Lunging

When I started working with Gunny, she had been trained to run around frantically on the lunge line. I was taught to "take the edge off" because that makes her tired and want to listen.

Well, that just made her more headstrong. It made her WANT to go fast, where I just wanted her to relax.

In my courses I was taught to lunge her slowly, asking for frequent stops. Whenever she decided to go faster, I'd ask her to stop, relax, and proceed again. Here is a video of me lunging her, after teaching her to go slowly.

Click to see a lunging video

She still is a bit feisty, where she tosses her head, and pins her ears if I ask her to move to the next gait. She's nowhere near perfect on the lunge line, but she's a lot more relaxed than she ever used to be. Please excuse the titles, as this was part of a project for "preparing for the first ride".

This video was from the end of April, so it's a little old. I will have to post a newer video of her working on the lunge line soon.