cindi wrote:
> On Dec 1, 7:59 am, JC Dill <jcdill.li...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> I would use reversing before sending him to a wall. If he doesn't want
>> to stop or doesn't understand you are telling him to stop, he may try
to
>> keep going by turning. If you are going left, and try to head him to
>> the wall and he tries to turn left to keep going, you could get run
>> over. If he tries to turn right, you end up with the line around his
>> body or neck.
>
> 1. Don't do groundwork like lunging with a horse who does not already
> totally respect your space.
> 2. I'm unclear how you reverse a horse who won't stop on the lunge...
> To safely reverse, he needs to stop first, or at least execute a
> rollback, which I'm guessing he doesn't know how to do on the lunge
> since his lunging skills are the subject of this post, and which does
> still contain a stopping element.
That's why I suggested (in my other answer in this thread) to start at
liberty in a round-pen, or on a shorter line like a 12' lead rope, to
teach the basic skills before the horse is out on the end of a 30 foot
lunge line. In this post Sandy said he is OK (no zoomies) when worked
on a long lead rope at walk and trot, but doesn't get whoa and stand.
This is the right point to teach reversing, and it can be safely done
with a horse who will remain at the walk while circling on a 12' lead.
> 3. If one is in danger of being ran over while stopping a horse at a
> wall while on the lunge, one is surely in danger of being run over
> while reversing said horse, especially since reversing without first
> getting a nice quiet whoa invites turning into the handler's space...
> 4. Just 'cause it bears repeating, don't lunge a horse who still
> doesn't know how to respect your space. Work on that first. I'm sure
> Emily is beyond this step - at least I haven't heard any evidence of
> impending run-overs. :-)
>
> I've stopped maybe 40 super zoomy on the lunge line horses by using
> half circles with walls as barriers, and I've never come close to
> being run over... YMMV.
It's easy for someone with extensive round-pen and lunging experience to
do this, not so easy for someone who has less experience and who comes
here asking for advice. If she wanted you, or I, to do this, I'd give
it a try, or you could give it a try, and both of us could probably do
it. But I wouldn't advise *Sandy* to do it, since she has no experience
with it. It's a whole lot of not-fun to have the horse turn the wrong
way and end up with the lunge line wrapped around its neck. Especially
with a horse with a bad case of the "zoomies". I've seen this type of
handling wreck at a lot of boarding barns over the years.
There are a lot of people who don't understand how bad things can get
when a lunge line or lead rope gets mishandled, how a horse is likely to
react if the line is dropped and drags on the ground, or gets wrapped
around the horse's neck. I hate to give them advice that could lead to
this type of situation unless I know that they know how to avoid it,
what to do if it happens, and that their horse has been properly exposed
and desensitized to these things.
jc
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