Horse Lungeing
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Science Concept & Application
I lunged 3 horses that are different breeds and heights and they also had different injuries. I lunged them on 2 different lengths of lunge line. One was 20ft and the other was 10ft. All the horses had more trouble on the short line then that long line. The tighter the circle was, the more they had to slow down.
Skipper is the only one who’s injuries affected their performance. He was limping when he was going to the left. Rodney had trouble because he didn’t know me or respect me. Tap did the best out of all the horses. Overall I learned that the length of the rope affects the performance of your horse. I also learned that if the horse doesn’t know you it will affect their performance. The longer the rope the bigger and better the circles will be. If you use a bigger rope you will also be able to canter your horse. Horse lunging is a very effective way to exercise and check on your horse. |
Career
Horse trainers specialize in the training, conditioning, and development of horses for various purposes, such as riding, competition, or performance. Horse trainers are experts in equine behavior, anatomy, and training techniques. Horse trainers have to have an associates degree in equine science or in equine studies.
There are many different kinds of horse trainers. Some of the more popular horse trainers are dressage and racehorse trainers. When training a horse you have to have a lot of patience and not get frustrated with them. Horses feed off the energy of the trainer. So they also have to stay extremely calm. Scientist
Lasse Kristensen is a world-renowned horse lunger. He is a lunger of the vaulting team in Denmark. Lasse was not always a lunger; he started out as a vaulter himself. Lasse even competed in Stockholm in the 1990 equestrian games. After he competed, he realized it wasn’t for him, so he decided to become a lunger for the vaulting community.
Lasse said, "Lunging isn’t for everybody; you need to have the feel for it, know the technique, and have the mentality”. Lasse believes that to be a good lunger you need to know your horse and have harmony with him/her. Lasse has his own lunging equipment store called Kristensen Vaulting Supply. He opened this store because he understood the needs of the horses he worked with and invented special equipment just for them. People around the world use his equipment to get the best lunging possible. |
Essay
I did a project on the science behind horse lunging. I ride at a local stable so I had several horses at my disposal. I also own 2 horses that are currently out there. I picked out 3 different horses to do my demonstration on, which were different heights and different breeds. Two of the horses I picked had old injuries that might affect their performance. The horses I picked are Tap Me A Text. She is a 5 year old ottb (off the track thoroughbred0), Skipper is a 12 years old quarter horse, Rodney is a 10 year old quarter horse. I started off by measuring the horses to see how long and different their stride lengths would be. Then I got 2 different lengths of lunge rope and measured them. One rope was 20ft and the other one was a 10ft rope. Next I looked up the background information of Tap, Skipper, and Rodney. Rodney has an old stifle injury and Skipper had an old injury on his pastern that resulted in a joint being dissolved and two other joints being fused together. The day I was doing the demonstration video I discovered that Skipper had a giant crack down the bottom of his hoof. I still decided to use him anyway.
I lunged Rodney first. He is 14.2 hands. I had a little trouble getting him to lunge because he feeds off emotions and I wasn't the happiest person when I was doing this but I eventually got him to lunge. I used the long line first. Rodeny did great going to the right but when I lunged him going to the left he had more trouble. I found out that going to the left is his weak side which means he is a right side dominant horse which most of the horses are. Next I moved on to the short lunge line. Which he had a lot more trouble doing. He isn’t one of the horses that are in the best shape so I had to constantly keep the whip going. Also when I was lungeing Rodney I found that going to the left he will stop if you get in his line of sight. So I was constantly spinning and I got really dizzy really fast. Rodney was able to do four circles on the long line for both sides but was only able to get three circles on the short line. His stifle injury didn’t really affect his performance. We also discovered he doesn't always respect people that aren’t his owner. Overall Rodney was a very good horse to do and we learned a lot from him.
Next I lunged Skipper. Skipper was a very good boy. He did everything I asked him to do. Skipper is in very good shape so his circles were very nice and clean. The first circle on the long lead we went to the right which he did perfectly but the left wasn’t so good. Since he has a crack in his hoof it was hard for him going to the left because he was leading with that foot. He was limping pretty badly. On the long lead skipper was able to do four circles to the right with no problem but was only able to do three circles going to the left due to that crack in his hoof. The small lead had similar results; he was able to do four circles going to the right but only two circles going to the left. When I was lunging him on the smaller line going to the left he had so much trouble because he was in pain. The tighter the circle the more difficult it was for him to continue going. Overall Skipper did very well. He was just in pain going to the left. Something interesting is that the farrier saw him Wednesday and he turned Skipper's shoe around where there was more support toward the back of the hoof and it helped a lot. He is a lot better now it is crazy how just turning the shoe around can help.
The next horse I did was Tap me a text. She did the best out of all of them. Tap just recently got off the track from her racing career. First we started with the long line and she did every direction almost perfectly. I didn't even have to use the lunge whip with her. She was so good. Next we used the smaller rope which she had a little more trouble with but still did super good. Tap was able to do five circles on the long line both ways. The shorter line she was only able to do four but that's still really good. I did have to use the lunge whip on this rope because I didn't have enough excess rope to swing around. Tap has never had any previous injuries and has only been ridden 8 times since being off the track. Which can be a little scary when doing groundwork because you don’t know how they will react but with her it was fine. So far I haven’t found anything that she spooks at. I think she will make an amazing horse. Overall tap had the cleanest and best circles out of all of them.
The next part I did was gather all the information and edit out the parts that I didn’t need. The end results were that injuries definitely impact how well your horse performs. The length of the rope all plays a part in it. The shorter line was harder for all three horses. The short rope also made it where the horses couldn’t go faster than a trot whereas on a long line horses can gallop and canter. Another key thing that makes a difference is if you know the horses you're lunging well and if the horse knows you. Rodney had the most trouble but he did great for his owner when she tried to lunge him. The reason he did so badly was because he doesn’t know me and how my emotions are. Skipper did great and listened to me because I have owned him for five years. Skipper knows me and how I work and I know how he works. Knowing the horse you are working with makes a huge difference on how they perform. Tap is a similar story after being off the track the only people who have ridden her besides me is Leslie, my trainer and a girl who came to try her out. Tap was very responsive to me because of this which is why she did so good.
The overall demonstration will consist of all three horses lunging both directions on the long line and the short line. I will also have the information about their breed, height, and injuries. I would say it was very successful. Leslie also learned from my demonstration video. She learned about how well your horse knows you pays a very big part in the way your horse performs. I am very happy I got to show you how the different thing you do when you lunge plays a part in how well your horse does. I will definitely be using lunging to train my young horse promise as well so we can build a good connection. Thank you and have a nice day.
I lunged Rodney first. He is 14.2 hands. I had a little trouble getting him to lunge because he feeds off emotions and I wasn't the happiest person when I was doing this but I eventually got him to lunge. I used the long line first. Rodeny did great going to the right but when I lunged him going to the left he had more trouble. I found out that going to the left is his weak side which means he is a right side dominant horse which most of the horses are. Next I moved on to the short lunge line. Which he had a lot more trouble doing. He isn’t one of the horses that are in the best shape so I had to constantly keep the whip going. Also when I was lungeing Rodney I found that going to the left he will stop if you get in his line of sight. So I was constantly spinning and I got really dizzy really fast. Rodney was able to do four circles on the long line for both sides but was only able to get three circles on the short line. His stifle injury didn’t really affect his performance. We also discovered he doesn't always respect people that aren’t his owner. Overall Rodney was a very good horse to do and we learned a lot from him.
Next I lunged Skipper. Skipper was a very good boy. He did everything I asked him to do. Skipper is in very good shape so his circles were very nice and clean. The first circle on the long lead we went to the right which he did perfectly but the left wasn’t so good. Since he has a crack in his hoof it was hard for him going to the left because he was leading with that foot. He was limping pretty badly. On the long lead skipper was able to do four circles to the right with no problem but was only able to do three circles going to the left due to that crack in his hoof. The small lead had similar results; he was able to do four circles going to the right but only two circles going to the left. When I was lunging him on the smaller line going to the left he had so much trouble because he was in pain. The tighter the circle the more difficult it was for him to continue going. Overall Skipper did very well. He was just in pain going to the left. Something interesting is that the farrier saw him Wednesday and he turned Skipper's shoe around where there was more support toward the back of the hoof and it helped a lot. He is a lot better now it is crazy how just turning the shoe around can help.
The next horse I did was Tap me a text. She did the best out of all of them. Tap just recently got off the track from her racing career. First we started with the long line and she did every direction almost perfectly. I didn't even have to use the lunge whip with her. She was so good. Next we used the smaller rope which she had a little more trouble with but still did super good. Tap was able to do five circles on the long line both ways. The shorter line she was only able to do four but that's still really good. I did have to use the lunge whip on this rope because I didn't have enough excess rope to swing around. Tap has never had any previous injuries and has only been ridden 8 times since being off the track. Which can be a little scary when doing groundwork because you don’t know how they will react but with her it was fine. So far I haven’t found anything that she spooks at. I think she will make an amazing horse. Overall tap had the cleanest and best circles out of all of them.
The next part I did was gather all the information and edit out the parts that I didn’t need. The end results were that injuries definitely impact how well your horse performs. The length of the rope all plays a part in it. The shorter line was harder for all three horses. The short rope also made it where the horses couldn’t go faster than a trot whereas on a long line horses can gallop and canter. Another key thing that makes a difference is if you know the horses you're lunging well and if the horse knows you. Rodney had the most trouble but he did great for his owner when she tried to lunge him. The reason he did so badly was because he doesn’t know me and how my emotions are. Skipper did great and listened to me because I have owned him for five years. Skipper knows me and how I work and I know how he works. Knowing the horse you are working with makes a huge difference on how they perform. Tap is a similar story after being off the track the only people who have ridden her besides me is Leslie, my trainer and a girl who came to try her out. Tap was very responsive to me because of this which is why she did so good.
The overall demonstration will consist of all three horses lunging both directions on the long line and the short line. I will also have the information about their breed, height, and injuries. I would say it was very successful. Leslie also learned from my demonstration video. She learned about how well your horse knows you pays a very big part in the way your horse performs. I am very happy I got to show you how the different thing you do when you lunge plays a part in how well your horse does. I will definitely be using lunging to train my young horse promise as well so we can build a good connection. Thank you and have a nice day.
