# Chance free lunging under saddle!



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Aw he's cute!


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

lol thanks 


chance is a she


----------



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Oh I'm sorry! LOL I didn't get much sleep last night, must be getting to my head. :lol:


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

haha! its fine! i know how u feel! i called my friends mom my mom xD! wow


----------



## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

She looks off on her front left, but it would be just the ground, it's very rough. I would not be lunging a horse in that round pen. 

She doesn't really know how to lunge, she should not keep coming into the circle and then going out of the circle again. You need to really get on her when she comes into you like that. She has no form and no collection and needs tons of ground work. 

Good luck with her. That 's great that you guys have improvment.


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

The ground was accually way 2 soft if just starting to dry up. She knows how to lunge i was asking for a change of direction when she came in threw the middle. Also she has no form or collection there because she was really panicky. Just before that she got tangled in the reins and poped her self in the mouth and it was a pretty bad morning but it got better as we went. Ill try and get a video of me riding her when she wants she can have nice form and collection 
shes was always pretty dang full of her self, when i did get on her when she kept coming in she went into a full gallop.

but FGR how could i improve those 2 things??


----------



## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

HAF I'm really not trying to sound mean. But she did come into your personal space (moved into the circle) way more then once. I'm not saying this is a fault of yours but of the horses. 

It's okay to admit that your horse has faults, I do all the time. Critical critique is very very important when training your horse. If you can't critique your own horse you are never going to be able to further their training. 

Tips: 

For when she moves into while lunging: 

-Get on her about it. Push her away (Not literally) If you have a whip bring it to her shoulder and push her back against the wall. If you don't use a whip then stomp you feet at her and walk towards her shoulder, letting her know that you want her out of your personal space. Just from the short video I can tell that Chance has no respect at all for you. When you are asking for a direction change she should also never turn her hindquarters into you. That is a huge sign of disrespect. She should turn into the circle always facing up with you. Have you ever tried join up with Chance. IMO It really does work wonders. 

Collection: 

-I would start again with some ground driving. I teach almost all my collection from the ground before I ever get on their backs. 

The next 2 things I would not recommend unless you have done them before and know exactly how to do them. They could both cause serious harm if not done exactly the right way. If you have not done them see if you can have someone (Other then your trainer, I really have nothing good to say about her...sorry) that has done it before come out and help you a few times. 

-Tie your reins to a circingle, loose at first (while lunging her) and slowing and I mean slowly bring in the slack. Maybe half an inch at a time (It could take up to a month) until she has her head and neck in the proper form. NEVER EVER pull it right tight the fist time. You could really cause harm to your horse if you do this. Like I said bring it in slowly half an inch to an inch at time. And only tighten it if she stops fighting the pressure that is on there. This is very crucial to be very careful while doing this. Also you should only do this on level ground; if your horse does trip they really need their neck to keep themselves up. 

-The other thing is draw reins, which work similar to what I described above. 

One more tip! 

Just a suggestion but you should bring your stirrups up when lunging her. They can move around alot and bang at her sides potentially hurting her. With your stirrups up you can still have your reins thru them. 

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

1) Keep your stirrups run up while doing any ground-work. 
2) The reins wrapped around the leathers like that just screams disaster.
3) She looks stiff on her left front and right hind - possibly in the stifles in the hind
4) Get after her when she comes into the circle.
5) Really really get after her when she changes direction and points her hindquarters to you - that is a BIG no-no.. get after her, make her work HARD for turning her hind end to you - when she turns her forequarter to you (but stays out on the circle) you can ease the pressure up. She should not change direction until you tell her to.
6) When the footing is bad, don't push her to canter - it's a very unbalanced gait - it was partly footing and partly horse being unbalanced that made her fall. It makes me very concerned about her fall - she didn't catch herself at all.. something isn't right with that, but I can't put my finger on it.
7) Speaking of balance - this is a major area in need of improvement. She needs to build up topline and become way more balanced.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I've thought on it and I know what made me get an odd feeling about the fall - it just wasn't right. She didn't put up ANY fight to try and stay up, she just gave in and fell. I'm wondering if she isn't in pain.. she looks off on the left front (shoulder maybe?) and hind right (stifle). 
I would have loved to see how she got back up - if it was a struggle or not... I'd get a vet out to check on her, give her legs and back a good once-over. 

Don't try and make a horse canter in slippery conditions... not when they're so unbalanced and sore that they can't properly catch themselves from falling.


----------



## Jrchloe (Dec 17, 2007)

You might want to drag, clean and level that ring. All you need is a landscaping rake that you can get from a home improvement store like this: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=28167-302-1912800&lpage=none. Leveling and cleaning up the ring will make it easier for your horse to concentrate on working. It will also make it easier to see how your horse moves. Either she needs to be looked at by a vet or the ground was not letting her trot sqaure. Cleaning up and dragging that ring will probably take a while but it will be worth it. Then for maintence get a 5'x5' piece of chain link fence attached to a 4 wheeler or small tractor to drag the ring every day.


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

hey everyone sorry i havent replied! We just raked up the arena the round pens driveway everything is looking so much better! I have mentioned this before we have had the vet out and there is no sign of any physical pain. Is was the rough dirt that made her all off balence, which her fall was my fault I should not have been cantering her on that lvling. After the fall she just bounced right back up pretty much, right after I checked her out any walked to her around and she was fine. At first the stir ups were up but as we were going all they did was fall right back down, I gave up on them after a while! Also I need to wrap them around the leathers cause if I dont she lowers her head, reins slip off, she steps on them... I think you know the rest, its happened before. She had NO balence in that video because of the footing it was really bumpy had a lot of holes from other horses feet . ect. In the video I am the one who asked for her to change directions.
Im working with chance with personal space which she is getting so much better at, the person who owned her before me [not my trainer] let her pretty much walk on top of them and everything else! and I agree she doesn't have a lot of respect for me but more then she had a few weeks ago shes getting better and better every time. I was thinking about ground driving this weekend but didnt get to it, ill probably start to introduce her to it next weekend. Sirgical.. is that the black thing that goes around there stomach and has a ton of rings?? and I was thinking about buying some draw reins because she holds her head way to high now for some reason. I have a few more videos and I think I have a small clip of her lunging at a trot at a better pace and footing.


----------



## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

HAF I'm sorry I can't help you anymore. 

You constantly make excuses for everything that is going on. Like I said in the first post you need to learn how to critique your horse and you just can't seem to do that. I'm sorry to say but you can't help someone that is always making excuses for something that is going wrong. Honestly I don't think you or Chance is going to get anywhere until you get over your attitude (I know this sounds really mean, but it's just honesty)

You are the one asking us for solutions, why not take our advice. Alot of the people on this forum are more experienced then you and can realy help you out. I'm sure that everyone is fed up with you always back stepping and making excuses.

Until you are ready to admit that you are your horse do make mistakes I can no longer help you.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I think you should stay away from draw reins; getting a headset right now is the least of your worries. 

For the stirrup irons, run them up like this: http://www.geocities.com/gerrypony/images/stirrups.jpg
There should be NO excuse for irons flopping around like that. It's unsafe - if you can't be safe about it, then just take the reins off the bridle.

When she changes directions in a round pen, she should stay on the outside and swing her front end in, do a turn on the hindquarters, and switch direction that way, not run through the middle of the pen.

A SURCINGLE is this piece of equipment: http://www.croftequestrian.co.uk/images/4171.jpg

HAF, choose ONE thing to perfect before you move on to the next thing. 
It seems to me like you "choose" one thing to work on, then the next week you're changing your mind and wanting to rush ahead. 
If you're going to work on groundwork and manners, then STICK WITH IT FOR A MONTH. Don't think "okay well I worked her in the round pen for 2 hours this week, great she's fixed!" and move on, because it doesn't look like she's "fixed." She needs to be doing things consistently - i.e. not tripping over her own feet, not turning her butt to you to change direction, not coming into your space.
That means that you definitely don't need to even think about worrying about draw reins and headset; that's a long time off for you right now.

If you're going to do Parelli, great - STICK WITH IT, FOLLOW IT THROUGH - don't change your mind every other week! As far as I know, draw reins aren't a part of Parelli...


ETA:
I still stick by my opinion that she looked lame on her left front; if your vet doesn't think so, get a second opinion - she was not sound.


----------



## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

No Draw Reins are not a Parelli method. 

She is right head set is a long way off. First off the horse should no how to lunge, don't even get me started on what that horse should know.

As I said before. get a finished horse.


----------



## Brandon (Jan 17, 2008)

In Addition to the comments made, i would like to further add that you should work on the lunge line. Use that lunge whip to correct her from comin in on the circle when she shouldnt. I also believe, if you where havin that much problems with the stirrups, i think you should of just taken them off. Heck just use a lariat and lunge her, i think that would of been a much better choice. 

I believe that this horse has alot of work that needs to be done to it. Be consistent! thats the best thing you can do.


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

FGR im sorry but im not getting a finished horse! I've gotten sooo far with her since we started! I have a new video of her lungeing on line in the arena on lvl ground. Im not trying to make excuses i dont know Why you people think I am. The stirup thing I know that was a but unsafe and im going to get something to clip them up so they dont come down. Im glad you guys said not to use draw reins right now because I wasn't sure when I should use them. I know this is gonna sound like and excuse but i swear its not, chance does know how to lunge on line, im not sure if she's ever been free lunged. JDI thanks for the picture with the stirrups. It should help me out a lot, i tried many ways to keep them up but they just would not stay up! Im doing parelli but Im also doing other things that work for the both of us! I've seen such an improvement with chance. After you see the next video ill be posting tell me if you still think shes lame in the front. FGR im not having an additude, I dont even really know what you talking about. It could just be the way your reading it, but you've been A LOT of help to me. If you really dont want to help me out any more I guess thats your choice. Ill have my new video up in about 20 mins


----------



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Okay, it's getting a bit heated in here...but I truly think they are just trying to help you, & give advice.  Just keep working with her, I know you are trying.


----------



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

Okay everyone check out my other post new video added! I think it turned out really good


----------

