Just got a roundpen...questions!

I just got a roundpen put in. Nothing fancy just something homemade. I tried my mare in it and she did very well except for a few things I have questions on...granted I don't expect her to be perfect right away as it's new to her but she did understand the concept. I started out with lunging her. She does wonderful on the lead when lunging. When I had her switch directions she'd spin out away to turn instead of turning in..is this ok? How do I correct it if it's not. Also sometimes she'd change directions on her own and go the other way I quickly cut her off and made her change back the way I wanted her to go..is that right? She did wonderful otherwise. She pivots awesome on her rear for turns to change directions she just turns away from me to change directions. Her whoa was wonderful! When I said whoa she skidded to a halt and immediately faced me. What other exercises can I do in the roundpen? I don't want to bore her but want to do lots of groundwork and gain her respect more. I'd love to use it to learn how to ride better but am unsure of how to approach that. Any info on any of this would be wonderful! Thanks a bunch everyone!!

No, it's not okay for her to turn out instead of in. It can become a "danger" sitiuation and you could be kicked. I'm not to sure how you get her to turn in. Maybe make her keep doing it over and over then when she turns in let her go a couple rounds and try again. Like let her take a break from turning when she does turn in. When she doesn't make her do it over and over. Make sense?

I don't have a clue how to get her to stop turning without you telling her to. It's possible that you stepped in front of her "drive" line though.

I hope I helped alittle.

What gait is she in when you ask her to change directions?

I teach mine to turn away from me. The fence stops them going forward and that helps them to learn to turn on their hindquarters.

If you are driving her on she will probably turn away to get away from that, nothing wrong with it just horse nature. Also, she may be better at turning in one direction, so she's doing it out that way and in the other? I don't think it really matters.

I'm not sure what you can really do in a round yard. I use them but only really when training a young horse, I don't like lunging on a rein, but I guess if you were teaching her new movements or something it would be good to do it in there.

She turns out at all gaits. I can switch directions at any gait with her and she always turns out. She pivots wonderfully when asked to switch..sometimes she just decides she's going to switch so I make her change back to the way I told her. I'm working on trying to control speed with her as well. That one is a little tougher as some days she's better than others. I'm looking into Clinton Anderson and John Lyons DVDs for some added insight as well. Don't want to bore her too much..lol She's a very willing horse at this point and I have no problems catching her and making her work. She seems to love it but I know doing circles can get boring to them pretty quick.

First off, GOOD FOR YOU getting a roundpen!!!

Best training tool EVER!!! :)

Horses should be able to turn away or into you in a roundpen, depending on how you ask them or what you want. Both are valuable. Turning away helps with the hindquarters (someone already mentioned that) but turning in is also valuable because it teaches a horse to face you and listen solely to you.

Lunging is something that a lot of people think is easy but really it is the most complicated thing ever.

I have worked for a trainer for 8 months (had horses and showed for 18 years) and realized all this time I thought I knew how to lunge I really wasnt doing it right at all!

Lunging really comes down to one and 1/2 things: BODY POSITION, BODY POSITION, BODY POSITION.

And... voice commands.

Im not a Parelli fan at all (sorry in advance to those of you that are, remember we all have our own opinions) and I know he has countless videos on lunging but I wouldnt use them.

That being said, I always advocate for finding a respected trainer in your area that may be able to help and/or find some decent websites to read from.

A couple things I personlly would mention:

Ditch the lunge line. You are in a round pen. There is really no need for one.

Invest in a great lunge whip (most are about 10-15 dollars).

Go slow. Things don't happen overnight.

Become familiar with the drive line and concentrate on your body position.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING with your whip. A lot of people keep that thing raised high up which simply serves to either scare your horse into a run or desensitize them to the whip to the point that they wont move. When you want your horse to go, raise your whip slightly. When you get the gait you want lower your whip so you are draggin it on the ground.

Be consistent.

I could go on and on, and I will try to find some articles I find worthwhile on the topic. If I do I will post them.

GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY YOUR NEW ROUND PEN!!!

Chenay412 has it right. I guess my question to you would be why are you round penning this horse...what is it that you are wanting to accomplish? Round penning does nothing to help "learn how to ride better" as you are not riding the horse. Ground work is great, but doesn't transfer to the saddle...what is learned in/from the saddle happens in the saddle and there is no substitution for it.

To answer your question, I can't see you or how your horse responds to what you are doing...so this is only a guess from experience...but, my best guess is you are cuing him by stepping forward, towards him, crowding him towards the fence, instead of stepping back, away from him, for an inside turn. If he is having trouble, "kiss" to him to get him to look at you, then step back and invite him to come towards you, then send/direct him the other direction.

FWIW, horses almost always turn to the outside first...so I go ahead and teach that and then teach the inside turn after they are consistent with the outside turn. Just my .02cents worth...your mileage may vary...

OOPS! I guess that should read "her" instead of "him"! Sorry about that!

The best thing you can do is type in ground training or round pen training in a search engine on your computer. You can even be more specific about what it is exactly that you wanna learn. Also, go to youtube. That really helps so that you can see what others are doing. You may have to sift through many videos to get to the ones that help. Jayojay.com has a few free ones that you can watch too. There is a wealth of info and videos out there for free that you may as well put to use :)