If you are using long reining as an addition to your ridden work, you can do it for the same time you spend riding,” says Brendan. “If you are doing it correctly, long reining can be as beneficial as ridden work. Having a rein behind your horse can collect the hindleg and get them stepping through more, giving you a better quality of work.” The noseband is a chain wrapped in soft leather and has three attachment rings, the middle for work with one rein and the outer for long reining and work with two reins. The throat lash is fixed. Practise using half-halts on the rein as you would if you were riding to steady and balance the horse. Use a smaller area to lunge so you have more control and start with a smaller circle. There are many different cavessons available, and they differ depending on what part of the world you are in. We often get asked if instead of a cavesson, learners could use just a bridle or halter instead. There are safety reasons to not using a halter, but we also encourage cavesson use because it’s suitable for all levels of goals that our learners are trying to achieve. When we put horses on a circle on the halter, we tend to see too much of a bend to the inside. When we look for a bending horse, what do we usually look for? We can feel the bend, we can see their eye, and we can see their jaw turn.

Lastly, the halter can often turn or rotate on the horse’s head, leaving it dangerously close to injuring the eye, and leaving you without the ability to properly communicate with your horse. William Cavendish, the Duke of Newcastle, had been educated by his father, Sir Charles Cavendish, to be the best fencing and horse riding instructor in England. As you move farther away on the circle, the cavesson allows you to still be able to play with balance. You horse now has a free-flowing line from their poll all the way through to their hind legs, giving you a more precise ability for communication. The cavesson also allows you to see the position of your horse’s natural head carriage. It doesn’t create head height, but shows where your horse’s natural head height is.Now, when riders mention that a horse reacts too sensitive to the cavesson, they often start to ‘judge’ the iron chain in the noseband. The cavesson is easy to integrate into a bridle with a bit. When making the transition from cavesson to a bit, the horse will react lightly and attentively to the effect of the bit and will be easier in the hand. With the cavesson, mistakes that are made by previous riders using a bit can be easily corrected. This heavy horse lunge cavesson is designed specifically for heavyweight horses and ponies with a draft type head. Well, the band diffuses the pressure so it doesn’t matter so much if you use too much, too long, sudden or steady pressure.

You do need to be at least walking fit,” says Brendan. “Another benefit to long reining, especially if you only have one horse and it’s been off due to injury, is that it gets you fit as well as your horse.” Long reining exercises your horse’s face should be vertical when the side reins are under normal tension (not straining or baggy) Goals of lunging: Gymnastics and exercise. The horse should lean against the auxiliary reins and find a support there. The gymnastic value can be strengthened by pole- and cavaletti work. A traditional leather lunging cavesson is made from supple leather with a noseband of all leather or metal wrapped in soft material. The cavesson’s noseband typically has three rings, one in the middle/top of the nose, and one on each side. During groundwork, the lunge line is typically attached to the middle or top ring. Your lunge whip needs to be long enough to be effective, but also well weighted so it’s easy for you to carry. Test out the feel of a few before you buy to ensure you’re comfortable moving the whip around. A bright colour is a good idea if you’re prone to putting the whip down in the arena and losing it. Saddle vs rollerTransitions – practise walk-to-halt and halt-to-walk transitions. Always remember to ask for a downward transition or a reduction in pace with a gentle squeeze and release of the rein and not one constant pull. You want the horse to respond to a lighter aid.

Chambons mainly rely on poll pressure, but also work on your horse’s mouth. The headpiece sits over the top of the bridle and attaches via two small straps that prevent it from slipping during exercise. Straight lines – set up two poles running down the centre line either side of X and practise driving your horse down the arena between the poles and staying as straight as you can.Auxiliary reins: Standard are side reins or Lauffer reins . Running side reins are also often used. sizing is important – it should fit his head snugly to prevent it from moving around his nose when you exert pressure on the line. The leather of the cavesson is supple, feels comfortable in the hand of the rider and fits closely to the head of the horse. The cavesson consists of a metal noseband, consisting of an iron chain, wrapped around with leather, which shapes around the nose. don’t always fit the side reins in the same position. Altering their height during a session, as well as from session to session, allows you to change your horse’s frame and, therefore, his way of going. Experiment to see what happens when they’re lower or higher