# ~*~Lunging~*~



## Starlet (Jun 3, 2010)

I was curious on your guys's thoughts on people who have to lunge a horse for like 20 min. before they can ride their horse. I ask them and they say: "If I don't lunge him for at least 20 min. he will buck me off. A guy I know thinks that thats crazy and that you should just be able to hop on the horse once saddled and ride to your hearts content. I don't know where I am with this. I think he's right, but some other people at the shows say they think their horse is the best, even though they must lunge before riding. Any thoughts on this? :think:


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## ThinkingOfRiding (Apr 8, 2010)

with my horse, if he is acting like he will do something bad under saddle, i lunge him for 10-15 mins before riding just to be safe. i'd rather spend more time lunging then spending the time getting hurt


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## ThinkingOfRiding (Apr 8, 2010)

oh, and the lunging gets the extra energy out, so they won't have the extra energy to disobey. it all depends on the horses training


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## haleylvsshammy (Jun 29, 2010)

Here's how I feel:
If my horse is acting like an energetic spazz, I get off and lunge. End of story. It's not worth the hassel and possible injury if he's acting uncontrollable. Sometimes, I'll only get to ride for 15 minutes, and then I'll have to lunge for the rest of my ride. I end up being a little disappointed, but at least I know he's got most of his energy out. Other times, he just needs to be turned out to have time to "be a horse" so to speak, and gallop and buck and have his fun.

It really depends on the horses training. My old horse was trained to have groundwork and lunging done EVERY DAY before a ride. Did I keep up with it? Sort of... hehe... in the summer, it is 115 outside in Az. I don't think he needs to be lunged. I also never rode until it was like 9:00 at night. In the winter, I did lunge him because he needed it. Some horses need to be lunged just to "take the edge off" so you know that they will have no excuse and have to listen. Without excess engery, they will also be more focused.


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## Skipsfirstspike (Mar 22, 2010)

I think it is ok if done occasionally. I personally only lunge to 'get the buck out' if my horse has been stalled for longer than usual due to bad weather.
However, I also think it is a poor idea to use this technique as a crutch every time you ride. There may come a time when you don't have the opportunity to lunge first, and then you have a horse who thinks it is his due to be able to buck and kick for 10 minutes before settling down and paying attention. I think it is best to mix it up a bit, don't have the same routine every time you work with your horse. If my horse has fidgity feet, I like to let him trot it out under saddle, and will only let him canter once I know he is more relaxed.
However, do what works best for you. If are not fairly sure of your ability to be safe in the saddle, then by all means lunge him first.


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## dressagexlee (Dec 15, 2009)

My trainer has a couple of cold-backed horses down at her main barn. One mare in particular, Chloe, needs to be lunged until she is "warm" enough to get on. It's just better for her, because she can get used to the saddle and girth without the weight of the ride. It's also better for the rider, since they don't get their butt dumped in the sand.

A lot of the time, I find that hot or explosive horses (that aren't cold-backed) just need to be let go when you get on. Much of the time I see nervous riders lunging their horses for twenty minutes before they get on, then they struggle to get the horse to stand for mounting, and once on, they proceed to pull and yank on the reins when the horse tries to walk forward. The whole ride just ends up being a fight between WHEEEEE horsey and WOAH HANNIBAL rider.
Really, I had days with Freddy where he'd be feeling either fresh or spooky, and I'd simply let him go for a loose trot or canter, or even just a speedy walk. Afterwards he'd be ready to work, and I wouldn't spend the ride fighting with him about being calm and listening. I do the same thing with a couple of other horses, including my trainer's warmblood "ex-stallion", Booboo (I know, I know).

As for displays of exuberance (not pain!), you just have to be able to stick with it. Lunging isn't going to really fix anything, nor is fighting it and holding them back. I see riders in the warm-up rings at Spruce when they first get on, and sometimes the horses just take off bucking and kicking out of sheer excitement. Most riders just contently sit through it as if it's just another day.


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

I think it all depends on the horse and what your current goals are. I have had horses that I would just throw a saddle or bareback pad on and off I went and I've had a couple of horses I didn't DARE get on without lunging their bucks out because if I didn't my ride would just be an insane fight the whole time.

I've also lunged for training reasons as well as for fitness...you wouldn't believe how nice a fat or obese horse looks when you lunge them at a trot at least half an hour every day!!

My current horse is green and his previous owner only worked him on one side leaving him very off balance. On top of that he has several holes in his training. I haven't ridden in over a decade AND I've gained a bit of weight. I currently lunge him for at least a half an hour before every ride, incorporating side reins. Then I ride for 20 min to half an hour which is plenty since we are still at walk/trot stages and doing a lot of transitions and backing for balance.


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## Fowl Play (Sep 22, 2009)

At our barn lunging is often used to establish a little authority before getting on the horse's back. The beginning horses are not lunged unless they have been stalled for an extra long time (weather) and it's only the intermediate horses and advanced horses that students lunge before a lesson. 

My husband is more into training hunting dogs, and the same principal applies to even the most well trained field trial lab...if they've been cooped up or are extra excited, the handler takes them to an open field to run the crazies out before expecting them to perform. Dogs are a lot smaller, so the philosophy is even more important with horses--a horse that is too wired to ride (for whatever reason) is dangerous and needs a way to get some of their energy out in a constructive way!


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

If mine have been stalled for longer than usual (48 hours without exercise of some kind is my very general rule of thumb) I'll do some groundwork before I step in the stirrup. Either NH style lunging or simple yield shoulders/haunches, back up, etc. in hand. As it's going now, Scout's actually getting better about just getting on and cruising even past my 48 hour mark. A brief walk before the final tightening of the girth is all I'm doing right now, riding 4-7 days a week.

I'm ok with using groundwork of some form as a pre-flight check for a young, green, or fresh horse, but mine are not allowed to do anything on the line that he wouldn't be allowed to do under saddle. 

I'll be the first to admit I'm no bronc rider. I can stick ok, but if I know that I may have a problem, I'm much better able to deal with it on the ground than from the saddle. I don't enjoy bruises. :wink:


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## Carleen (Jun 19, 2009)

It depends on the horse and the situation really. My friend has a young TB and normally he is fine to just hop on and ride but when he has been left unridden for a week or so, she'll lunge him just incase.

I used to lunge my OTTB before every ride but that was only because he was at a barn with no pasture turnout - just paddocks. When he was at a different barn and in a field all day, he didn't have excess energy so I didn't have to lunge him.


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## roro (Aug 14, 2009)

I think lunging has its time and place, but I would never purchase a horse that had to be lunged every time before a ride. To me this shows the horse either has bad training, a bad back, or a bad temperament that I don't want to be around.

Although I prefer to free lunge, I will lunge if the arena's busy about once a week on my horse's off day. We just don't have a lot of turn out and it's better for him to get out twice a day than once. I lunge long enough to get the blood flowing and his gaits fluent and then I'm done. I may also opt to lunge him if for whatever reason he is incredibly fiesty that day, such as if the rain's really pounding on the tin metal roof of the indoor arena or he hasn't been ridden for a long time. Other than that, for a few riding lessons I will lunge with the trainer coaching me so she can show me what he looks like when he's working correctly. 

When he was younger and needed more solid muscling to work well under saddle, he was lunged more often before a ride but certainly not every ride. Almost all days now I just hop on because that's what I expect of a horse I ride and that's what he's capable of.


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## Lagartohorses (Jul 2, 2010)

My Arab mare can be "hot" and think she is the boss...lunging and disengaging her hind end seems to help...but my trainer told me to do the same routine everytime...she is a older mare and I am a beginner rider. Learning as we go. Been thrown and bucked off so I think I have earned some rider points! (not by this mare...another post entirely)


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## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

I find the 7 Games to be a better way to find out the horse's mood/physical state, & see his training holes & fix them to the point where it's safe to get on. The Circling game (longeing) is only one of 7. Longeing stresses the tendons, etc. because the horse's anatomy's not very flexible laterally.


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## maz78 (Jun 15, 2010)

I think it depends on what you want in a horse. I personally wouldn't want something I had to lunge all the time because if they have that much energy you have to lunge them or they will buck you off then to me they are still very capable of doing it when you get in the saddle. But if you compete or anything like that and you have a good horse for what you want but have to lunge it to make it safer and your happy to do this every ride then don't see a problem. However if I was buying a horse there is no way I would by one that needed lunging b4 I got on!


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

I lunge when I can't ride, and only EVER lunge for mental stimulation and strength, I lunge with a purpose to have my horse working as I would like it to be working under saddle. You can't wear a horse out on the lunge, if you let it tear around bucking and kicking in at you, you're merely hotting it up even more! Unless you lunge continuously to the point where the horse has NO energy left (bit pointless to ride them isn't it?), you're not going to entirely wear it out, particularly if that horse is fit. As well as that, how good can allowing them to tear around at a million miles an hour on a small circle be for their joints/tendons??

I'll put a cold backed horse on the lunge for 5 minutes before I get on, not because I think it will buck me off, but because I like to have it happily relaxed through the back before I get on, so it doesn't feel the need to fight me. 
If my horse is quite tense however, I much prefer to just do some ground work with it. You don't have a huge degree of control on the lunge if the horse is not in a good frame of mind, so the close you are to the horse, the more control you're going to have. I'll just go back to total basics where the horse has to pay attention, so backing up, walking forward, backing up, walking forward until it relaxes, then ask for yielding of the shoulders and quarters both directions. THEN I'll get on. 
I would much rather work the horse in hand to calm it down and get it thinking, than run it around mindlessly to 'wear it out'


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## Shalani (Jul 16, 2009)

I think u should be able to jump on with no problems ( I can with my horses). That said I do lunge my horses when needed - free lunge for the respect training & lead lunge with roller to build muscle .

I guess it depends on the horse . If you have a horse that is great in every other way but needs to be lunged for 20min before riding its not that bad.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I personally would never own a horse that I had to lunge for 20 minutes before I ever got on. I expect a lot out of my horses and if I want to catch them out of the pasture after a month off, throw the saddle on, and lope off, then that's what I will do. All of mine figure out that misbehaving under saddle, even when fresh, equals getting their butt worked off before the day's work ever starts. Even those cold backed horses like my Dad's horse Pokey don't get a nice little warm up before they accept a rider because they know that even when they are feeling froggy, acting up results in swift punishment (usually trotting lots and lots of tiny little circles with their nose to the stirrup). I expect this from even my green horses. After the first few days, I expect them to calmly get caught, get saddled, walk out of the barn, and accept the rider with no misbehavior and no warm up. And because I expect it, holy cow what a miracle, it happens.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

^ Exactly. Although, I think those who do lunge before they get on are generally those who aren't equipped or confident to handle anything the horse may do when mounted.

The most I do before getting on is a bit of walking to let the saddle settle. Bundy has a few back issues and I find this really halps him be more comfortable - And now it is becoming habit with Latte. However, it only takes like, a minute.

I have no use for a horse I can't get on and ride. My horses are all pasture kept, so excess/pent up energy isn't an issue, but I wouldn't really call it an issue/excuse even if they were.

I would rather channel extra energy into work than get it out on the lunge - I love horses with a bit of fire in them and can't stand lazy horses (Hellooooo Bundy, lol).

Those who lunge before they get on I find are generally creating the issue themselves, and don't have high enough expectations of their horses.


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## horsegirlmaddy (Dec 6, 2008)

I know a horse who has issues with his legs and feet, and will go lame or at least be uncomfortable if you get on him without warming him up on the longe first. His owner sort of uses this as a crutch- she's a bit timid, and he's an OTTB, but I've been working with him, and he really does ride better if he's been longed before I get on.


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## flamingauburnmustang (Dec 25, 2008)

I don't have anything against lunging before you ride to get rid of too much energy, but personally I always just get on and ride it out.

As of yet, I have not yet ridden a horse that bucks like a wild bronco at the beginning of a ride, so as long as it's not anything that will definately get me off (a few bucks at the beginning of a session is alright) I just get on and work out the fizzies and excitement. :grin:


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## kerplop (Sep 22, 2008)

I used to be skeptical of people who lunged before they got on, but now I do it with my horse and I get it. It's just safer that way for a lot of rides. My horse, for instance, just turned 4, is a welsh/trakehner, and ridiculously athletic. Athletic to the point where he could bronc you off without putting his head down. He's also a bit of a moron. 8/10 times when on the lunge he does something stupid, like a sliding stop, a spaz/bronc, a crow hop, just something, so it's just better to lunge him for 10-20 minutes (whatever he needs) so he can get the sillies out and get his brain in gear. While I was away a month ago my trainer was riding my horse and didn't lunge him before she got on one day, and in the first 30 seconds of her ride was bronced off and broke 5 ribs had a blackout concussion. She's $25,000 knee high in medical bills, (thank god she's insured) and just getting back to driving her car a month later. So I'll stick to lunging.

Lunging is also great for just getting your horse to stretch out and get warmed up. I used to know a dressage trainer (Olympian who I thought was the scariest person in the world, "unconfident" would be the LAST word to describe this lady) who lunged all of her horses before anyone got on. She even taught the horses that if she ducked the horse was to buck to stretch out their backs. I don't know how everyone else lunges, but for me, lunging isn't about making the horse run in strung out circles until they sweat. When my horse goes out on the lunge, I expect him to quietly walk while engaging all of the right muscles until I think he's ready to trot, and when he's trotting, I play with adjusting his gait so his he's constantly thinking and constantly working, not just running on the forehand. I barely canter him on the line.

Those who don't have hot horses, that's fine. Just try to understand that for every seasoned ride there's just as many green and/or hot horses that need a different routine to be safe. 

And then for those of you who think people who lunge don't know how to ride or aren't "confident" enough to knowingly take a dangerous risk, bless your heart your trainer is a rodeo cowboy.


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## haleylvsshammy (Jun 29, 2010)

^well said. I totally agree


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## FoxyRoxy1507 (Jul 15, 2008)

i have to lunge Petey 10-15mins before i get on to ride everytime (unless im going trail riding) bc he had an injury to his withers when he was younger and if he doesnt have time to stretch w/o a rider he looks and feels like he's going lame when u ask him to use his hind end and back, but i'll lunge Swoop if he looks as he's feeling fiesty from weather or what not. i know he wont buck w me on him but he knows if he's on the lunge he can get his bucks out and as soon as i get on he knows its time to work so it can be good for some horses and some need it... others do not i just think it depends on the horse and situation.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

> I used to be skeptical of people who lunged before they got on, but now I do it with my horse and I get it. It's just safer that way for a lot of rides. My horse, for instance, just turned 4, is a welsh/trakehner, and ridiculously athletic. Athletic to the point where he could bronc you off without putting his head down. He's also a bit of a moron. 8/10 times when on the lunge he does something stupid, like a sliding stop, a spaz/bronc, a crow hop, just something, so it's just better to lunge him for 10-20 minutes (whatever he needs) so he can get the sillies out and get his brain in gear. While I was away a month ago my trainer was riding my horse and didn't lunge him before she got on one day, and in the first 30 seconds of her ride was bronced off and broke 5 ribs had a blackout concussion. She's $25,000 knee high in medical bills, (thank god she's insured) and just getting back to driving her car a month later. So I'll stick to lunging.


I'm glad it works for you.

However, I would rather teach my horse that hi-jinks like that are NEVER acceptable under saddle. I want every bit of my horses energy focussed into the job at hand.

I have ridden 100's of horses - most games ponies so yep, they are generally hot, hot, hot. As far as I know none of them were lunged before riding.

I don't have an issue with other people doing it, more power to them - but it's something I see as unecessary and I don't do it myself.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

I honestly don't lunge my horse that much..if I do it's for a refresher to keep her mind busy and she has been doing well and I don't think she is afriad any longer. I usually just hop right on and ride untill I'm done. I can understand if you have a high strung horse and you want to lunge the horse but if the horse bucks you off it might be because something is bothering him? 

20 min is too long in my opinion..I couldn't do it.

I road my horse in the round pen yesterday evening and did excellent.


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