How double lunging can help your young sensitive horse

When starting your young horse, there’s one very important lesson I want to share with you.

Don’t get on a green horse and hope he understands everything you’re about to ask, even though you haven’t explained anything to him yet.

Especially when a young horse is very sensitive, this lack of information can become very dangerous, leading to accidents.

So it’s important that you take your time to explain everything to your horse so they know how to respond when something new approaches them.

For me, double lunging is that extra step that really helps sensitive horses feel a lot more confident and relaxed in the connection and when being ridden.

How double lunging can help your young sensitive horse

When starting your young horse, there’s one very important lesson I want to share with you.

Don’t get on a green horse and hope he understands everything you’re about to ask, even though you haven’t explained anything to him yet.

Especially when a young horse is very sensitive, this lack of information can become very dangerous, leading to accidents.

So it’s important that you take your time to explain everything to your horse so they know how to respond when something new approaches them.

For me, double lunging is that extra step that really helps sensitive horses feel a lot more confident and relaxed.

In these videos, you’ll see me working with Milan, a young and sensitive horse.

We’ve already done the basics of the groundwork and he has a full understanding of the bridle, girth and tools.

There’s a lot of reasons why I double lunge my horses, one of them being that the horse learns to follows the rein.

But for young horses, there’s a lot of added bonuses to double lunging them.

Like what to do when the rein touches their rump, or when they see you making weird movements from left eye, right eye.

It prepares them for the riding and prevents any kind of accidents from occurring.

I explain more about all the different reasons in the video below:

Start with the groundwork pattern and slowly let them out on the inside rein.

In the beginning, it’s good to stay beside your horse first to keep it a bit more familiar.

You can gradually start to pick up your reins and let your horse find the connection themselves.

When it feels right, take your time to move behind your horse and let the reins slowly touch their rump.

If your horse gets tense, just pick up the inside rein and move back onto the circle. Don’t try to hold him.

Start in the walk so you can take your time and understand what you need to do for your horse.

Once you feel like you’ve mastered one side, you can move to the other.

When starting a young horse on the double lunge, don’t put both reins through the guide rings, but keep your inner rein free.

When they’re inexperienced, it’s good to have a direct connection to the bit and head, as it will allow you to slowly find the straightness on the track, without having to hold your horse tightly on the reins.

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