Longeing and Long Lining, The English and Western Horse , livre ebook

Longeing and Long Lining
THE ENGLISH AND WESTERN HORSE:
A Total Program
ALSO BY CHERRY HILL
101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises, English and Western
Beginning English Exercises
Intermediate English Exercises
Advanced English Exercises
Beginning Western Exercises
Intermediate Western Exercises
Advanced Western Exercises
Horse for Sale
Maximum Hoof Power (with Richard Klimesh)
101 Arena Exercises
Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage
Becoming an Effective Rider
The Formative Years
Making Not Breaking
From the Center of the Ring
Your Pony, Your Horse
Horse Handling and Grooming
Horse Health Care
Horseowner s Guide to Lameness (with Dr. Ted S. Stashak)
Longeing and Long Lining
THE ENGLISH AND WESTERN HORSE:
A Total Program
Cherry Hill
Photographs by Richard Klimesh

Howell Book House New York
The information given in this book is provided for the purpose of education and to give as complete a picture as possible. The reader, even if experienced in the handling of horses, should exercise extreme care in all circumstances.
Copyright 1999 by Cherry Hill
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Howell Book House
A Simon Schuster Macmillan Company
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New York, NY 10019
Macmillan Publishing books may be purchased for business or sales promotional use.
For information please write: Special Markets Department, Macmillan Publishing USA, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY
MACMILLAN is a registered trademark of Macmillan, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging information available upon request.
ISBN 0-87605-080-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Book Design: Rachael McBrearty-Madhouse Studios
Cover Design: Michele Laseau
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1 LONGEING IS MORE THAN TROTTING IN A CIRCLE
2 THE MASTER PLAN FOR TRAINER AND HORSE
3 OPENING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION
4 IN-HAND WORK: A HORSE IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO ON THE LOOSE
5 TACK TACTICS
6 THE LONGEING PROGRESSION
7 LONG LINE TECHNIQUES
Epilogue
Recommended Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
THANKS TO:
Richard Klimesh, photographer, for his keen interest in the project and his unique perspective while shooting.
Ariat International for safe, comfortable English and Western boots.
Top Tack, Inc. for specialized, innovative, high-quality tack for longeing and ground driving.
Topline Horse Gear for a wide variety of tack for ground training.
Les Vogt s Equiline for snaffle bits for the Western horse.
Pro Equine Division of Farnam for protective leg boots.
THANKS TO MY COOPERATIVE EQUINE MODELS:
Doctor Zip
Ben Dickens
Aria
Seeker
Drifter s Eclipse
Poco Pine Pete
Preface
As I work with a horse, my primary goal is to gain his trust and respect. With that established, we can develop a specialized system of communication that not only allows us to work together but actually invites us to interact. We both look forward to the sessions. The horse meets me at the gate. He s willing and interested. I am inspired and motivated by the progress and spirit of the horse and can t wait to get to the barn. In this way, we become enthusiastic working partners. That is my long-term goal: a solid partnership where we can count on each other and take care of each other.
Although I want the horse to bond with me and respond to me, I do not want him to be a pet or depend on me to direct his every step. I want him to be a self-confident animal. After all, it is the spirit of the horse that has attracted me. Continual prodding and nagging have no place. That would be too disrespectful of the horse and it would take the joy out of horse training for me.
In order to safely and effectively work together, I must learn something about the horse and the horse must learn something about me. The best way to accomplish this is through consistent daily handling. Every day, I approach every horse encounter as training. The way the horse and I interact when I feed, clean the pen or stall, halter, and lead, or turn the horse out for exercise are just as important as the lessons in the training pen. The horse is always learning. And so am I. Trainers have to be life-long learners.
When it comes time for what is usually considered formal training-in-hand maneuvers, longeing, ground driving, and riding-the horse that has become a partner will take new lessons willingly.
Nowhere can you better prepare a horse for the requirements of riding than in a comprehensive ground-training program. And even after a horse is a very experienced riding horse, longeing and long lining provide an excellent means for monitoring progress, giving a horse a tune-up, or introducing new concepts.
Thorough ground training makes a horse safer, more confident, and more comfortable to ride. That s why I ve written this book, and its companion volume, 101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises: English and Western.
Here I discuss the total program. Besides explaining ground-training philosophies and procedures, I cover the behind the scenes concepts and ideas that will help you formulate your own personalized training program. By knowing why, you will be able to tailor a program to suit both you and your horse. To illustrate the stages of groundwork, I have included photographs of horses of different sexes, ages, and breeds in different stages of training. In many instances, the photos depict the first lesson for a horse in a particular phase.
I encourage you to first become thoroughly familiar with the total program. Then, you can tailor your longeing and long lining progression to suit your facilities, your goals, your horse s characteristics, and your time schedule. If you don t have a round pen, you ll want to incorporate free longeing techniques in your first work on a longe line. If you are not experienced enough for or your goals don t require the use of side reins, you might choose to develop contact with long lining. All along the way, you will make choices as you formulate your own personal training program.
In 101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises: English and Western , I compiled my favorite ground-training exercises. You can use the exercise book as a workbook to plan your daily sessions with each horse as well as to set long-term goals. With each exercise, I ve included howto diagrams and step-by-step instructions.
It is my hope that these two books inspire you and give you direction so you can develop a solid, working relationship with your horse.
1
LONGEING IS MORE THAN TROTTING IN A CIRCLE
First, is it longeing, lungeing, longing , or lounging and what does it mean? Derived from the French allonge , which means extension, longe is the most correct English variation. I choose to use longe ( longeing ) so as to differentiate it from the word lunge , which is a sudden thrust, or plunge forward, something I associate more with fencing than working a horse around me in a circle. The confusion comes in that longe is pronounced the same as lunge. Longing and lounging , the other two Americanized versions of the word appear regionally in speech, but not too often in writing. Although you may wish your horse were trained, longing will not make it so. And when you are working a couch potato horse, he might try to convince you it is supposed to be lounging , but you must let him know that is not what you have in mind!
Longeing is often the transition training between in-hand work and riding. It offers the means to introduce the horse to many of the requirements and sensations associated with riding. That s why longeing should always encourage good movement, a good attitude, and good manners.
Longeing Pros and Cons
Longeing is much more than a horse trotting in a circle. It refers to a trainer working a horse in a circle at various gaits, either free in a round pen or on a line that is 30 to 35 feet long. Longeing is a specific, controlled lesson progression in a horse s ground-training program, not a random activity where the horse races around the pen, unbalanced and out of control.
Although longeing is generally thought of as a means to either train a young horse or warm up an experienced horse before a ride, the benefits of and uses for longeing are so varied that it should be a part of the training and exercise program of all horses.
Long lining, which is also called ground driving, long reining, and double longeing, is working the horse on two lines, one attached to each side of the longeing cavesson or bit. Since it comes later in the horse s training progression, it is covered toward the end of the book.
Minimize Stress
Because longeing is repetitive movement, it can stress the horse s limbs. It is best to wait until a horse is at least two years old before you start his longeing training in earnest. Although it is beneficial to give a yearling a few lessons in a round pen to teach him to face you or stop when commanded, the real longeing program should not begin until 24 months of age.
Working a horse of any age in a repetitious circle can stress the legs from the continuous canting, and may result in lameness. Following these recommendations can minimize the stress to the limbs:
Be sure the footing is not slippery.
Don t work a horse in excessively deep footing. Two to four inches is optimum.
Work the horse in a circle 66 feet in diameter or larger (that means a 33-foot longe line used full length).
Only walk and trot horses younger than two years of age.
With a two-year-old, use cantering only to teach the horse the transition from trot to canter. Don t require the young horse to canter for long periods of time. Cantering heavily loads the leading foreleg and should be avoided as a means of conditioning until all the horse s epiphyses have