BRISTER’S BRIEF
Lunging may not be appropriate when rehabbing a horse from injury, so always take veterinary advice. Straight lines or turning at slow speeds are better in the beginning. That may mean a bit more walking your horse in hand, which is good to get the rider back to fitness too.
How to start your first circle Stand in the middle of your lunge circle and imagine you are in the centre of a Spike starting out: looking to the outside, dropping his shoulder in, and with a hollow back. from the bit when ridden. You just have
wave of your wand. If the horse needs a
to watch someone like Warwick Schiller
little tap on the rump, aim for a smaller
or Manolo Mendez (check them out on
reaction in the beginning rather than
YouTube) to realise that you don’t need
sending them straight into a canter or
fancy gear to get a horse using their
gallop. Our objective is a calm, well-
back. When the horse does the right
mannered walk to start.
thing, we want to release or soften the
overreact a little. This is when it’s important to reinforce the stop button and limit any flighty behaviours like
your first circle is to the left. The horse should be standing calmly a metre or two in front of you at the twelve o’clock point, and looking towards ten o’clock.
your horse with the tool. Start by a quiet
Don’t be surprised if your horse does
clock. Face towards the horse so that
pressure. If a horse stretches forward and down with side reins on, the pressure will increase – which is both counterintuitive and counterproductive.
The lunge rein should be folded across your left hand, never wrapped around it. Now point your left hand towards ten o'clock with gentle pressure on the lead rope. Some instructors say to get behind the eye and drive the horse forward with a gentle whip touch. I believe it is better to reinforce the responsiveness to the halter pressure if possible. Then, if necessary, step behind the shoulder/eye to encourage the horse to step forward.
zooming around the yard. If the horse
Unfortunately, it might take more than
learns that small periods of wild conduct
ten minutes to develop a well-balanced
are acceptable, then your hope of a calm
horse that can move through all the
horse has just gone out the window.
gaits on the bit - but setting a rein length
Charlie Brister of Brister Equestrian is an
and expecting all the work to be done
all-round horseman based in western
on that exact length is often not helpful
Sydney. His expertise is in re-training
for long term riding balance. Use this
problem horses, as well as coaching
for particular issues, but not for all your
riders in the art of cross country, show
lunge work.
jumping and dressage.
Work calmly to get the adrenalin level down and gradually get the speed under control. A young horse that has just learnt to walk a calmly on the lunge deserves a scratch and a night out in the paddock.
Don’t miss Part 2 of Lunging: It’s a circular question in our next issue.
Perhaps tomorrow start on trot if your ‘walk to stop to walk’ is near perfect.
Remembering the basics
Remembering one of the basics of how horses learn - negative reinforcement (pressure followed by release) - is important before any training session. Positive reinforcement is also beneficial but let’s stick to one thing at a time. Be careful using a lot of the lunging systems or side reins that aim to put the horse’s head in a particular position. This can lead to a poor stop response 12 | H O R S E V I B E S S E P T / O C T 2 0 2 0
After transitions, Spike is now relaxing and starting to use his back.
