The next Sunday husband helped me build a tiny round pen made of rope and fence posts, and Tex and I headed out for our first lunging session. However, during the walk to the round pen, he tried to stomp my face off! He was quite angry about leaving the barn, and very disrespectful of my space. I was a bit shaken, and although wanting to do this project independently, I felt safer having experienced husband there for support. Husband made him do the first couple rounds around the round pen (still attached to the long rope), and I finished the rest of the 20 minute lesson. Tex may have been lunged one or two times during the month that Anna had him, but he didn't know a lot about it.
He learned to go when I kiss and to stop when I say "whoa." I was particularly impressed with his whoa, and his immediate response of turning his face and entire body toward me after the whoa. When I used to lunge Spiderman, he almost never turned his whole body, no matter what I did. I was also quite satisfied with Tex's speed of learning and his attention to me.
By the end of that lesson, he walked MUCH more respectfully back toward the barn, and hasn't tried the stomping in the 5 days since.
When asking him to stop, I was unsure whether to step in front of him to ask him to stop, or to remain in the middle of the circle and pull on his halter with the lunge line. What are the reasons for each, and is one better than the other? Also, what is the correct spelling for lunge/longe?
TM
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The way I learned to longe is all about angles. There should be an invisible triangle between you, the horse's head, and the horse's hip. This applies to roundpenning or working with a longe line. When you ask the horse for more go, you should be positioned so that you are driving from the horse's hip (side of triangle between you and hip becomes shorter, and side of triangle between you and shoulder becomes longer). I usually walk when I'm longeing - not all people do, but I find it's easier to drive the horse forward when I'm moving as well.
To ask for a whoa with Halo, I stop moving and say "whoa." But she has learned this after many repetitions of slowing and turning her by moving my corner of the triangle more toward her shoulder (side of triangle to head becomes shorter, side of triangle between you and hip becomes longer). That is how I turn or slow her. Sometimes she gets a gentle pull on the line if she ignores my body language. I've found that she learns a lot faster when I use the pressure of my body language more than the pressure of the rope. That said, my previous horse that I also started myself was a different story. He was a bit headstrong and needed more emphasis with the rope. So I'd say use your own judgment and do some trial and error to figure out what works best for you and Tex.
Longe and Lunge are both correct: Longeing (USA) or lungeing (UK, informal USA).
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