101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises , livre ebook

Cherry Hill
Illustrations by Richard Klimesh

Howell Book House
Also by Cherry Hill
Longeing and Long Lining the English and Western Horse
Advanced English Exercises
Advanced Western Exercises
101 Arena Exercises
The Formative Years
Horseowner s Guide to Lameness (with Dr. Ted S. Stashak)
Maximum Hoof Power (with Richard Klimesh)
Beginning English Exercises
Beginning Western Exercises
Horse for Sale
Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage
Making Not Breaking
Horse Handling and Grooming
Intermediate English Exercises
Intermediate Western Exercises
Becoming an Effective Rider
From the Center of the Ring
Horse Health Care
Your Pony, Your Horse
To Richard, my book buddy
The information given in this book is provided for the purpose of education and to give as complete a picture as possible.
The reader, even if experienced in the handling of horses, should exercise extreme care in all circumstances.
Copyright 1999 by Cherry Hill
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Howell Book House
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Book design Nick Anderson
Cover design Michele Laseau
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data available on request.
Manufactured in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10
Contents
Introduction
PART ONE IN-HAND WORK

1 Fancy Footwork

2 Whip Works

3 Getting a Grip

4 Slow Wave and Tidal Wave

5 Becoming Well Adjusted

6 Head Down

7 Soft Neck

8 Whip Sacking

9 Whoa on a Long Line

10 Walk-Trot-Whoa

11 Turn on the Forehand

12 Turn on the Hindquarters

13 Sidepass

14 Back
PART TWO FREE LONGEING

15 Go

16 Slow Down

17 Stop, Look, and Listen

18 Stand at Ease

19 Outside Turn

20 Inside Turn

21 Trot-Lope

22 Lope-Trot

23 Walk-Lope

24 Lope-Halt

25 Reverse to the Inside at the Trot

26 Trot-Circle-Trot

27 Trot-Reverse-Lope

28 Lope-Circle-Lope
PART THREE LINE LONGEING

29 Turn on the Long Line

30 Changing Position

31 Concentric Circles

32 Position Control

33 What Whip Where?

34 Pushing the Horse Out

35 Correct and Incorrect Bend

36 Easy

37 Trot-Walk

38 Turn

39 Trot On

40 Spiral-In Trot

41 Spiral-Out Trot

42 Trot-Lope Concentric

43 Lope-Trot

44 Halt-Trot-Halt

45 Trot-Walk-Lope

46 Spectacles

47 Wagon Wheels

48 Lope-Whoa

49 Trot Jump

50 Canter Circle-Jump-Canter Circle
PART FOUR SIDE REIN LONGEING

51 Sacking and Tacking

52 Introducing the Bridle

53 Adding Side Reins

54 Working Contact

55 Collected Contact

56 Sliding Side Reins

57 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

58 Correct Bend

59 Checking the Inside Bend and Rein

60 Checking the Outside Rein

61 Trot-Lengthen-Trot

62 Canter-Trot-Canter

63 Spiral In

64 Spiral Out

65 Trot-Circle-Trot

66 Walk-Canter-Circle-Trot

67 Contact Check
PART FIVE LONG LINING

68 Long Line Lingo

69 Sacking to Ropes

70 Plow Driving

71 Yin Yang 1

72 Halt and Stand

73 Yin Yang 2

74 Trot From the Side

75 Lazy-8

76 Figure-8

77 Change of Rein in the Oval

78 Using a Western Saddle for Ground Driving

79 Walk-Halt-Back

80 Canter-Circle-Straight

81 Half Turn

82 Half Turn in Reverse

83 Quasi-Quarter Turn

84 Spiral

85 Walk-Around Turn on the Haunches

86 Rollback

87 Serpentine

88 Shallow Serpentine

89 Deep Serpentine

90 Circle Variation

91 Rounded Square

92 Shoulder-In

93 Travers

94 Shoulder-In to Travers

95 Half Pass to Straight

96 Zigzag Half Pass

97 Cavalletti on Circle

98 Ground Poles

99 Bridge and Water

100 Weaving Cones

101 Back Through
Index
Introduction
Ground training exercises are a blend of discipline, gymnastics, mental development, and dancing. They are essential links to all future training and riding.
The exercises in this book are organized by groups and presented in their approximate order of difficulty. Depending on your horse s level and style of training and his natural abilities and inherent problems, however, you might find some of the elementary exercises challenging and some of the advanced exercises easy.
Remember, the quality of the performance is much more important than just getting through the exercise!
I cannot stress this enough. Take your time and do the simple things well before you tackle more complex maneuvers and patterns. First, study the exercises in your favorite chair and walk through them in your mind until they are going smoothly before you head out to the arena. That way you will reap the great benefits of pre-performance visualization.
Even if you don t plan to perform the exercises in a particular section, due to tack or facility restrictions, be sure to read all the material in this book. It is presented in a progressive fashion and you will need to absorb it all in order to design your own personal training program.
Please read Longeing and Long Lining the English and Western Horse for a thorough understanding of horse behavior and learning, training principles, tack, and the ground training progression. That book provides the theory and explanation for the exercises in this one, and contains over 250 photos of horses learning many of the exercises described here. It s Recommended Reading section lists other books you might want to consult.
As you set goals for yourself and your horse, remember that expression and attitude are more important than mechanics. When you work your horse on the longe line, aim to develop his gaits so that they are pure and unhurried but have plenty of energy from the hindquarters. If you allow a horse to rush or work with an uneven or impure rhythm, it will carry over to his saddle work. Influencing the tempo of a horse s gaits on the longe line is one of the most difficult aspects of longeing. You must encourage energy and action from the horse by using your body language and the whip, while at the same time containing him with the action of your body and the longe line.

The Successful Training Session
For a successful training session, follow these guidelines:
Turn the horse out for free exercise before the lesson.
Warm up the horse with grooming and in-hand work.
Start the lesson with something that the horse knows well.
Be sure he is mentally and physically warmed up when you introduce the new work.
Allow time for rest breaks, review periods, and a good cool down.
Always try to end on a good note to preserve your horse s self-esteem.
Obedience and the impulsion and purity of the gaits are the most important aspects of early longeing. Only after the horse has learned to be cooperative and move forward with energy and a consistent rhythm would you attempt to introduce the bridle and side reins.
How can you tell whether the work is progressing correctly?
1. Watch your horse from the center of your longe ring. Note rhythm, carriage, balance, frame, and relaxation.
2. Evaluate your own stance and movement and delivery of the aids.
3. Work regularly with a qualified instructor or trainer and ask for periodic evaluations. (See the Recommended Reading list, mentioned-above, for books on how to select and work with an instructor.)
4. Solicit the observational skills of a person experienced in ground training who can objectively report to you what he or she sees happening.
5. Have someone record your training sessions on videotape. Then watch the tape carefully with slow motion and freeze frame.

Ground Training Commands
Here s my repertoire of ground training commands:
Walk on! Higher pitch on Walk and great inflection variation-used to start a horse from a standstill.
Ta-rot! Higher pitch on Ta, great inflection variation-used to trot a horse from a walk. When a horse is trotting, don t use the Ta-rot command; instead, adjust the trot with Easy or Trot on (described later in this list).
Waaaaaaalk Drawling, soothing tone-used to bring a horse down to a walk from a trot or canter.
Trrrrahhhht Low pitch with little inflection variation-used to bring a horse down to a trot from a canter/lope.
Whoa An abrupt wo with low pitch and punctuated end-used to stop a horse from any gait. Not to be used in a soothing, drawling manner (that would be Easy ), as you want a prompt stop.
Eeeee-asy A soothing, drawn-out, middle-tone command-used for slowing a horse down within a gait or generally just calming a horse.
Let s Go! An energetic, brisk command with accent and rising inflection on the Go! -used for getting the horse to canter or lope. Many people use Can-ter!
Trot On Very similar in sound to Ta-rot, except spoken with more even inflection and in a more medium tone-designed to get a horse who is trotting in a lazy manner to trot forward with more energy.
Baaaack Another soothing, drawn-out word in low, even tones--used during in-hand and long lining work to back a horse.
Tuuuurrrrrrn A melodic, circular command that starts out on a relatively high pitch and has a round, falling inflection-used to change the horse s direction when free longeing or longeing on a line with a cavesson or halter.
OK spoken just like you would if someone asked you, Would you hand me that bridle? and you say, OK, I will. I use it with canter, OK, Lets Go! and whoa, OK, Whoa. This way the transitions are not so abrupt, the horse has a bit of time to prepare.
Uh! A warning/reprimand noise that lets the horse know that you can see he is about to make a mistake, such as when he s rushing at the trot, almost ready to break into a canter. This just gets the horse s attention focused more on you.
Goooood, Good Boy, Good Girl Spoken with all the pleasure and pride you feel when your horse has done something particular