Lunging: building contact and connection at a distance

It is a magical feeling when your horse can move beautifully and independently on the lunge line and only needs small cues for support

Lunging allows you to work with your horse from a greater distance. This allows you to refine the communication between you and your horse, and help them to stand on their own four legs. You also start to work more on the movements your horse makes.

While lunging, you want to keep the same quality of lunging as you had with groundwork. Your horse learns to stand on their own legs and make different movements. For example, stretching and uphill movements during extension and collection.

There are many different aids that you can make use of during lunging which allow you to:

• Rebalancing the horse, by shifting the weight from their fronthand to their backhand
• Slowing down or collection
• Stop your horse
• Placing the shoulder to the side
• Asking for neck flexion

During lunging, you can see your horse better and give them space to perform the movement on their own. As if it is a a game. Your intention is a mirror of what your horse will do for you

We would love to give you some insights and inspiration, about what you can achieve with lunging:

Would you love to deepen the connection and contact with your horse through lunging? To learn how you can work with your horse with the smallest cues from a distance?

Have a look at our homestudies, so that you can work on a better connection with your horse from a greater distance:

our home studies