Hi all!!

This is a bit of a general plea for advice. I've recently taken on a welsh section A on loan and due to lack of schooling facilities she is only really getting exercise through light hacking at the moment, plus she is VERY lazy when I do try to school her just in her field. I struggle to ger her moving.

I'm wanting to improve her general fitness and would like to learn how to lunge. Is it something you can teach yourself? I know she has been lunged regularily in the past so at least she will know what she's doing

Any advice is really appreciated, thank you

I can totally relate to the lack of schooling facilities!!

To lunge properly you need a spacious enclosed area with a soft flat surface. (Sand school ideally, but a field will do) You can start off by just clipping the lunge line to her headcollar (I know this isn't ideal, but it's okay just for your first go.) Then you can move on to the cavesson, surcingle, side reins etc. Walk a fifteen/twenty metre circle. Remember to go equally both directions (so, if you have her do ten circles in one direction make sure you turn her around and do ten in the other direction too.) Remember to always push her forward, don't let her push you backwards.

Oh, and make sure you wear gloves.

...I think that covers the basics.

What do you mean when you say you've been trying to "school" her, do you mean riding? Have you never lunged a horse before at all? It's nothing to worry about, especially if your horse is experienced with it. She'll help you learn. Tap "lunging horses" into google, there's tonnes of info on the web that'll help you.

Have a looksee at this one.

Lungeing - The Basics

The easiest way of remembering how to lunge correctly is to think of a triangle. You are the top point of the triangle, the horse's head is another point and her bum is the last point. You should have a straight line from your hand to her head with the lunge rein and the same at the other end with your whip. You would stand just behind her shoulder and drive her on from behind with your lunge whip.

It is also important to remember that you need to basically stand still - just pivot around as she moves around you. Do not walk around trying to encourage her to get going as your circle will end up being an oval, rectangle, square etc. If you stand in the same spot she will then be able to make a perfect circle around you

Start off by keeping the circle quite small as then you will be more able to chase her on a bit with the lunge whip if she get's lazy. As she starts responding more and going forward more willingly you could then start making the circle bigger. As previously mentioned always do the same amount of lunging on each rein to ensure the muscles on both sides are working equally, otherwise you will end up with a lop sided pony.

Best of luck with her

I agree with what everyone else has said, but also don't do too much at first, a few circles in each direction is enough. Lungeing is hard work on the horses joints and she'll probably be stiff in her muscles if all she does is hacking, so working on a small circle will be hard. If she's inclined to be lazy you don't want to make her ache, giving her an excuse not to want to work. Build up gradually to about 20mins to half hour total. If you do that 2 to 3 times per week you should soon notice a huge difference in her fitness.

A general tip for lazy horses is to be consistant and make it clear when they've got it right. The lazy's need encouragement! When riding my horse I'll use my legs to ask him to go forward, if he does he gets a "good boy", if not he gets my legs and a voice aid, if that is also ignored it's time for legs, voice and a smack with the whip. I rarely get as far as the smack.

Don't keep using the forward aids with every stride, just get the horse moving then leave him alone. If he grinds to a halt in a few strides repeat the exercise, always praiseing the horse when he gets it right. The horse will soon understand he needs to keep moving until you say otherwise.

Thanks for all the advice!! I've got everything together and am planning on starting her fitness regime tomorrow (why should only humans get new year resolutions ).

Luckily we have a nice flat field to use where she is kept.

"What do you mean when you say you've been trying to "school" her, do you mean riding? Have you never lunged a horse before at all?"

Nothing complex just basic gait changes and bending, either in her field or on a nice bit of flat grass whilst out hacking. But to be honest she says no before I get the chance to do anything.

Her owner did warn me that she doesn't "do" schooling, which makes me wonder if she has basically had a boring schooling experience, which is a shame. We've had her back & teeth checked and she has only been a riding school pony for a very short time in her life which is why I feel it's a behaviour problem (and obviously a rider one ).

Anyway getting a little off topic there, thanks again for the help - I'll let you know how I get on.

In my experience horses which don't "do" schooling have either been:

- Bored to death by someone who doesn't know many different exercises and who has just ridden round and round the edge of the arena endlessly.

- Worked too hard when unfit. Either because they haven't been ridden for a month then someone gets back on and carries on where they left off, with no consideration taken for the horses reduced fitness. Or because the horse was fit for hacking and the rider didn't appreciate how hard schooling is and did the same amount of work. Lets face it, if you went to the gym and the trainer pushed you too hard and made you ache the next day you wouldn't want to go back and repeat the experience.

- The horse has had a badly fitting saddle e.g. because it has gained weight since last ridden and remembers the pain and discomfort caused, which can maybe be put up with better because hacking is more exciting, but becomes intolerable in the arena.

- Or an unsympathetic rider with poor riding skills who blames the horse for everything that goes wrong, rather than looking to their own abilities.

When horses have these troubles it can really put them off the whole experience of schooling and it takes time and patience to change their minds. Lots of praise goes a long way to achieving this, remembering to praise a good effort not just a good result. If your horse is a real pain in the butt, praise ANY effort! eg. if he won't go in the arena, praise him for taking one step towards the gateway. When the horse realises he's going to get a lot of fuss for doing not very much (and isn't going to be beaten up for getting it wrong) it can make him more willing to work. When he gets consistantly good at something, ask for a little more or something a little harder before he gets the praise. You'll get there eventually. x