teaching my youngster to lunge

[briony and anakin]

Hi all!

The time has come to teach Anakin the basis of lungeing (i dont intend to lunge him properly on a circle as it is too much strain on his young limbs) but i want him to move around the school with me going with him, as a kind of restricted free schooling.

I cant actually free school as young anakin has been known to jump out of the school when i send him onto the outside track!

Iv spent so long joinging up with anakin that it would appear that leaving my side is too much to deal with, and so as you can imagine trying to teach him to lunge is not proving easy! I have tried having someone lead him on the circle on the outside while i stay in the middle but it is not really working.

The last two horses that i have taught to lunge have been fairly easy using the above method but every horse is different!

Does anyone have any experience with this, and feel able to offer advice?

Thanks!

[avril]

Hi Briony, I have to say I don't agree that the time has come to teach Anakin the basics of lunging. He is very young and his brain is still quite undeveloped for this type of understanding. I'm not surprised he jumped out over the rails, he was probably shocked at you trying to get him to move away with a whip.

He has a whole life ahead of time to learn the art of equitation, surely it's a joy to just watch the changes as he grows. We always start horses on the long reins and lunging is so much easier as a result. Some people use round pens to do a free school version, but I would question whether this is suitable for him at this stage.

Sorry to sound severe, and I wouldn't wish to offend you, I know how much you love him, but if you can wait a few years he will be the better for it.

[Briony and Anakin]

Hi Avril, thanks for your reply.

I know of course that you wouldnt want to offend me! i hear what you are saying also re his age.

I fear that i might have been misunderstood about what i am trying to do! As i said i don't intend to actually lunge him yet as i too feel he is too young, but i want a way to guide him around the school without free schooling as it isnt safe in our school. The jumping out of the school was a result of his best friend calling out to him and anakin not knowing any better!

It was my original intention to just do things with him once a week or so, although i quickly found that this did not work. As anakin is stabled over night and there is no option for living out at ours, he becomes desperately bored if i don't do something for 5 or 10 mins with him most days! On the weekends i take him out for hacks in hand, but during the week i cannot as it is dark at that time and therefore my only option is the school! I do lots of inhand work up there with him too, but as he is so clever, he gets bored with this too, even when i get all sorts of props out!

This is why i wanted to begin doing this with him, as another activity to keep him stimulated. I have always been and always will be very careful of the amount of stimulation or strain any of my horses receive, regardless of their age!

[lisandsaf]

Hi Briony

Have you thought about occupying his mind with toys as oppose to his body which needs to develop,, what about a parelli ball,, or slowly introducing a tarpulin for him to walk over,, or opening and closing umbrellas and rattling scary carrier bags,, buckets with stones in that make funni noises and squeky dog toys,, all these things and more you may end up meeting whilst hacking when his older,,,

As with any horse introduce slowly and allow him time to think about things,, if his is accepting its very easy to introduce to much and give him brain overload so softly softly is the way to go..

Good luck

Lisa and Saf

[Briony and Anakin]

Hi lis

Are parelli balls the big balls that look like gym balls? do you know where i might find one? i have always thought that they look fun! (for me too, haha).

I am always interested in new things to show to anakin so if people have ideas of makeshift props i can use please tell me!

[hobbyhorse]

Hello Briony,

The photos I found of Anakin on here are delightful. What a poppet! Don't know whether it's any help but I occasionally just play around with one of those human exercise balls with my horses. I purchased mine in Tesco for, I'm pretty sure, under ten pounds. Obviously they are not as strong nor anywhere near as large as "the" parelli balls, but then again they're a fraction of the price. They're fine for rolling around and about horses, letting them nose them along the ground and playing catch games with another person over their backs and of course for rolling all over horses' bodies.
I couldn't ever leave it out in the paddock though with Olga - she'd "kill" it in no time at all!
The creme de la creme of toys as far as my horses are concerned, however, are their treat balls. They absolutely ADORE them!

[Briony and Anakin]

HI hobbyhorse

thanks, he is such a gorgeous boy! i do try not to tell him that though, he is already convinced that he is the centre of my world! Although he is right! He is growing everyday, it is amazing to see the transformation, filling out so much!

I actually have a human excercise ball which i never use (wish i did!), i suppose if i was extra careful with it we could have a play with that!

What do you put in your treat balls? just pony nuts? i could try that, i'm sure Anakin would be MORE than happy to partake in that game haha.

[hobbyhorse]

I tend to put a couple of mugs full of D & H Hi-Fibre nuts in each ball as it's purely for entertainment value rather than nutritional top up. Both horses thrive day to day on a haylage and LoCal diet so these are a real treat.

[liz]

Please can I also suggest that you leave the join up, too. It's an excellent thing when used correctly but once is probably enough for now and this young chap would probably be best simply being with other horses just being a youngster. How old is he,Briony? I know I've read about him but cannot recall the details I understand you cannot leave him out 24/7 in the winter so perhaps you could rig up a few toys in his stable? How about tying a swede on a rope? The feed balls are brilliant - one horse I had loved his! He was in a field by himself for a several weeks so I gave him one to occupy him.

[Briony Anakin]

Hi

he is 18 months old. There are not facilities for him to live out any where near us. He goes out at 7 am and comes in at 4pm with a herd of 8 other geldings. He also has toys in his stable