The tradition - Pro's and Cons

I first came across this, very different, style of lunging (using just a rope halter) in Belgium when I was working in the yard of Henk Noreen, the medal winning Olympian from Holland. He and Barnabas Mandi (FEI dressage judge) were unconvinced about the traditional side-reined, trot round and round, version of exercise. Their thinking is, to me, very logical. 

Really, why? What are the reasons that we lunge, or the outcomes that we want to achieve?

·      To exercise the horse when we are short of time, or have a limiting factor, such as, no saddle, no rider, small space, short of time.

·      To help with fitness

·      To settle a hot / strong / fresh horse before riding

·      As part of the balancing / training / strengthening / suppling program, either for backing a youngster or helping to train or condition an older, experienced horse

Think about lunging, and most people will picture a horse moving at a trot or canter on a continuous, predictable circle. Often, this will also mean that the horse is wearing something – side reins, an elastic bungee, chambon, de gogue etc. Many people don’t question this… A less experienced person can exercise a horse; an adult can train a small pony; the time needed to work a horse is reduced; we can take off the edge of extra energy before getting on the horse… And, mainly, by putting the horse’s head down low, or in a “correct” position, we are “training” the “desired” head down response. There is a school of thought, however, that questions all of this, and that questioning is what this course is about. 

Gadget or equipment? Part of me things that the main difference between a “Gadget” and a piece of “equipment” is just the age… Side reins have been around forever, could be considered a gadget and yet, are most commonly called equipment. A rubber bungee is often considered a gadget – is this just because it’s newer? 

The use of a piece of fixed (static) kit / gadget / equipment generally creates the wrong response from the horse. The problem with this is twofold...

Firstly, a horse will contort his body to avoid the pressure.  

It is said that a horse will find 1 or 2 of up to 17 evasions to a pair of side reins. A horse isn’t “designed” to move his body or feet and keep his head still. Birds will sit on a branch, and as the branch moves, their head will remain absolutely still. If you put a side rein onto a bird, he would be able to move his body and keep his head still within the reins. Horses use their necks a little like a tightrope walker’s balance pole – their length of neck and how it can move up, down and around helps them to balance their bodies. If you strap their head down, they will start to twist their bodies to fit into the space, and this twisting makes up the 17 possible evasions. This includes shoulders falling out, shoulders falling in; quarters falling out, quarters falling in. Withers down, head tucked behind the vertical. Withers up, head behind vertical. Leaning on the bridle, tilting the head left or right. Pushing out through the outer jaw but tipping the nostrils in, and many more. Any of these will show up as the horse not being straight, but all subtly different. (Or, not so subtle…)  

On the second issue, it often strengthens the part that we are trying to de-activate.

If you go to gym or to have a physiotherapist session, you are often asked to hold an elastic band. Once you have this in your hand, you pull against it, and the pulling against the resistance is what strengthens the muscles. If the horse is wearing any kind of cable, rein or elastic, he will often pull against it, so strengthening the exact muscle that we are trying to de-activate. Imagine – you have a very ewe necked (muscled “upside down”) horse, and so you put a pair of side reins on him to lunge him. He leans into the side rein contact, so tucking his nose in but activating the underside neck muscles even more. You don’t want to teach this horse to tuck in his nose, but to lengthen the topline of neck muscle.  

So, the ideal is to teach the horse to balance himself by finding the correct set of muscles and putting him into a place of balance, without having anything fixed in place.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.