Different philosophies surround the concept of longeing a horse, its use and its benefits. Some longe to get the bucks out of their horses or to work them enough to make them a bit more sane before the riders mount. However, the longe has other uses and can be a far more effective tool in horse training.
An old trainer that I worked with years ago studied classical dressage through the Spanish Riding School in Austria. When I began working with an off-the-track racehorse under her tutelage, she had me tack the horse up fully with bridle and saddle; then run side reins from the girth to bit; then longe line through the bit, up over the poll and attached to the bit on the other side.
”When he has his clothes on, he is to be all business,” she said very seriously. I found that interesting since I just came from a guy who taught longeing by growling and running at the horse to let him maintain the “predator/prey” relationship. He cracked the whip like mad and then wondered why the horse was fearful of the whip. Oddly enough, this longe concept wasn’t going very well and the horse was not terribly approachable and certainly wasn’t relaxed on the longe line.
What I liked about the classical trainer was that when I watched her work her young stallions on the longe, they were the most gentlemanly horses I had ever seen.
The longe work that I do with my ex-racehorse is an added dimension of the ground work that we practice. On the ground, I use the dressage whip to have her move off the whip, perform lateral movements and back away from me. This work put an end to her pushiness and aggressive “in your space” behavior that she used to have. Then we work on the longe on transitions and transitions between gaits. She understands the terms “waaaalk,” “trrrOT,” “whoooaaa halt,” “back,” “can-TER.” In addition to voice command, I can also use visual aids, such as when I raise my longe hand, that means to come down a gait. By pointing the longe whip at certain parts of her body, she understands to work that more. So, if I point at her hind legs, she moves on more, if I point at her belly, she tucks her belly more and lifts her back. She is framed perfectly in a triangle that goes from my hand through the whip to her back legs, then my hand to the longe at the poll, and the side reins to keep her framed within the triangle. I swish the longe whip lash when needed, and it’s quite rare to hear me ever crack a longe whip.
Another benefit to working this ex-racehorse on the longe with voice command is that it became easier to teach him to take the right lead (as former racehorses do not typically like to do). As he knew the term "canter," he had a better understanding of what I was asking when in the saddle.
As a result of my old trainer’s direction, my current ex-racehorse is very well mannered on the longe. She understands voice commands and hand signals, rarely every explodes on the longe and will even walk quietly for an hour. That, in itself, is quite a blessing when retraining a horse that raced, but it proved even more beneficial when I found myself with an injured knee and unable to ride. Though I cannot ride her, I can work my mare everyday lightly on the longe. With her proper framing and tracking under, she retains her fitness and focus during my lay up. And because she is so well schooled on the longe to have a workman-like ethic, she is completely manageable for me, especially with my own lame leg. Certainly, if she decided to spin out, twist buck and run, I’d be in a bit of a pickle; however, having the longe go over the poll gives me greater control over where she can put her head, and having side reins on her keeps greater control on maintaining the frame in dissuading the horse from hollowing out and bolting.
When one of my students was following the same training program longeing her horse, she was immediately gratified one day when, after a carpal tunnel hand spasm, she accidentally dropped her longe line. Fearful that the horse would become entangled, she raised her now empty hand, and called for a halt, which her horse did without incident.
Her experience was an immediate demonstration of how beneficial consistent ground work training had been with her horse.
