Five Minutes That Could Save You A Long Walk Home
- Scott & Cara Champion
- May 5
- 3 min read
We’ve all seen the rider who skips straight from the stable to the saddle — headphones in, routine on autopilot, confidence unshaken. Sometimes it goes fine. Sometimes it goes viral. The truth is, your horse has spent the last day or two forming very firm views about the world, and without a few minutes on the lunge line, you’re about to discover those views the hard way. Lunging before you ride isn’t a ritual for the overly cautious — it’s a five-minute conversation that tells you everything you need to know before you commit your weight to the saddle.
1. Safety First
A horse that has had a day or two off — or simply woke up on the wrong side of the stable — is going to tell you about it the moment you send them out on the line. Watch how they move. Are they flowing freely, or do they feel tight and coiled? A horse that’s “fresh” — bucking, scooting, or bolting on the lunge — is showing you exactly what was waiting for you in the saddle. Better it comes out on the ground, where you’re in control, than underneath you.
2. Building Connection Before You Climb Aboard
Lunging isn’t just exercise; it’s a conversation. Working your horse through walk, trot, and canter on the lunge gives you the opportunity to capture their attention and establish your communication channel before you’ve put a foot in the stirrup. What you’re looking for is a horse whose inside ear and eye are on you — one that’s responding to your cues and settling into a relaxed, rhythmic way of going. When you achieve that, you’re not just getting on a horse; you’re continuing a dialogue that’s already well underway.
3. A Moving Assessment
The lunge line gives you a front-row view of your horse’s soundness and condition. Any unevenness, stiffness, or reluctance to move forward will show up clearly, often before it would be apparent under saddle. If something looks off, that’s your cue to investigate further — and to reach for the spare set of keys rather than push on regardless.
4. Getting the Equipment Right
There’s another practical reason to lunge when you first put the saddle on: many horses have a habit of “blowing themselves up” — deliberately expanding their chest to keep the girth loose. A few minutes of active movement tends to solve that problem naturally. Walk the horse out on the lunge, let them settle and breathe, and then revisit the girth before you mount. It’s a simple habit that takes thirty seconds and could save you from an unscheduled dismount mid-ride.
What to Look For: A Simple Starting Framework
Before you even ask for trot or canter, the walk will tell you almost everything you need to know. I start by asking the horse for a single complete circle in one direction — nothing more. At the end of that circle, I ask for a stop: I relax my body, raise my hand, and say whoa clearly and calmly. These are deliberately close to the signals I’ll use in the saddle, so the horse is already learning the language we’ll be speaking together.
If they ignore the stop — or break gait mid-circle without permission — I don’t fight it. I simply keep them moving, often at a faster pace, until they start searching for a reason to slow down. That might mean trotting or cantering ten circles before I ask again. I’ll repeat the process as many times as it takes, because what I’m waiting for is the moment they soften, tune in, and actually listen for the whoa. When that moment comes, it’s unmistakeable — and it tells me the horse is ready to have a conversation.
Once we have clarity at the walk in both directions, I’ll ask for a single circle at trot and then canter, holding the same standard throughout. One circle, responsive transitions, a clean stop. That’s the bar.
Throughout all of this, I use a lunging whip not as a threat, but as a precision tool — a way of applying the minimum amount of pressure needed to communicate clearly. Used well, it allows for a level of nuance that simply isn’t possible otherwise, and by the time I put my foot in the stirrup, the horse and I have already established a working understanding. The ride, almost always, reflects that.
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