This video shows this man's first time lunging a horse, courtesy of the EIE Editorial team.

Are you new to lunging? Here are some recommendations if you are a beginner.

What is lunging? You've seen it done at the circus, with horses in the ring. The horse is at the end of a long line and the handler is in the center of a large circle. The horse goes around the outside edge of the ring with the handler on the ground in the center, holding the line. It's a great way to warm up your horse before you ride. It's also great way for new riders to understand the movement of a horse without having to manage control of the animal.

1. Start with a horse that is experienced at lunging. A person with no experience shouldn't be trying to lunge a horse with no experience. Some people may think "they can learn together. We say. "Fuggetaboutit!"

2. Your equipment is a lunge line and whip. Practice cracking the whip without the horse nearby and get the feel of it. We've found it is best to use the effects of the sound and we've NEVER struck a horse with a lunge whip.

3. The lunge line is long so make sure it is wrapped neatly in your hand and not dangling on the ground. We once witnessed that part of the lunge line dropped to the ground, got twisted around her leg. got tripped by the lunging horse and she fell. The horse got loose but fortunately everyone was OK!

4. You can use a halter, bridle or cavison. Some people also use side reins but for the purposes here, we'll stick to the basics. You can clip the lunge line to the side or bottom of the halter. If using a bridle, you can clip it to the side of the bit. Please make sure to either remove the reins or fasten them so they don't come loose to cause the horse to trip.

Read more: Ten Tips for Lunging Your Horse

Training a horse is a challenging but necessary part of equine ownership. If you don’t train your horse, it will become unruly and hard to manage as it reaches adulthood. Independently of which horse breed you own, maybe it’s a Shetland pony or maybe an Arabian horse, training it will take time, but the rewards are there if you can pull it off.

Set Goals

Before you start training your horse, it’s important to know your main objective. Some people just want to ride their horses around a field; some want to take their horses onto the road, and some want to take their horses around the country in trailers. Whatever goal you have, make sure you take it step-by-step and don’t rush things. If you want to teach your horse to get into the trailer, you have to get it used to the trailer first but if what you want is to ride your horse, it would be best to get it used to having a saddle on first.

Trust

Having your horse’s trust is one of the most important aspects of training. If your horse doesn’t trust you, it won’t listen to you, and you’ll waste hours training it when it’s in a state that won’t accept any training. You need to build that trust over time by doing simple things like grooming it, spending time with it, walking it, etc. Once you’ve built up that trust, only then can you begin training it.

Read more: 5 Tips to Help You Train Your Horse