with the horse” or “follow the horse’s movement” is actually not strictly correct, especially not with a young horse. You as the rider, have to put your body in a position of the movement you want to ride (example 20 m circle, straight line) and then STAY ON THAT LINE. If your horse shifts from that line, being unbalanced, you have to remain with your body on that line to help the horse rebalance itself.
If you were to “go with the horse” in a misunderstood attempt to be nice or light with your aids - you are further unbalancing the horse!
Once you have found the working trot, you can ride large arena figures, alternating between straight lines and simple curved lines. Ride theses arena figures as precisely as you can, either using arena markers or any other aids that might help you. This will be challenging enough for your horse and teaches it to find balance and strengthen through its core.
Examples of easy arena figures for young horses are:
Whole school, using each corner correctly to introduce lateral bending
Changes of rein through the diagonal, or short diagonal if you have a large school (easier for a young horse)
Riding the centre line
Riding the quarter line 20 meter circles, including a series of 20 meter circles one at each end and one in the middle of the school
Simple loops along the long side
3 loops across the arena
The reason these simple figures are used is because they are gradually strengthening the muscles that are needed for pushing power and for carrying power. Both are important to establish the “artificial balance” that we talked about at the beginning of this article. If your horse can execute all those keeping a constant rhythm and maintaining the remount position, you have achieved your first goal in positional postural strengthening.
Below is an example of a correct “remount” position. We will discuss the details of the areas indicated with arrows in the next article. In the meantime, just try to keep this picture in your mind. (Source: FN 2013)
The last picture is of an incorrect "remount" position. Again, I have used arrows indicate some of the more obvious issues, which we will discuss in the next article. (Source: FN 2013)
Next article: Keep you horse in a box! ….and more on pushing and carrying power.