At the Spanish Riding School in Austria, riders work on the longe line exclusively for the first six months of their training, with 30-minute, daily rides. Once he earns his right to work off the longe, the rider has daily riding lessons in addition to longe line work.

Though it would be very difficult to do similar here in the States, incorporating early longe line work helps develop beginner students—whether age 8 or 38—more quickly.

For the four to six lessons, my beginner hunt seat students ride a longe-experienced horse strictly on the longe. The horse is tacked with standard saddle with bucking strap, bridle and longe line. Sometimes I use a halter over the bridle to run the longe line through the near cheek piece and up over his pole to snap to the far cheek piece. Other times, I run the longe through the near side of the bit, over the poll and attach to the bit on the far side. I find that running over the top of his head gives me better control without the severity of being directly attached to the near side of the bit.

Do not use side reins when longing with a rider aboard. The use of side reins or balancing reins with a rider, whether on the flat or on the longe, is far too dangerous, as riders can get caught up in them when falling off.

The following is one example of the type of longe line work that I do with my beginner riding students:

• No reins.
• Stirrups for the first half of the lesson.
• No reins or stirrups for the second half of the lesson.

During these lessons, the rider becomes accustomed to the horse’s movement without having to worry about controlling where or how fast he goes.

We begin at the walk. The rider has her stirrups but no reins. I instruct the rider to put hands on hips, then on shoulders, do the backstroke, put arms straight out like Superman, etc. Next, if the horse is comfortable enough, we begin the same work at the sit trot. At the sit trot, I have the rider observe the outside shoulder movement and then teach the rider the posting trot. Until she gains balance, the rider is allowed to center and reorganize herself by using one or two fingers to hold the bucking strap or pommel momentariliy. However, she must spend as little time as possible not holding, and, for the young kids, this can be a fun game. It does not take long for the rider to develop the rhythm and balance doing this simple exercise. This is all still without reins. Usually by about the third lesson, I let the rider take up the reins and walk the horse on the rail.

The end result is typically a rider who:

• Has developed independent use of seat, legs and hands within only a few short lessons
• Does not learn to post by pulling on the horse’s mouth
• Has a natural balance and more deep seat, with wrapped around legs
• Is able to learn contact on the horse’s mouth earlier, probably because of the early development of independent aids
• Has better control over her mount and stays balanced with her mount
• Has no concerns/fears with regard to riding without stirrups
• Looks more polished earlier in her beginning riding
• Is more balanced and secure during later work at the beginner canter
  
  As the beginner rider grows more steady, strong and confident, she spends less and less time on the longe; however, the longe lesson never goes away completely. I use it to fine tune the progressing and advanced rider, bringing her back to the longe to improve her seat, balance and feel for the horse.