COMPETITIVE LONGE
By Gord Wadds
Copyright©2010
MOVING OUT OF THE ROUND PEN
Sometime after you have completed the first
two months of round pen training your youngster will be ready to longe outside of the round pen.
It
is important to build responses in the round pen that apply to circle control once
outside the round pen. This involves being able to lightly pull a yearling a
new inside track and have him stay on that track without drifting outward.
When
you can change tracts while working at all three gaits and have your yearling
stay on the new track, you are ready to go outside the pen.
Here
is a rule which must absolutely be followed:
Anytime
there is any kind of problem, such as pulling hard, swinging hips out,
reversing or playing too hard, go back to the round pen and repeat all the basic
steps until the horse’s mind is back on business. This may take one session or several days.
You
Your
yearling should be ready to show, after four or five months of training.
Once
you can longe well, without incident, in several
different locations at home, you are ready to trailer to other locations and to
horse shows to introduce strange environments to your performance prospect.
The
worst thing we can do is have any association of ‘horse show” environment with
a lower or incorrect level of attention by our prospect. At the same time, in order to develop a
positive mental attitude you must expose your prospect to a variety of
situations.
Ponying a Yearling
A helpful “variety”
experience is to pony your yearling on a seasoned horse. Ponying
also introduces the “traveling in company” aspect needed later in performance classes
such as Western Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle, and the
rail work in Horsemanship and Equation.
* Make a video of your yearling walking, trotting, loping
and stopping in both directions outside the round pen. Be sure to include a demonstration of the
reverse.
This will be needed for the assignment at the end of the
lesson.
TRAINING FOR THE
COMFORMATION PRESENTATION
Part of the training
process for every longe line youngster is learning to
stand squarely for the conformation section of the class.
Standing squarely is
important for two reasons: first because this is where the judge or judges get
the first impression of your entry, and secondly because the conformation score
represents a possible 20 points of the possible 113 point total. This is a very
significant percentage of the total, so you want to “present” to your
advantage.
To teach your prospect to move his feet
quickly and stand still for presentation, work with him a few minutes every
day.
I like to move the right hind leg, back and
forth first, until it lands beside the left hind leg. As the right hind is
placed where you want it, reach up and rub the horse’s neck to achieve
immediate recognition that his foot is in the correct place.
Move which ever front
foot is necessary (sometimes both). You want the front feet directly underneath
the shoulders, not stretched out, or camped under.
Once your youngster is
set up, wait for any indication he might want to move. It is important to be ready to say, “WHOA”
firmly, and put whatever leg(s) back to the square and correct position.
Have two or three
people walk totally around your yearling (as the judge(s) will); while you keep
him standing still with a relaxed and low head and ears forward.
You want the horse to
be as pretty as possible.
The key to a
successful “presentation” is to be able to “set up” perfectly and efficiently.
You want your horse to
expect to stand still for a long period of time, so the necessary 15-20 seconds
in the class itself is easy.
Training the prospect
to trot off from this set up position is easy because of our initial ‘cluck’
and ‘straight arm’ training.
Turning our back to
the prospect, dropping back to a mid-neck position, straightening our right arm
to point ahead and clucking results in the colt walking off in a trained
response. This should be a ‘smooth’ transition.
Do exactly the same
thing to trot; except cluck more rapidly.
(This is already a trained cue to trot from the longe
training.) Ask your yearling to trot
along beside you.
It is an important
part of a show horse’s training is to be taught to turn in either direction
while being led at the walk or trot.
Since in competition
you trot straight way from the judges and go slightly passed a cone, then turn
left 90 degrees and continue to trot at least six more strides, you must
practice this until you can do it perfectly.
Ask your horse to move
slightly faster as he trots around the cone so he won’t have a chance to break
to a walk as he makes the turn.
Practice trotting in
increasingly smaller circles to the left to make sure the acceleration in
turning is in place.
Click
here to see the diagram for the conformation inspection pattern per the
National Snaffle Bit Association.
* Please make a video of setting up your horse and
showing to at least one “judge”, and then trotting off past a cone and turning
90 degrees left as in the NSBA Class direction.
Assignment:
1. Write a short essay on how you keep a
positive mental attitude in your yearling.
2. Please send the video of your yearling
walking, trotting, loping and stopping in both directions outside the round
pen. Be sure to include a demonstration
of the reverse.
3. Please send the video of setting up your
horse and showing to at least one “judge”, and then trotting off past a cone
and turning 90 degrees left as in the NSBA Class direction.
Please load your videos to www.youtube.com.
Email the links
for the videos and your report to gwadds1@aol.com