Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Longeing young horse at canter

From: Leslie

My daughter is breaking her first horse, a 2 1/2 year old. Things are progressly nicely except when she is lunging him. He goes into a trot well, stops on command but fights going into a canter...any suggestions?

Hi Leslie! May I assume that your daughter has had plenty of experience training and longeing other horses, and that this particular horse is well- grown and strong? If the answer to either of these is "no", then she should take him to someone who can teach her to longe experienced horses, and teach her horse to be longed, and then show her the correct way to work with such a young horse on the longeline.

In the meantime, I'll just remind your daughter (forgive me if she already knows all this!) that the horse should be wearing boots to keep him from hitting himself, as young horses are prone to do, and that the equipment she should be using consists of a properly-designed longeing cavesson, a longeline at least 30' long, and a longe whip. No bit, no halter-with-rings masquerading as a longeing cavesson, no sidereins, no shortened longeline "for control" -- the horse needs to be on AT LEAST a 60' circle.

Cantering on the longe is difficult for a young horse. Horses need to learn a new way of balancing themselves to work on a circle. Until this horse is completely at ease and balanced at the trot, going both directions calmly and able to shorten and lengthen his stride comfortably, on command, he should not be asked to canter. He is much less likely to hurt himself at the walk and trot!

If your daughter longes her young horse correctly, and builds up his attention span, his muscles, and his quickness to respond, he will become physically able to canter easily, and mentally able to deal with cantering without getting excited and upset.

There's much more to longeing than sending a horse around you in a circle, but it's not always easy to find an instructor who truly knows how to longe correctly. It's worth looking for one -- and if you can't find one nearby, let me know. There are several books and tapes that your daughter would find useful.

The longer you spend working on the basics with a horse, the more quickly the advanced work will progress. This is a perfect time for your daughter to TAKE HER TIME. Taking time now will save time later -- I promise.

- Jessica

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