Ground work: Train Your Horse to Go on the Circle Copy
Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to learn how to move your horse’s feet and to control their motions around you. Training your horse to go on a circle around you is also known as lungeing. You can either do this with a halter and lead rope/lunge rope or even in a round pen without any rope attaching to your horse.
This exercise can be used for a number of things: working your horse in order to get their extra energy out, having your horse move out to see if they are lame, loosening up a stiff horse, and correcting bad behavior. It allows you to work your horse without ever getting in the saddle.
The main point this article will focus on is how you can put your horse on a circle in order to correct bad behavior. Imagine your horse is starting to act up; they are offering to buck or take off. Instead of trying to ride through the problem and potentially get hurt, you can get off and lunge your horse.
In this instance, you should lunge your horse until they show signs that they don’t want to act up anymore. It’s said that the hardest gait for a horse is the trot. If your horse is being bad, put them into a working trot, and don’t let them stop until you ask them to.
In the wild, if a horse is doing something that the alpha horse doesn’t like, the alpha will make the other horse move its feet. This is essentially what you are doing with this exercise; you’re re-establishing your authority with your horse as well as making it clear to them that you don’t like what they’re doing.
This can be used for even more subtle signs of your horse disrespecting your authority. Sending your horse trotting on a circle around you when they dive for a mouthful of grass is a great way to teach them that they shouldn’t try to graze when you’re leading them. If this is a problem that your horse struggles with, we have an article that expands on this some more.
Horses don’t like to do more work than they have to. This exercise will get the point across that bad behavior means more work. You’ll notice how fast your horse shapes up when you introduce this into your routine.
Technique
Start by having your lead rope gathered in one hand and your lunge whip in the other. At a standstill, ask your horse to continue past you. You may have to take a step towards their hind-end and use the whip to urge them forward. Just remember that you should never hit your horse with the whip, as this can make them skittish and untrusting.
As your horse travels out into the circle, let out some rope from your hand. Never offer enough rope that it drags on the ground, as the horse can get caught up in it and panic.
To properly lunge a horse, you must be aware of your position. In order to properly drive your horse forward on the circle, always keep your body even with the middle of the horse’s barrel. Keep your lunge whip point down and out in the direction of the horse’s rump.
At first, your horse may be confused and try to come towards you or stop. It’s important that you keep them moving forward on the circle, not allowing them to stop. If you allow your horse to do this, they may pick up a bad habit of it later on.
Once you and your horse are comfortable working on the circle, you can start asking your horse to transition between gaits. Vocal commands are always recommended to do this; however, your horse may not pick them up right away.
In order to ask your horse to go from a walk to a trot, say the gait you want: “trot!” If they don’t respond right away, use the whip to urge them forward. As soon as they respond correctly, lower the whip.
Likewise, in order to slow your horse down, say “whoa!” If they don’t respond, you can tug the rope. Once they slow down, release the pressure.
Result
Once you know how to put your horse on a circle around you, you now have a tool that can fix most bad behavior you come across with your horse. You’ll be able to get them to focus back on you; looking to you for guidance and direction.
Sooner or later, you’ll be able to have your horse transition effortlessly between transitions. Since horses can only concentrate for a few seconds at a time, having them change transitions while on the lunge will keep them focused and entertained, drawing their attention from their distraction and putting it back on you.