Long lining, also termed long reining, involves exercising a horse from the ground with two lines, similar to lunge lines. The lines connect to the bit rings of the bridle, and sometimes, a surcingle or saddle is used to position the lines. Long lining is a classical form of horsemanship that can aid in starting a young horse, retraining horses, and training a horse for driving.
Photo: Horse & Hound
3 Most Common Reasons for Long Lining a Horse
1. Starting a Horse
When starting a young horse under saddle, long lining is a safe way to build a trusting relationship before introducing the saddle and weight on the horse's back. When you back your horse, they will understand your physical and voice commands and know riding is safe. Teaching a connection to the horse's mouth without the weight of a rider is a great training technique for green horses to use as they will learns all the voice aids and ensure clear communication when a rider is eventually introduced.
Long reining also teaches your horse to work calmly and carefully in a round pen, arena, or trail. When introducing a horse to long lining, they must already accept the bit and understand essential moments when being led. Verbal cues such as halt, walk, and steady are helpful, too. Some horsepeople prefer to start long lining in straight lines while others long rein in a circle.
Keep long lining safe; Consider a few things as you teach your horse to accept walking in front of you or moving around you on a circle:
Does your horse have safe reactions to the double lines touching their sides? What about when a line is placed over their back when on a circle? Are you allowing the remaining long lines to drag behind you, or do you have them folded under your thumb? This is for your safety and your horse's.
The presence of a helper leading your horse with a lead rope is always a good idea as your horse learns to move with your hand and line pressure. Make sure to keep a light contact and keep both the inside line and outside line in the air at all times to avoid the horse stepping on it with its hind legs.
2. Retraining a Problem Horse
Horses are sometimes labeled problematic when they are in pain, overworked, or feel unsafe. After ruling out medical conditions and reasons for pain, long lining is a great way to retrain a horse and return to basics.
The subtle communication and patience required for long lining reassures horses and gives them a blank slate for new behaviors. This process is more about trust-building and watching your horse's physical cues to understand their mind and body better. Many horse trainers long-line their horses the first time on a trail to make them comfortable away from home without the rider's weight on their back.
3. Training a Horse for Carriage Driving
Driving is a fun and rewarding sport, and training a driving horse to pull a carriage takes time. As prey animals, horses do not enjoy being followed, especially by more significant things like a carriage.
Ground driving is a common training technique to introduce horses to carriage driving, with you behind your horse trains your horse on the cues, steering, verbal commands, and feelings in the bit required for driving. Only then should a carriage be slowly introduced.
Benefits of Long Lining
There are many advantages of long-lining, including:
- Teach horses forward and halt cues as well as other verbal cues.
- Keeps the rider on a safe distance when working with a 'problem horse' (i. e. with a rearing or bucking habit)
- Teaches green horses to understand the bit and changes of rein
- It can help the horse to work on the bit when used with side reins
- Allows you to see the horse's body movement and body language from all angles.
- Help rehab horses that need exercise but can't yet be ridden.
- Help young horses navigate an environment with you safely at a distance.
- And most importantly, long reining is fun horse training technique
Long Lining in the Arena vs the Trail
Like riding and lungeing, long reining is best done in a safe environment with sound footing and where your horse can be comfortable. When long lining in the arena, the trainer can work on a circle or teach the horse more advanced movements, such as yielding or navigating through an obstacle course. Once the fundamentals are in place, moving out to the trail or field is a great idea to make a spooky horse comfortable away from the barn. Otherwise, a spook and bolt can be a dangerous problem in an open and uneven area.
Long lining is one way to broaden your horse's experiences and work together as a team with numerous benefits.
