Teaching a mini horse to lunge?
Our barn got a mini horse who just turned a year old on Saturday and eventually we're going to each him to jump and pull a cart but he has no idea how...
Our barn got a mini horse who just turned a year old on Saturday and eventually we’re going to each him to jump and pull a cart but he has no idea how to lunge and has no fear of the whip what so ever even if we poke him with it or snap it to get him to go. he just walks around sniffing the ground. he’s much better on a lunge line than in the round pen but it would be much more convenient to lunge him in the round pen. any suggestions?
You don’t want him to "fear" the whip, but he must respect it. Pop the whip behind him, coming closer to his heels, if you have to sting his heels, you may have to do so, but don’t do it until you have tried popping the ground. Once you sting his heels, go back to popping, unless he won’t respect popping, then sting him again. He will learn that the whip is not going to "bite" him, if he respects the command of the pop. A yearling is pretty young to teach to lunge. Don’t do more than a total of 15 minutes about ever other day. The circles of lunging are hard on a horse’s joints.
Have someone hold the whip and the lunge. Go and hold his halter. Have the person crack the whip. Walk him in the circle. Have them crack the whip again. Pull him into a trot. If you want him to canter, don’t try it until you have mastered the trot AND walk.So repeat until you think he knows what to do. You don’t have to do it in a round pen.
Use the access lunge line to go under his barrel and close to his hind legs and sort of well i don’t want to say hit so like a tap but a strong firm tap so it like stings him i guess. you don’t want him to fear the whip however.
I suggest you wait 4 to 6 months and then have the Vets approval on his knees (if they are sufficiently formed or "closed" as its called) before putting him on a lunge. Just like his larger relatives–no horse she be worked on circles due to the stress of maneuvering a curve on immature joints and tendons and soft muscles, not a good combination to withstand stress fracture and splints. So wait a little longer for your little friends sake.