PP. 113-132:
The Work at the Longe Line
The work at the longe line requires all the skill of a good rider; for the longe line holder and the whip holder must know the horse’s conformation and its capacity for change. They have to be able to distinguish faulty gaits from correct ones immediately, to improve the faulty ones and to perfect the correct but insufficient gaits; and they must have a feel for the contact. Specifically, the horse’s character, temperament and athleticism must be evaluated.
The work at the longe line is so useful that it should stand at the beginning of the training of every young horse as long as time and place allow it. However, usually one does not see a horse at the longe line until he has reached a high degree of resistance and the rider is unable to accomplish anything with him anymore. It thus becomes merely a corrective measure and its advantages are lost to the young horse. They consist of the following:
Trotting at the longe line loosens up the joints, produces a regular gait, makes the horse approach the reins and use the haunches. It also gives the horse the first introduction to the flexion of the poll and the bending of the entire body along the circle line. One can furthermore give him a workout that is more appropriate for his strength than under the rider, and one accustoms him to cavesson, snaffle, and saddle. In addition one confirms the good natured and willing horse in his character. The resistant one is subdued and the suspicious one learns to trust.. The phlegmatic or lazy temperament is easily awakened and the hot temperament is calmed.
Work at the longe line is also necessary when horses trot unevenly or rush in their gaits, with restive horses who don’t want to go forward and into the rein contact, with mares in heat who kick and rear, with horses who take the reins away from the rider and bolt, and with those who have a stiff, short, inflexible poll conformation and carry their nose high. Often it is the only road to success, while at the same time providing the utmost protection.
However, the longe line as a training and correction tool will only be advantageous to those riders who are capable of riding the horse off the longe line, since obedience at the longe line does not automatically establish obedience under the rider.
The work at the longe line is treated in many books on equestrian art. Yet, its most important aspect, the horse’s approaching the longe line or his acceptance of the longe line, which is just as important as the stepping into the rein contact under the rider, which is the sole source of anything beneficial, is left unmentioned.
The longe line has to be used with the same skill and tact as the rein in the saddle. In both cases the rider should maintain a relaxed feel and contact with the horse. The hand must be light, soft, steady, and quick. It must be able to give itself a certain weight. Just as in the saddle, the trainer has to avoid any stiffness throughout his body at the longe line.
The longe line has to be in gentle contact at all times (Figure 49, page 116). It has to yield with contact in order to enlarge the circle, and it has to be shortened with contact in order to decrease the circle, be it that the horse is leaving the circle line to the inside or to the outside or that he is asked to do so by the trainer. This way the longe line maintains a correct influence with contact. This is the only way the horse can develop regular gaits, follow the circle line with the outside shoulder, and step closely and underneath enough with the inside hind leg. Above all, the contact allows all of his joints their full range of motion, which is automatically diminished every time the longe line becomes slack or drags on the ground and is lacking the necessary contact. Without contact, the horse cannot assume the bend of the circle and is therefore unable to trace the round contour of the circle correctly. Since the longe line in this case receives a jerking contact the horse will deviate from the circle line towards the inside and the outside (Fig. 50, page 117). Consequently, the horse will always fall out from the circle line with his outside shoulder and step wide and without flexion with the inside hind leg instead of close to the outside hind leg. If he bucks on a loose or dragging longe line, it will always happen towards the center or towards the outside of the circle. Since he is still kept at the longe line, which now has to be shortened, he often receives a yank during the buck, which easily and frequently leads to sprains and dislocations of the joints. If he has contact with the longe line, on the other hand, and if the trainer is able to maintain an uninterrupted contact by appropriate lengthening and shortening of the longe line, which he must be able to do, the horse will jump forward on the circle line. The leaps now begin out of a regular movement and on a regular line, even if the circle should enlarge or diminish in the process, and the mentioned disadvantages are avoided. Figure 51 (pg. 118) shows the correct gait on the circle left. Figure 52 (pg. 119) shows the incorrect gait of the horse. In figure 51, the right shoulder and the right hoof follow the circle line and the left hind leg steps close and under. In figure 52, the right front leg leaves the circle line to the outside and the left hind leg steps with open hips. When longeing under the rider, the trainer has to pay all the more attention. For, if the work is to be beneficial, the contact with the longe line must now be even more reliable.
It is easier to confuse the horse because it is subject to double influences, those of the rider and those of the trainer. In case the latter moves along a small circle line, asking for straight lines and small circles, he must walk in step with the horse, especially in the canter, so that the longe line does not start swinging or jerking because of two different types of motions, those of the horse and those of the trainer. If the trainer disregards this important rule, and if the longe line does not remain in the line from the horse’s nose to the center of the circle, the rider can do what he wants, and even if he plagues the horse for hours, he will, nonetheless, not be able to establish a correct rein contact. The horse will not execute a single correct circle, for the one and only reason, because he is unable to approach the longe line without interference.
Before the rider mounts and dismounts, the horse must have contact with the longe line as a precaution (Fig. 53, pg. 121). Even when the horse is resting, one must not let the longe line drag on the ground, although it is completely slack, so that it always remains ready.
The following are important rules:
The end of the longe line must be looped neatly in the free hand so that the longe line can be lengthened or shortened immediately loop by loop, and without loss of time.
The disorderly gathering of the end of the longe line that can so often be seen is, in itself, proof that the trainer knows but little of the subject matter and is unaware of the dangers that can result.
If the trainer is standing in the center of the circle, the right foot must remain fixed when he is longeing on the right hand. He turns on the heel of the right foot, evenly with the movement of the horse, and the right hand holds the longe line in the full hand with thumb and index finger in front of the right side of the torso, in line with the turning foot. The right arm rests gently against the torso, as in riding, in order to support the hand. On the left hand, the opposite procedure applies. If the trainer walks on a circle himself, he has to do so in perfectly regular strides and always on a circle of the same size.
Executing these rules enables the trainer to follow the other indispensable rule, i.e. to remain exactly opposite the horse’s head and to turn simultaneously with the horse’s motion so that the grounded rotating foot, the guiding hand, his eye, and the cavesson form one line (Fig. 54, pg. 122).
…
It is furthermore a rule that the trainer must watch the horse’s eye continuously, which makes him turn in time with the horse. It enables him to observe the horse’s gait and to recognize immediately when the horse is thinking of irregularities or disobediences. In that event, he has to try to step in front of the horse as fast as possible, so that the longe line can be used straight backwards, which is especially indispensable when a horse rears so that he does not get behind the horse. This also avoids wrapping the longe line around the horse or throwing him to the ground, which does not require any strength but often merely a light but incorrect tug.
The horse’s stepping into the contact of the longe line remains the soul of this type of work, as well. Without it, one cannot expect any benefit, but only disadvantages. Apart from other drawbacks, it is, above all, the joints of the horse that are ruined, and secondly, horse and rider or the horse by himself are always in the greatest danger. For it happens not infrequently that horses get wrapped in the longe line, fall down, flip over backwards, and sustain injury, and are thrown to the ground, with or without the rider, by being pulled into the circle, which does not even require any strength, as mentioned before.
Even if the work at the longe line is not practicable with many remounts, for a lack of time, several horses should be worked at the longe line where riders are educated in order to provide the opportunity to become acquainted with longeing and using the whip, both of which are more difficult than it seems and can only be learned by much practice. Walking on a regular circle, in itself, has to be learned.
Initially, longeing requires four people, if it is done with due caution, which is necessary with nervous or disobedient horses.
The first person merely holds the longe line. He has nothing other to do than to stay in one place and to turn around his heel in the center of the circle. When longeing on the right hand, he stands on his right heel and steps around it with his left foot in a circular motion. He holds the longe line looped very evenly in the left hand, which is tucked against the left hip, so that he can resist with the weight of his torso by leaning backwards in the event the horse should run heavily against the longe line. This way he does not need to apply strength with his hand or to leave his place. The right hand maintains the contact of the longe line with the horse.
The second person, who must be educated, is the trainer. He walks on a small circle with the longe line and holds it in his right hand when longeing to the right and in his left hand when longeing to the left. The knuckles are turned up. He has to follow the circle line while remaining in line with the horse’s head and the longe line holder. He carries a dressage whip in the hand that is closest to the horse so that he can apply aids with it.
The third man must be just as educated as the second one, if he is supposed to fulfill his obligations as whip carrier. He must be able to distinguish the horse’s correct gait from the incorrect one in order to be able to apply aids and punishments at the right time. Since they address forehand, middle, and hindquarters, he must also be agile and always in the right position, even behind the horse. He carries a longe whip and a dressage whip, so that he can aid simultaneously forward and backward. On the circle to the right, he carries the longe whip in the left hand and the dressage whip in the right hand, and vice versa on the circle left.
The fourth man, a groom, leads the horse on the circle line and into the contact with the longe line. If he accepts both willingly, he starts trotting with him and gradually leaves him during the trot as soon as the horse continues calmly by himself.
This leading is usually only necessary during the first few days and only for the first circles. Thereafter, this person becomes unnecessary.
When the horse makes steady contact with the longe line on the circle, and if further caution is unnecessary, usually after the first few days, the first person who is merely holding the longe line becomes superfluous, as well, and the longeing is continued by the other two riders (second and third persons).
Finally, the whip holder can be omitted, as soon as the horse is being ridden at the longe line and is willing. However, he must not be absent with antagonistic horses.
Longeing has to be started with these precautions, in order to nip any resistance in the bud, and to be able to communicate the task to the horse easily. Early longe work can only rarely be seen in this manner, and many will consider it pedantic, however, it is completely justified by numerous bad experiences.
Feel free to e-mail me with questions and comments. Read some of the feedback we've received on our 
