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Last summer,
MM Training instructors focused a good portion of ground training
lessons on teaching our students correct lunging techniques.
Through the years, we have found that lunging can be such a great
training tool for horse and handler. Handlers can learn some
skills that will improve their overall horsemanship, and the horse
can learn a number of maneuvers to add to its future training
success under saddle. Lunging is not an easy exercise to perform,
nor is it easy to teach. But, as instruc-tors, we felt that we
needed to address lunging in more depth because we saw so many
people lunging their horses incorrectly. If you don’t lunge
correctly, you will never reap the rewards that proper lunging can
bring to you and your horse. We see many horse owners use
lunging only to
blow off their horse’s steam — letting their horses run around
with their heads hanging out of the circle and dropping their
shoulders. Or worse yet, the horse is totally undisciplined and
deciding what gait it chooses to perform and when it choose to do
it. I think lunging in this manor is such a waste of time. If we
are going to take the time to lunge, wouldn’t it be beneficial to
advance our horse’s training while doing it? Proper lunging is a
very disciplined exercise, and it requires control of the horses
body parts. The first body part we need to control is the
horse’s mind. The MM Training Program achieves control over the
horse’s mind in the round pen (underground training) before ever
teaching horses to lunge. Once we have established control over
the horse’s mind, the second thing we need from our horse is
consistent movement in both directions. Our program achieves this
with our baby lunging technique.
Then, when we have mind control and consistent movement in
place, the next priority in lunging correctly is to expect our
horses to arc their bodies around the circle. By doing, this we
are developing our horse’s muscle memory. This memory is very
important because it will carry over into the saddle. When I start
a colt, I can always tell if it has been lunged properly. It
understands what a circle is.
When our horses are being disciplined, and they are holding a
circle on their own, we are then able to go to more advanced
training on the lunge line. This advanced training will again be
maneuvers that we will expect from our horse when riding it.
Maneuvers include smooth upward and downward transitions, rating
speed and performing three speeds to every gait. We eventually can
even teach the horse the beginning stages of collection on the
lunge line, while performing large and small circles.
Throughout all the lunge line training, handlers are learning
many skills as well. On the ground, they are able to see
correctness even if they can’t feel it yet in the saddle. They are
learning to read their horses better. They are becoming more self
aware of their own body language and what it is telling their
horse. And believe it or not, they are honing their rhythm, timing
and feel skills as well. All of these aspects make them better
horsemen and riders.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of
proper lunging, please join us for the ground training dimension
of our 3-D Mini Clinics. We will help advance horses and handlers
to a new standard for their lunge line work and demonstrate how
the art of lunging can be a powerful tool to add to any training
program. |
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