Lungeing a horse, cold backs, resistance

Training a horse is a journey that requires patience, understanding, and a willingness to adapt. While some horses may seem impossible to train, the reality is that most behavioral challenges stem from pain, past experiences, or a lack of clear communication between horse and rider. Every horse is unique, with its own temperament, learning style, and natural instincts, meaning that what works for one may not work for another. Recognizing when to seek expert help can make all the difference, ensuring both safety and progress. This article explores common training challenges, from resistant behavior to lunging difficulties, and provides practical advice to help horse owners develop a better partnership with their equine companions.

Are some horses impossible to train?

I wonder how many desperate horse owners key this question into their internet search engines? (Are some horses impossible to train?) It popped up among the many queries which bring people to our website. Of course the question itself conjures up all sorts of other questions – how much experience has the owner got? How old is the horse? Is the horse young or an older one with bad habits? Has the owner tried asking an expert to help?

Are some horses impossible to train, then? I believe only very few are and probably for physical rather than mental reasons. However, many people will find it hard to train certain horses. The vital thing is to know when to throw in the towel, give up and call in the help of an expert. It’s safer for the rider and kinder for the horse. If a horse is behaving badly, the first thing to consider is whether he or she is in pain. It’s worth asking a vet and a dentist to check to see if there is anything seriously wrong. You also need to check whether the saddle fits correctly. A badly fitting saddle can cause pain. An intelligent horse learns quickly but this is not always a positive because he learns bad habits as quickly as good ones if he thinks he can get away with them.

Horses are herd animals and feel secure if there is a definite pecking order. This means that the rider should be Number 1. A leader, or boss, horse will keep trying to take control so be ready for this. The Monty Roberts Join Up method works well to establish this. I have often found nervous horses to be easier to manage in the long run than boss horses but they can be very difficult until they settle down and learn to trust their trainer. A nervous horse needs an experienced trainer.

If you feel you have a horse which is impossible to train, don’t blunder on expecting him to change – get help fast! It’s amazing how many seemingly difficult horses can change immediately when an experienced trainer takes over. Learn what works for your horse and you can then apply it yourself.

An older experienced pony with a kind temperament is excellent for training young riders. In these pictures above, a 10 year old girl learns how to ride on her own, to adopt the jump position, negotiate a small fence, ride down a bank. She has confidence in the pony as he is very quiet.

Lungeing a horse or pony for the first time

Lungeing is useful for horses and ponies which:

1. Have cold backs
2. Are very lively
3. Haven’t been ridden for a while
4. Are young and unbacked
5. Are being re-trained after racing or a long time out at grass
6. Are being trained for dressage or showjumping – in order to improve rhythm and way of going.
7. Are naughty and need a bit of discipline before a child gets up.

I have taught people to lunge horses and ponies and, while they have no problem lungeing my animals, they have gone home to find that no matter what they do, the horse just won’t lunge. The horse will go sideways, backwards, upwards – any way except forwards. This is called resistance and can be very frustrating to deal with, especially if you’re on your own.

Don’t despair! The following tips might help:

Create a lungeing ring

The first thing to do with a difficult horse is make an enclosed circle in which to lunge him. A more permanent one can be made of wooden fencing but I just make it out of electric tape (not actually electrified) and plastic electric fence posts. The advantage of this is you can put up the lungeing circle anywhere you like and move it around, making it bigger or smaller to suit your horse or pony.
A circle of about 18 metres in diametre should be fine.

Use side reins

There’s no point trying to lunge a horse without side reins. The side reins help keep the horse under control and teach him to accept the bit. Don’t make them too tight in the beginning as it will encourage the horse to rear and he may fall over backwards and injure you or himself. You can gradually tighten the side reins as the weeks go by but never so tight that he is behind the vertical.

Walk slightly behind the horse

If he won’t go forwards, you can ask a friend to lead the horse around until he gets used to being lunged. If you’re on your own, walk slightly behind him until he learns to go forward. Make sure you stay well out of reach of his hind legs so that you don’t get kicked. When he learns to walk and trot forwards, you can then stand in the middle of the circle and create the lungeing ‘triangle’: one side is the horse’s body, one side is the lungeing rope and the other side is the whip.

Be careful using the whip

Lungeing whips are not meant to be used to beat horses. The whip takes the place of your legs and is supposed to move the horse forward. Usually you won’t need to touch the horse with the lash but follow him around with it or else make a slight crack on the ground behind his hind legs. I have had several horses and ponies which have been terrified by beatings from other people with lungeing whips and it makes them very hard to relax. I would not use a whip with these animals unless they calm down and become lazy. I could never use a lungeing whip with my dressage horse who had been badly broken by a previous owner and who would take off and gallop madly in circles the moment he spotted the whip.

30 minutes is enough

Don’t do too much lungeing, especially with very young and old horses as circling is hard on their joints. 20 minutes to start with (10 minutes on each rein) building up to 15 minutes on each rein – a total of 30 minutes – is enough. Other trainers might feel differently but I wouldn’t lunge a horse younger than three years old. Horses should do the same work on both reins (clockwise and anti-clockwise) to build up correct muscles. Remember horses are like right and left handed people and will resist going the way that feels awkward. The only way around this is to keep trying. Don’t give up and let the horse go the way he likes best.

Horse or pony with a cold back

A horse or pony with a cold back can often be a scarey ride. Some are more difficult to deal with than others. I take a cold backed horse to mean one who tenses up the muscles of his back when you first get on and who will then try to buck. One of the worst problems with a cold backed horse is that it can make the rider nervous and this, in turn, can make the horse more tense.

I rode a 17.3 hh horse with a tendency towards a cold back. He bucked me off on several occasions and always within the first few minutes of getting on him. I was thrown so high in the air, I felt I needed a parachute coming down! I had to work hard to keep calm myself before getting on, especially if he was well fed for showing or just back in work. Sometimes I even whistled tunes and hummed to myself to try to fool myself and him that I wasn’t feeling nervous at the thought of being bucked off. Once you have owned a cold backed horse, it can be difficult to get up on other horses without worrying.

Strong nerves needed!

A friend with a cold backed horse became so nervous after a nasty fall when he bucked her off and injured her back that she gave the horse to a relative. The interesting thing was that the horse behaved himself for this man who wasn’t a bit afraid of being bucked off. If you have a cold backed horse which is getting the better of you and your nerves, I strongly advise you to seek help because it can be very dangerous.

Dealing with resistance

Resistance is a horse’s way of saying ‘No Thanks’. It can take many shapes, depending on the horse or pony’s temperament. For instance, if a horse doesn’t want to walk forward, he’ll say ‘no thanks’ by doing one of the following: spinning around, rearing, stopping dead in his tracks and refusing to move, shying at an object or moving sideways or backwards. Some forms of resistance, like rearing, are more dangerous for the rider than others.

Resistance often appears in horses and ponies which haven’t been fully trained. It is particularly noticeable when breaking horses, especially when lungeing them. A horse always prefers to go round one way (usually anti-clockwise) and will resist going the other way. The trainer has to work through the resistance in a firm, non-violent way until the horse accepts what he is instructed to do and he should then be praised immediately. A young horse which is being overfaced by too high a jump or worked too hard will resist. Be more sympathetic with young horses.

Resistance stays with a horse all his life (don’t you often say “no thanks” yourself?) and will become obvious each time he is taught something new which doesn’t immediately appeal to him. Another interesting thing about resistance in horses is that they quickly work out which rider is going to let them get away with bad behaviour. A pony will often play up on an inexperienced rider but behave perfectly for a more experienced one.