pmu colt

Question
Hi Michael, I recently adopted a 9 month old unhandled colt (gelding is on the schedule) He is doing very well overall, I can halter and lead him, brush him and touch him all over. I want to begin lungeing him but he is not getting that I want him to move away and keep going. I am using a lunge whip (tapping not whipping) and trying to get to move away and keep moving. He just gets confused and wants to get closer when I am pushing him away.

Answer
Gerrie -

With lunging, there is usually a moment where you can see the lightbulb go on, and the horse works really well.  The problem is getting to that point in a non-confusing manner.

One thing that many people have trouble with is the actual lunge line.  It can cause two problems for the horse.  
1.  The line itself can cause just enough pressure to make the horse turn to the inside.
2.  Until everybody involved is comfortable with the idea, it is not uncommon to have the horse start moving forward suddenly, only to have the slack come out of the line enough to pull them to the inside.
So you may want to try it the first few times without a lunge line.

The whip can cause problems too.  Once they know what is going on, you may need the whip to keep them moving.  However, at the moment, the whip may cause him to want to turn in to look at the whip.  Or the stimulation of touching him on the hip may cause him to move his away and as a result turn in toward you.
For that reason a saddle rope, or a coil lunge line can sometimes be a better choice.

Sometimes the best way to teach a horse to do something is to "scare" them into doing it.  In this case, you may be better off just getting him to run away from you in one direction, and then every time you do it, calm it down a little.  Sometimes you just need that little jolt at the begining to make them see that they aren't supposed to be near you.

If you have a round pen, definetly use it.  If you have an option, you a smaller round pen as you will be able to keep more pressure on him to keep him moving.  If you dont have a round pen, use a small square corral.

Some people may tell you that 9 months old is too young to start lunging, and to an extent they are correct.  Keep your lessons short.  Change directions frequently.  And remember, you are lunging to teach at this point - not excercise - so let him pick his pace.  It is far more important that he gets the idea, rather than a work out.

I have a web page that shows how I train my horses to lunge.  You can find it by going to www.kickingbearmustangs.com and looking in the "lessons" section under Basic Horse Training.  That might give you a few other ideas.

Best of Luck!
Michael Hockemeyer
Kicking Bear Mustangs