Lunging with the young horse
To many (non-)riders, lunging horses properly seems to be just an uncomplicated way to move the horse when you don't feel like riding yourself. Far from it, because lunging can do so much more than that!
Especially for young horses lunging can have a positive effect.
General information about lunging
To lunge a horse properly is not so easy. Many people do not know that it is difficult for young and untrained horses to walk cleanly in a circle. They are simply not anatomically built for it and sometimes get out of balance when lunging. So it is no wonder that from time to time some animals resist lunging. They try to run away or do not move at all on the circle line. It is therefore indispensable to gently introduce the horse to this training so that it can slowly learn to balance itself on a circle line and not "fall into the circle".
But a horse benefits even more from the right long training. It learns to keep its balance not only in the circular movement. It also builds up better muscles, carries itself better and steps down more with the hind hooves (which means that it puts more strain on the hindquarters than the forehand). In all gaits you will see that it is more relaxed, develops more expansive movements and specifically reduces muscle tension.
The rider also benefits from all these positive results of lunging. The lungeing work is ideal both as preparation for riding young horses and as a supplementary training for beautifully ridden horses. Lunging offers a variety of ways to move a horse optimally and to exercise it. In addition, you can observe your horse's movements while running, which is not possible with riding.
But not only a horse has to practice walking on the lunge. A rider has to learn to lunge as well as to ride. If he doesn't do that, wrong lunging has no positive effect and it rather harms the young as well as the experienced horse.
