3 lunging exercises to keep your horse listening

Horse lungeing exercises can be very beneficial to incorporate into a routine and can make sure your horse is actually listening to YOU. Starting with the basics is key so your voice doesn’t get lost in translation when beginning more advanced work, which could cause stress and upset both you and your horse.

To put you on track to success and get the most from your groundwork sessions, we’ve put together three essential horse lungeing exercises you should master.

Rein Back

On the lunge, horses are told to move forward, either for education or just to get some energy out of their system. However, this forward-thinking can soon get out of control, increasing speed and ultimately compromising the balance and quality of their work. Therefore, rein back is the perfect exercise to throw a spanner in a horse’s ‘must-go-faster’ thinking and get them in tune with you.

Rein-back is a simple exercise consisting of the horse walking backwards, their feet moving in diagonal pairs. Not only does it get your horse listening to you, it also helps to engage the hindquarters, instead of your horse pulling it’s self with their forelimbs.

With more hindlimb engagement, the legs swing under their body further, lifting the back and causing the horse’s abdominal muscles to work harder. This can have great benefits for topline development too!

When introducing this exercise, getting close to your horse is a must. Bringing your horse to a halt, start by pushing your horse backwards from the chest, as you would in the stable. Praise each time your horse takes a step backwards and then send them forward. Repeat this, each time applying less pressure and replacing your hands for the end of your lunge whip.

Transitions

Transitions are a great way to get your horse listening when riding and when on the lunge.

Make sure to mix up your transitions so your horse does not know what’s coming next. This could look something like a halt-to-walk transition, followed by a direct walk-to-canter transition, and then another direct transition to halt. Mix, match and make sure your horse isn’t taking the lead!

Struggling with downward transitions? Don’t worry, most horse owners do due to the lack of bit control. If you’re struggling to get control, shorten your lunge line, bring your horse on a smaller circle, and develop firmer contact down the lunge line – just like when riding. Be clear, calm, but authoritative with voice commands, and place yourself in front of your normal lunging position. Don’t drop your lunge whip, instead, point it downward and close to the ground or behind your back if you feel its presence is spurring your horse on.

Poles

Pole work is great for horses to develop awareness of their surroundings whilst listening to you as the trainer. Studies have shown that pole work increases lower limb range of motion and symmetry in fore and hind limb lift – perfect for promoting even muscle development and ensuring your horse picks up their feet over fences.

Pole work also helps to increase hip flexion and, therefore, hindquarters engagement. This means you don’t have to work as hard to encourage activity from behind whilst controlling speed and can work on other factors in your horse’s way of going.

You may also like

Lunging aids to build topline