Equine Working Notebooks

Equine Working Notebooks

for The Pony Club tests and NVQ Horsecare Mandatory Units

Examples Taken From each of the Pony Club notebooks:

'D' Test | 'D+' Test | 'C' Test
'C+' Test | 'B' Test | 'AH' Care Test | A Test (Riding)


Chapter 14

LUNGEING THE HORSE

The more you practice, particularly if you have a quiet, obedient horse, the more confident and relaxed you will become.

Concentrate on what the horse is doing, not on outside distractions. If you are calm and confident the horse will be more relaxed and more likely to do what he is asked.

Stance

  1. Stand facing the horse's rib cage, with your feet apart, and knees relaxed and slightly bent. If your body is stiff, and your knees are braced or 'locked', it is very easy to lose your balance if the horse tries to pull away.
  2. You need to be ready to move in any direction in a relaxed and balanced manner.
  3. Your elbows should be bent and hang down the sides of your body. Your shoulders need to be relaxed so that you can give and take the rein easily and smoothly.
  4. Aim to keep the rein straight with a steady contact.

Position

  1. When you have the horse out on the circle and walking around you, a triangle will be made with straight lines from your hand to the lunge cavesson, and from the whip to the horse's hock.
  2. Your body should be opposite the horse's saddle. If you get ahead of the horse opposite his head, or shoulder, he may turn in, or run backward.
  3. It is permissable with a lazy horse to drop back level with his quarters and drive him forward.

Figure 7.4 Position of the person lunging in relation to the horse

Voice

  1. Your voice commands must be clear, and vary in tone keeping the words to a minimum.
  2. To make the horse perform an upward transition, or be more active in his paces, the tone needs to be sharp and quick, with the pitch higher than that used when you want the horse to slow down, or make a downward transition.
  3. To make a downward transition the tone is lower and word of command more drawn out, with the last syllable ending on a quieter note.

Practice at home using ground poles and assess their advantages and disadvanteges. When using them for the first time lead the horse over them at a walk. It takes practice to successfully lunge a horse over poles.
Practice having them in a straight line and in a fan shape. Assess the advantages and disadvantages.
Practice having them raised at alternate ends. Decide what difference does this make to the horse's way of going.
Undo the side reins when doing pole work to allow the horse stretch. Clip them back to the saddle, or remove them completely.

Poles in a straight line

Poles in a fan shape

QUESTIONS THE EXAMINERS MAY ASK ON THE LUNGEING SECTION

Think about what you might answer if you were asked any of these questions in your test.

  1. What did you think of the equipment?
  2. Tell me about the different types of side reins, lunge canvessons, lunge lines.
  3. Explain which types you prefer and why?
  4. How did you think the horse went today when you were lungeing him?
  5. In what ways do you feel the horse had improved, or not improved by the end of the session?
  6. What are your thoughts on using ground poles when you are lungeing?
  7. What would be your training plan for this particular horse in the future?
  8. What are the benefits of cantering a horse on the lunge?
  9. What problems might you find in canter if the horse is not sufficiently balanced?