Well if you are reading this no doubt someone has indicated to you that Lunging may be bad for your horse. The short answer is that lunging is not bad for your horse, once it is done correctly, on a good generous sized circle, for example 15 to 20 metres.
Lunging a horse poorly or incorrectly on too small a circle, can be bad for your horse, as can poor riding, poor fitting of tack, shoeing etc. So lunging in my opinion gets a bit of a bad rap, so let’s go over firstly, why we lunge a horse and how to do it correctly.
The Modern Horse a Product of 50 Million Years of Evolution.
That’s right, it sounds incredible, but the Modern Horse is a product of 50 Million Years of Evolution. They didn’t evolve with the sole purpose for man to ride them and use them for transport and sport, the horse evolved to graze the wide open plains, and to flee from predators in a straight line. Their big muscular body, provides the base for the strong muscles to propel, their long column like legs at speed. The situation of their eyes on the sides of their head provide for almost 360 degrees of vision to spot predators, so their whole genetic makeup was designed to eat grass and run away.
The domestication of horses only began about 6,000 years ago in the region of the Ukraine and West Kazakhstan, with organised breeding at least for the Thoroughbred only starting around the 17th and 18th Centuries. With that said, it is easy to see that although we are having an impact on the type of horses we breed for use in sport and leisure, the fact still remains, that 50 millions years of evolution can’t be replaced by a couple of hundred years of selective breeding. The horse is a wonderful, natural athlete, that was designed to graze the wide open plains and escape from predators at speed in a straight line, therefore, whatever we decide to do with our horses I believe should be done correctly and carefully bearing this in mind.
Why do we lunge a horse?
- Lunging is introduced to the horse at the breaking phase. It is a way of teaching the horse how to accept our voice aids and the tack while having control over them, while correctly developing the muscles of the horse’s topline to carry the rider. It is best if you start in a lunge arena, but not everyone has this luxury, so aim pen off an area so it is easy for you to get started.
When breaking I usually just lunge using a cavesson without anything else until the horse is happy and responding to my voice aids, going forward, slowing down and stopping to command. Only then do I start introducing the tack and I do this very steadily, to ensure not to frighten the horse, and keep them working with me. - Lunging is also a part of a veterinary inspection. The Vet may ask to see the horse move on the lunge to assess its movement, for restriction or lameness. They also use lunging as a way of assessing the horses wind for problems, by getting the horse to canter for a period on the lunge so that he increases his heart and respiration rate, which allows the vet to check for abnormalities.
- Lunging can be used as a form of exercise, for example if you are in a hurry, a 20 minute lunge on just a cavesson, will give you the ability to exercise your horse at the walk trot and canter, helping to keep him healthy while not allowing him to get over fresh.
- Lunging as a form of Schooling/Training; yes lunging is a very useful tool for schooling your horse, whether you prefer to lunge in a Chambon, or side reins; lunging can be used to make your horse more responsive to both upward and downward transitions. It is also beneficial to improve your horses balance, rhythm and engagement on a 20 metre circle, this will further develop and strengthen the muscles of the topline, making it easier for the horse to carry the rider.
- Lunge Lessons; these are used to teach the rider how to sit improve their position and balance while riding all three paces. Usually they are given on a very well established school master, and normally the only last about 20 minutes as this is a very intensive workout for both horse and rider.
Benefits of Lunging A Horse
- It is part of the initial breaking/training phase of the horse
- It gets the horse used to the voice commands, prior to being ridden.
- It is used to develop the correct muscles of the horse to enable them to carry the rider.
- It can be used as a form of exercise, to prevent the horse becoming over fresh.
- It can be used to improve the horses suppleness, engagement of the hindlimb and impulsion.
- It allows the trainer or Vet to assess the horse for lameness or restriction.
In Conclusion
As a Chiropractor and Massage Therapist for both Horse and Rider, along with my background in training both horses and riders, I can see the importance of lunging as a tool to improve horses. I am always surprised at how many people do very little lunging. If you intend to just hunt your horse or hack in straight lines, lunging would not be as important for your horse’s strength, fitness and suppleness. However, if you intend to compete your horse in Equestrian Sport, then I believe that lunging your horse one or twice a week so that they are comfortable working on a 15 to 20 metre circle in their own balance, will only help to improve ridden work with you on board.
Remember no matter how talented the rider, we all carry our own imbalances and restrictions and therefore we owe it to our horses to not only keep them happy and flexible, but to also keep ourselves happy and flexible, so that we become an easier load for our horse to carry.