I have a question to ask.
Hands up who lunges their horse and either instantly or within a lap or two, tell them to trot?
Now keep your hands up if you also start trotting your horse within seconds of sitting in the saddle to ride.
Mmmm.
I have never seen a rider hop on their horse for a training session and immediately begin to trot. There is always some time given to walking to gain a connection and warm up the horse before the trot work begins.
On the other hand, I see people all the time start from the get-go to trot their horse when lunging.
Why?
So few horses have a good walk on the lunge. I even know horses that are brainwashed in to automatically trotting when lunged and will have a fight if you ask them to walk. If a horse did that when we rode them we would think we have a training problem. But for many people, it’s okay to trot mindlessly and without connection on the lunge.
Lunging is a training strategy to help produce a better riding horse. If you want a good walk under saddle, make sure your horse has a good walk on the lunge. Lunging is not designed to help a horse lose weight or make them tired enough to ride. For me, lunging is first and foremost an approach to enhancing the mental and emotional connection with my horse and secondly as a gymnastic tool to build strength and ensure long-term physical soundness.
Think about it. Why do so many of us instantly want our horse to trot when we lunge them but insist on starting with a good walk when we ride them?
Now put your hands down. You look like silly.
