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What cue for lunging gaits do you use?

7K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 ·
Do you teach a sound cue for each gait when lunging? If so, what are they?

When I ask for a walk, I kiss. A trot is a click. And I just started one for canter, it's similar to a kiss, but more of a pucker and suck in. Hard to explain, but my horse heard the difference, elongated, high pitched, kiss-like sound.

I use leg first, then leg and sound, lastly, the crop to say "hey! Pay attention, you buttface!!'

What do you use, if any?


Sorry if anything doesn't make sense or isn't spelled right, having issues with my psychotic cat at the moment with a bum knee and after the second escape, both knees and an elbow.....FML
 
#2 ·
when lunging, I use body motion and energy on the line, first, and add in a soft kissing sound that just means, 'more energy', so it's not specific to gait.


I do sometimes lunge my friends horse who has learned that a strong kiss sound means "canter", so if he is resistant to up transition with body/whip pressure, I will add a kiss.

but, if I was off somewhere, not lunging and out of the blue I made the 'kissing ' sound, it's not like he'd suddenly take a canter. it has to be in context, and the horse has to already sense that you are asking for increased energy, or decreased in the case of "whoa - - - - -" (drawing out the last sound with a falling voice)
 
#5 ·
Walk, trot, canter/kiss, whoa. 'Hup' or sometimes click to go faster but stay in current gait. I use a lot of clucks/clicks if introducing something new and they are not responding to physical cues/pressure. The clicks are to say "hey, yes, I am asking you to do something, not just tapping your butt for the fun of it." I also use 'turn' to get an immediate turn. I use a whistle to get them to come towards me, this is often so I can get an inwards change of direction.

I use all of this with physical body cues and pressure, of course. I use physical pressure much more than I do voice commands.
 
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#6 ·
Okay, for on the lunge line, meaning you are not riding, I use voice cues and body language.
Does not really matter what sounds or words you use , as long as they are consistent
Thus, lunging, my horses learn walk, jog, lope, whoa and reverse and I also add-come
When I say whoa, I want my horse to stop at the rail, and not automatically turn and come in.
When first starting them under saddle, I use those voice cues to transfer to leg aids. Once that is done, I don't use voice cues while riding, with the exception being 'whoa'
I only then use that whoa, is something un expected happens, to shut the horse down, along with reins and body cues, or when stopping from speed, as in reining.
 
#7 ·
I use vocal cues and of course body language. I try to "test" my horse by using just one or the other sometimes.

I don't usually make noises unless as reinforcement (they're being super lazy or something) and don't really like it. I will occasionally cluck the tempo if the horse needs it. They may speed up at first but usually figure out what I want.
 
#8 ·
Clicks to speed up. I'll combine with a word when changing gaits. "Cluck, cluck, trot on". I use a kiss for canter, but have to stop. Julius can not handle the kiss, it is too sharp of a sound for him and sends him spinning. "Easy" to get them to slow their roll, "Woah" to go down a gait/stop. All is preceded by body language and followed with the whip is needed,
 
#9 ·
I use words with my guy - walk on, trot (tr-OT when asking for upward, too-rott when downward), canter (can-TER for up). I also do "easy walk/trot/canter" depending on gait to slow, and "and ho" for stop. If he starts looking around I'll give a sharp "listen" and he pays back attention. I try to do body language as well but I am not great at lunging so I likely could improve. We do most of it from vocal commands.
 
#10 ·
Our first BO told us that clucking meant trot & kissing meant canter and she was surprised our trainer hadn't taught us that. Based on her words, that's what we are in the habit of doing both in the saddle and while lunging. I've since learned that it isn't as universal as she indicated, but it works for our horse. To slow down, we say "trot" slowly or "walk" or "whoa". "Whoa" is definitely stop, not slow down, though.
 
#11 ·
I use words and sounds. Walk, walk UP, trot, trot UP with the UP a little more forceful to indicate a little more speed and then Canter. Sounds are cluck for walk, 2 clicks for trot and kiss for canter. I also just say reverse, no sounds with that one! To slow down from any gait I just say "easy" but I draw the word out and finally like so many others have said Whoa and Stand.
 
#12 ·
I use body language paired with vocal commands when lunging, but it's more my inflection and energy of the words than the words themselves.


To go from halt to walk, I say "walk ON" with an upward inflection at the end.
Up to the trot I say "tr OT" upward inflection on the second syllable.
Up to the canter I say "can TER" often followed by 3 quick clucks for low energy horses.


I pair "easy" in a low voice with half halts on the line to get just a slowing of pace or rebalancing.


Down to a trot I say "TR ot" with the second syllable lower and drawn out.
Down to a walk I say "W alk" again, drawn out and low.
I also say "and" with a bit of a space and anticipation before the command. Most horses learn this paired with a light half halt is a preparation cue and get balanced.
Then "Wh oa" in a lower, almost lazy voice to get full stop.


I have lunged my horses without using the actual words, just kind of humming the inflections of voice and using body language, as well as just using body language and they get it. It's about energy more than teaching them discrete commands.
 
#13 ·
This. Except I don't say "canter" (awkward word for me, for some reason). I kiss for the canter. I also add a cluck/click for walk and trot after saying the verbal cue. This way, I can use either, depending on my mood or if I'm in the saddle and don't want to use verbal commands. Also keeps the horse I'm working with thinking, as they don't know which command/sound I'm going to use, so they have to be prepared to respond to any of them.
 
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#14 ·
"Walk on" for walk, cluck for trot, kiss for canter/lope, "easy" for slow down but don't break gait, "waaaalk" for slow down to a walk, whoa for stop, body language for reverse. I've always used voice commands under saddle, too. I never seriously showed, and I like talking to my horse. Under saddle I also added "are you ready?" which meant get ready to canter but don't break gait yet. That cue got me the most beautiful walk to canter and halt to canter transitions.

Having a horse that's very responsive to voice commands can be funny when you let a friend ride. I had a very experienced friend nearly get dumped off when she said "whoa" without really meaning it.
 
#18 ·
Also, once you start riding you limit voice cues. Ever been at a show, in a warm up, loping along, where someone uses a loud 'whoa' to their horse, and your's also slams on the brakes.
In fact, you work at a show horse not listening to voice cues esp from others, as many soon will listen to the announcer, and change gaits , without waiting on you, or even progress to changing gaits, soon as they hear the sound system click on

This thread needs to be separated to just the original heading, even though the OP herself wandered off to under saddle application of voice cues, to just lunging and voice cues
 
#16 ·
I use hand signals to get started. I like to "send" horses places with my hand. So I point, always, for an upward change in gait. Other than that, cluck is trot, kiss is lope, and "whoa" is stop. I also use "whoa" when I want them to change direction, as it sets them back on their hindquarters a little before I send them again.
 
#17 ·
I only use a 'clicking' noise as a focus for what's coming next - I never use it as a command, I also never use kissing or smooching noises
I teach horses to respond to verbal cues because my first experiences of breaking came from a cousin of my grandfather's who also trained pit ponies and they were taught to respond to verbal cues
So they understand - whoa, stand, stay put, back, over, walk on, trot, canter, steady, move out, turn and come on.
I rarely use body language when lungeing a horse, its useful when you're first training a horse to lunge but its no use once in the saddle and I mostly only use lungeing as a step towards being ridden
By the time I transition those cues from the ground to the saddle the horse has to be very in tune to them so I'll say for example, walk on then use a small amount of leg pressure at the same time that way the horse stays responsive to the lightest of cues from the start and never needs to be booted or tapped with a whip to get it to move
 
#19 ·
Far as body language and lunging, that depends if you are using a lunge line or free lunging.
If I am free lunging, body position and language are integral, plus my horses learn a few additional commands, such as reverse, with either inside or outside added on
There then know to either reverse into the fence, or to the inside.
Yes, I teach other ground voice cues, but they are not part of lunging.
Back, over, whoa and stand up. When I say whoa to a horse, in hand, they stop. 'Stand up' added, they know to square up
Yes, when starting them under saddle, there is a transition period, where you use voice cues to help transfer to leg cues
 
#20 ·
Regarding the teaching vocal cues. When lunging I specifically use vocal cues, not as cues in and of themselves (though of course they are) but really as reinforcements so they know "oh that's what walk means". I like them to know.

Like when I'm teaching my dog I will teach a voice and hand cue at the same time, then you can take things out of context.

Using vocal cues on my green and stressed and inconsistent mare is really helping. I didn't do it purposefully but she is overly sensitive to my riding (think slow and she slams on the brakes, tighten to ask for movement and she lurches into gait) and when I say walk then touch her with my leg it's almost like a "heads up, this is what's happening" so she just calmly walks as opposed to jumping into a walk "oh my god you asked for something!!!" in a sense like a half halt but without worrying her physically so much.
 
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