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Hey guys! I have a mustang gelding named Shooter who I'm retraining. I lunge him almost everyday before I ride him, but I don't know how to stop him. Like, when he is trotting, what to I do to make him stop(while Lunging)? |
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To get brim to stop you could try focusing your energy on his shoulder and that will slow him down or you could point at his front end with a stick and stuff like that or you could pracice commands for stop. I would also suggest YouTube for a tutorial on this |
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As I lunge, I softly move with my horse around an inner circle in the pen, then I stop my feet (which releases the pressure they feel from me) and say "woah", and they learn to stop along the edge of the round pen that way. If a horse is less interested in watching me and "feeling" when my feet stop, then I clip a lunge line to their inner halter D ring, and softly pull it towards me after I stop my feet asking them to stop until they face me and stop. They'll learn it without the line eventually =) |
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I second whiz, I'd start with a lunge line or lead rope and then once they understand, you can lunge without I teach them a vocal command 'whoa/ho' and then always ask my horse to come in to me and touch my hand (with the vocal command touch) this helps in the saddle a lot because when you stop them with a whoa or ho they already understand what it means |
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Thank you everyone! We don't have a round pen, so I use a large open area. The best thing I've found to stop him so far is putting my weight on the lunge as pulling towards me and saying whoa. |
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I personally would work on getting him to yield his hindquarters while standing still. There are plenty of different methods of doing this but I usually start by stepping to the side of the horse (you can don't need to be super close or anything) then I put a small feel on the rope by using a scooping action with my hand towards the opposite shoulder (not pulling - more of a lift so that the halter moves). Focus your energy and face your shoulders towards his hind end and take a few small steps towards his hind legs - if this doesn't get a reaction then swing the end of your rope just to create some more energy. What you are looking for is his blacklegs to move away from you (disengage) preferably by crossing over while the front legs stay relatively still. That is unlikely to happen straight away but it is the eventual goal, the main thing you'll aim for at the start is movement of the hind end away from you without his walking forward. Once he has the basics of this you can then start using it while he is lunging, all you need to go is repeat the scooping action with your hand, step towards his hind end and flick the rope if necessary. He should turn in to face you and stop, if he doesn't stop then I'd do a back up by gently swinging the lunge line and he should get the idea eventually. I would also recommend lunging with your shoulders facing in his direction of motion rather than towards him, and then when you ask him to stop facing him and going through that process, it can help make things more clear. But that is just my method of doing it (its probably not very well explain either!) and I'm sure you'll find something that works, but I do think this way allows you to get them really soft and responsive as you can make smaller aids each time. And I really would recommend taking it back a step to either a stand still or walk as it is likely you are unable to get him to stop or move how you want there and that is creating the problem. Here is a video that might help you visualise it better, it sorta starts at the 3 minute mark - I honestly have no clue who this dude is so if he's no good then just ignore this lol). Personally I'd use less flicking of the rope early on and more of a feel on the halter first as it cam make the aids more subtle as time goes on. |
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SilverFern Stables, That might work! I'll try tomorrow when I work with him. |
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Depression Horse Co. said:
SilverFern Stables, That might work! I'll try tomorrow when I work with him.
Good luck! I'd love to hear how it goes :) |
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To everyone who gave me a tip, thank you! I tried all of theses, and they helped! He now slows down when I say "whoa". Thank you all! |
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Simple and easy method:
Give the slow or stop command, if he doesnt do it, step torwards the front to make it more apparent what you want, if that doesn't work, draw your lunge line in to make the circle smaller till they stop and reward the behavior.
Rinse and repeat as needed |
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