knocking down

I agree, Lunging is a very benefitial way to work with your horse, while you cannot be on their back.

It is a fabulous tool to have under you belt, to know how to lunge correctly to get the desired results.

I posted this response to another poster that had similar questions. I just copied it and pasted it here for you. It really helped me. I agree that you should be cantering well before you get to the jump, but you also need to teach her listen to you.

I can't jump except in my weekly lesson (which is fine with me because I don't want to jump my horse too much), so I had to figure out how to get her to listen to me while jumping without actually jumping. Here is what I did:

I would take a line down that was heading towards the gate (because that is where my horse likes to rush). Leave one of the poles between the standards, but laying on the ground so the horse can just go right over it. Then I worked on getting her to go down that line at the speed I wanted her to. First, we just walked it. I would walk over the first one, slow down a little, then walk over the second one at the same pace. Once I felt we were good I began trotting over the first one, bring her down to the walk and walk over the second one. Building up to trotting through the line completely at one same pace that I liked. Then I moved on to cantering, bringing her to the walk...cantering and bringing her to the trot, etc. Until we finally were cantering the line at a good, normal speed. This took several times before we actually cantered the line completely but it has helped.

^that is very usful information.

And what the OP said about her horse acting up on the lunge, it is the horse telling her that it is bord and wants to stop!

Not really. It's more likely the horse either doesn't understand or is testing her leadership

I agree and if it is thought that having a line attached to the halter and just letting the horse run around you in circles thinking that is "lunging" then many are under the wrong impression as to what lunging really is.

I totally agree. Actually, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a person teaches a horse to run like a freak on the lunge line. The way I teach lunging is to show the horse that running and bucking isn't the only way to get out their energy. I much prefer using lunging as a form of work. Lots and lots of transitions, more than one change in direction. Learning big and smaller circles. I hate it when people teach their horse that its ok to pull really hard. I don't use a chain on any horse and for most I don't even need a whip.

One of the big reasons I don't want horses to think the lunge line is for bucking is because if you ever have a lunge line lesson on her (whether a little kid or an adult doing like no hands or something), I don't want the horse to take off.

I find it helps to teach lunging in a roundpen first. They get used to the pressure and I can change the size of the circle but if they get stupid there's no where for them to go. That's at least how I deal with most of the abuse cases or rescues.

Horses who are good and responsive on the lunge line really benefit. My mare got the point where the was right on target with responses, and it really helped her when under saddle. It was helpful at horse shows too, because she would get really nervous and I'd put her on a lunge line and let her do whatever she wanted to get it out. And then she'd be a superstar.

When the horse is trained correctly on the lung it becomes simple to take them to a show (a strange place) and in the middle of a field have them calmly move out to set the tone for a good ride at that show.

Here is my boy lunging at a show he had never been to before in the middle of a field.

Spyder he's so pretty!

The only time I get to lunge my girl is at shows. It does help to calm her, although she is typically pretty calm anyway, and by the time we enter the ring she is relaxed and has her game face on.

My horses are all very well behaved and the only time I evee lunge Blue anymore is when I'm teaching someone on her, but they usually get off the lunge pretty quick.