Question:
Good afternoon Thomas,
At your convenience could you please, in detail, explain the process for longeing a green horse.
I am currently working with my 3 year old gelding on just that, however, after reading your lovely article on Longing and viewing my photos of our work, I am now starting to see the errors of my ways, perhaps in how I started him or the steps that I have omitted out of lack of knowledge. I understand now that in order to acquire balance that a horse needs to work with the side reins and snaffle, however, how does one begin to longe correctly with a young horse that hasn't yet been introduced to the snaffle or side reins? or should longeing only be started after those two have been introduced first?
I'm not in a rush to back him this summer, but would prefer spend the remainder of this year just working from the ground.
Thank you very much for your time. Have a good day and take care.
Debbie Kostinec
Answer:
Hi Deb,
Thank you for your e-mail. I could write a very long article on your question, and I might do that at some point. Let me try to summarize the most important elements of our method.
- Always start with an assistant.
- One person stands in the center of the circle, holding the longe line and marking the center of the circle as a point of reference for the horse.
- The second person leads the horse on the circle line in the walk. This person carries a longe whip.
- The horse is tacked up with a longeing cavesson only.
- When the horse relaxes in the walk at the longe line, you can lead him in the trot for a few strides. Then you spiral in towards the center of the circle, while the horse stays out on the circle line by himself.
- The goal is a round circle with a steady tempo.
- Calmness is extremely important, so that the horse doesn't get spooked or scared.
- Avoid jerky, aggressive looking movements, but think ahead, so that you can move slowly but act quickly. It's like the turtle and the hare. You have to anticipate the horse's next move, so that you can be ready with your aid, when the horse comes into the circle, or slows down, etc.
- The position of the whip holder relative to the horse is extremely important, because it influences the shape of the circle and the speed tremendously.
- Keep the whip on the ground and relatively inconspicuous, so that you don't inadvertently chase the horse with it.
- When you need to drive, raise the whip slowly. Assess the horse's sensitivity level. With some horses, raising the whip slowly is all it takes. Other horses require that you swing the lash towards them, and some horses even need to be touched with the lash once in a while. When moving the whip, make it into an extension of your arm and try to move the end of the lash.
- After several days of longeing with the cavesson, add the snaffle bridle under the cavesson, so that the horse gets used to the feeling of the bit in his mouth.
- Longe him for 3 days - or until he relaxes - with the snaffle, then add a longeing surcingle.
- Longe him for 3 days - or until he relaxes - with the snaffle, cavesson, and surcingle, then add a saddle underneath the surcingle.
- Longe him for 3 days - or until he relaxes - with the snaffle, cavesson, surcingle, and saddle then add a side reins. Keep the side reins so long that the horse can feel their weight, but that they don't restrict his movement in any way, even if he sticks his nose straight up in the air.
- To the degree that he relaxed over the next few days, start shortening them 3 holes or so every couple of days, until the side reins are starting to make some contact.
- If any stage of the work makes the horse nervous, go back to the previous stage, until he is relaxed. Then move up to the next stage and stay there, until he is comfortable - almost bored - with it, before taking the next step.
Good luck. Let me know if you have further questions or specific problems.
Best Wishes,
Thomas Ritter
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