Longe Training

Question
I am trying to teach an old horse a new trick! He is about 20 years old, a tennessee walker, great to ride and cues to voice. I want to teach him to longe, but am unable to do so because he wants to stay close to me. He turns his head toward me, and follows me.

I do have a roundpen and can work him TOTALLY on voice while in the roundpen (without longe line attached). However, as soon as I hook up the longe line he tries to follow me as if it were a halter. I have tried pointing the whip at his butt, at his head, etc, but I simply cannot get far enough away from him to even start working when the longe line is attached.

Answer
My first question would be why do you want to teach him to longe? From what you are saying he is doing a great job without it. Some horses are just not comfortable longing. It also might be uncomfortable for him to bend his neck. You also want to make sure that the circle you are longing him in is not too small. To teach him to longe you want to first start him out with the lead line only 3-4 feet away from you. Make sure that your hand is pointing in the direction that you want him to go in. Keep your whip in the other hand. Just start with him starting and stopping on command. Make sure you stay at his side. When he is doing this well then double the length of the line and do the same thing just working on starting and stopping. You want to be walking beside him. When he has done this then again make your longe line longer.

When he is walking and stopping on command you can then add other moves in and increase your speed. During the session, praise him constantly for the correct response