6 Ways to Optimize Your Longeing Sessions

Longeing is an often-misunderstood tool in the toolbox for training horses. A lot of people struggle with accomplishing what they want, getting rightfully frustrated when their horse races around or slams on the brakes randomly. However, as tricky as this may seem, there are several simple tools that can help you conquer these frustrations and maximize your longe sessions.

1: Body Language

We think a lot about body language when it comes to natural horsemanship, but for longeing for dressage, we often forget about it. Yet it is extremely important to make sure we’re not accidentally giving our horses mixed signals.

When longeing, it’s important to have the same posture as when we ride: ear-shoulder-hip-heel alignment, elbow-hand-longe line-bridle/cavesson alignment etc. It’s also important to point your sternum/chest at the horse’s saddle area. When we lean forward, we send signals of insecurity, and when we face the haunches or forehand, we inadvertently tell the horse to go faster/slower. Keeping arm alignment is also important because it gives you more freedom use the line with more subtlety, give at the end of an aid, or give stronger aids as needed. When the hand is down by the side, it is stiff and can’t go anywhere without making you tilt or lean, muddying the conversation with the horse. The whip should also “frame” the horse, making a sort of triangle between the line, the horse, and the whip. The tip can be down and even dragging, but it needs to point toward the hindquarters to frame the horse between the aids. While this can take some time to get the horse used to it, it makes your ability to communicate with the horse so much easier, as you can then just lift and wiggle the tip or flick out the lash so it touches (not lashes!) the horse as needed.

With this better alignment, you’ll find you use your core more and your arms less, and if your horse is likely to bolt or try to drag you around the arena, you’ll be more prepared to handle it and stay upright. You’ll also find that you can use your “seat” while longeing; I find with my advanced longe horses, I can influence their gait with my core and back muscles before I need to use the line or even my voice.

2: Voice Cues

Voice cues are extremely important in longeing, but this is why we have to be careful not to overuse them! A lot of people will constantly cluck or urge the horse somehow while the horse is moving, even if the horse doesn’t need to go any faster. This takes away from the value of the voice command and turns it into white noise. The other side of this coin, however, is not giving the horse enough of a heads up when a transition is coming. If you just say “canter” and expect the horse to canter immediately, it’s a little bit unfair, as the horse has to gather itself to get ready for a couple strides first. I like to say “forward – to – canter” or “slow – to – walk,” so the horse knows if we’re transitioning up or transitioning down. Then, if they make their transition a little early, I’m happy that they’re over-achieving, but my expectations for their response become more immediate, as they had plenty of warning to get ready for the transition (that is, I insist that the transition happen when I ask, not half a circle or three circles later; this lets us practice very precise patterns on the longe). It’s important also to be generous with praise when the horse does what you ask, and it’s also helpful if your horse is distracted to say “*name* pay attention!” if you’re getting ready to ask for something. However, while occasional clucking to get the horse a little more forward is good, constant white noise of clucking or talking to the horse takes away from the voice commands that mean something. So, don’t be afraid to have some periods of silence in your longeing session, especially if it’s going well! If you board your horse, your fellow boarders will be so grateful that you can longe quietly, and your horse will also be more attentive, as everything you say has meaning.

3: The Right Equipment

Having the right equipment can make all the difference. The two pieces of equipment that I find to be the most important are a good longeing cavesson and a good whip. I prefer the Viennese style of longe cavesson, which is extra padded and has no joint in the center of the noseband (DP Saddlery’s Desmond O’Brien model is a good one; many others I’ve liked over the years are no longer being made). The cavesson allows for a clearer line of communication with the horse without putting the line on the bit. The whip is also important; I prefer the longest nylon whip I can find. I’ve not had good luck with the telescoping whips because they tend to collapse and break fairly easily, and they also make the “crack” noise too easily. A heavier whip is easier to control to make it reach the horse out on the circle. This is important, because we don’t want to constantly circle the whip or “crack” it when we want the horse to move. This tends to rile the horse up or make it dull to the whip aids. Instead, we want to be able to touch the horse out on the circle while it is going so that we can reinforce our voice aids calmly and kindly. Having the right cavesson and whip can eliminate most problems people struggle with when longeing.

4: Keep your center

Another piece that can harm your longeing session is wandering around the circle while longeing. Frankly, it’s almost impossible to walk a true circle while focusing on the horse. It also throws off your alignment and takes away the value of the circle in schooling the horse. So, use a cone or pivot on your heel to keep your center the same. That’s not to say we shouldn’t travel the circle around the arena on purpose; we absolutely should! But we should “reset” our new center each time so that our migrating the circle stays geometrically consistent.

5: Keep your expectations and cues clear and fair

Knowing your expectations can make for a much more effective longeing session. My basic expectations are that the horse stays at the gait and tempo I asked for until I ask for a new gait (but not for too long… see the section below) and that the horse maintains the contact with the longe line. That’s basically it, but those expectations can be pretty tricky. If the horse falls in a lot, I need to work to keep the horse pushed out. So, I make sure my aid to keep the horse out on the circle is very clear: whip vibrating toward/touching the haunches means go faster, whip pointed at the shoulder means move out. This can take time to establish, as many horses will go faster at first instead of moving out, but keep at it and be extremely clear, and they’ll figure it out. If they keep speeding up, I keep asking them to slow down again. If they keep ignoring my aids asking them to come back to the gait I want, I’ll have them stop, and we’ll work in-hand on “go when I go, stop when I stop,” then we’ll resume back on the longe. When you let the horse do whatever, cantering when they want and zooming around or stopping when they want, both of you will be frustrated because the horse won’t understand what you want, and you’ll feel like your longeing session wasn’t effective in achieving your goals.

6: Keep the session varied

Something a lot of people dislike about longeing is how “boring” it can seem. So spice it up! Don’t stay at one gait for 10 circles doing nothing more; this is boring to both horse and rider. I aim to have a couple consistent circles (steady tempo, filling out the contact on the line), then I start mixing it up. I may bring them in and then push them out for spiraling in and out, I may leg-yield them around the arena (pushing out at one part to move the circle from one end to another), or I may do different transition patterns (one and a quarter circle then transition between a couple gaits until I get three good transitions upward and downward, or maybe 3 circles trot, 3 circles canter, then 4 circles trot, 4 circles canter for up to 5 circles or down to 1 circle). I may warm up quickly with simple walk-trot-canter each direction and then work a couple patterns each direction. Ultimately, even my intense longe sessions don’t last more than 30 minutes, and the horse is often well-worked but not exhausted.

Longeing is an art in itself, and it is sadly under-valued and often ineffectively used. These six tips for improving your longeing are the six most common solutions I give in my longeing lessons, and when riders use even a couple of these tips, their longeing improves enormously. Remember, longeing should be fun and relaxing, not stressful and frustrating. So, try some of these tips and go have fun with your horse!