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How do you prevent a horse from spinning out and facing you (at a complete stop) while lunging2007-11-24 21:16:02

I have a 3 year old mare that was lunging great until this year. She has gotten the habit of spinning her rear-end out and facing me while lunging and coming to a complete stop. If I try to get beside her to move her from the rear, she spins her rear away and keeps facing me. How do I correct and prevent this?

Answers:

Use 2 lunge lines with the extra one coming around her butt. When she starts to turn in, use that outside rein and pull her head back towards the outside of the circle and then drive her foward. Everytime she tries to turn in , pull her head back to the outside rein. Make it clear it's not acceptable and that the only time she can halt is when you say halt and she should still stay out on the circle and not turn int. Hope that helps, it's hard to describe via this.

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my horse does this but hes getting better because i go up beside him put my hand on his head so he cannot turn to face me and i tap his but with either the rope or the whip

if she is going good and then suddenly just stops get at an angle behind her rear and chase her, dont let her stop it is flat out disrespect. do not allow her to do this she will realise by doing this it will just create more work for her, continue to push her at a very fast lope when she does this "stop and face you" idea, make her go go go

good luck!

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I usually don't lunge until after I have round-penned the horse, so what I do may have a slightly slower effect on your mare. Mostly I try to catch this before it happens. The horse will give you signs that it is coming (such as slowing down, looking in, signalling with their left ear etc.). When you see her giving you these signs or acting like she is going to stop, immediately ask her to move forward a bit more. Sometimes, it happens before I catch it, though. As soon as the horse spins to face me, I ASK them to move out with the normal cue. If they keep facing me without moving out, I start walking toward their shoulder (on the side that I want to remain to the inside). How quickly I walk, and how strong the cues I give them on the way depends on their reactions to me. If they back up, I move just a bit more to their side (instead of partially in front) and keep moving toward them. The key here is to let the horse know that you can move his feet in the direction you want them to go. It is much easier in a round pen with no lunge line to get tangled in. If I have to, I will make noises or wave my arms or both (as I move toward them). sometimes spinning the a lead rope will help. The instant they start forward motion in the direction I asked for, I drop all pressure off. It usually only takes once or twice in each direction before they stop doing this.

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You need to always be behind her shoulder. If you stand in front, she will always spin in when she gets tired of lunging, lunge her on a shorter line, long enough for you to tap her with the end of the lunge whip. Tap her right behind her inward shoulder until she moves away from it. Keep it up both ways until she knows you are boss again. You should be able to do this in a day, and remember to always be right behind her inward shoulder.

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Everyone has answered this question very well, but I just wanted to add that you should keep your mare lunging in a small circle until she gets better again. The larger the circle, the more freedom they have to move however they want to, and the less control you have over them. And like others have said, make sure you stay behind the shoulder (Animal Science 101!).

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Funny you should ask this question because I have just recently gotten the horse I'm training out of this habit.