Lunge Lesson 2 - "Schooling 'Ventura' in the Round Pen"

[Tom Valter speaking] “Just adjust [reins] so the horse is flexed to the inside, make sure the inside rein is shorter, whether two inches or six inches. Turn on the forehand, just use a little finger [touching] just at the same place where the leg would be.

Let her walk out. we’re going to do the same thing again today, we are going to ask her to walk, ask to trot, and ask her to turn on the haunches today.

She is smarter than most dutch horses I’ve worked with, definitely smarter than some of the Hanovarians I’ve had the honor to work with. She’s an elegant little filly no matter what breed she is--Hannovarian, Oldenburg, or Dutch--pretty, feminine looking, and smart, really smart. Like all the fillies. She’s got the feminine look and “smartness”, if there is such a word. See how nice her frame she is, that’s how the frame needs to be.

I’m going to ask her next time around, I’m gong to ask her to turn on the haunches. (whistle) I give plenty of room.

Today is the second time we’ve done it. You can teach a horse to do almost anything physically or mentally capable for a horse to do you can teach them that. If you repeat it often enough and if you give them a chance to understand, pretty soon they will do it. If they’re smart. They are going to take the easy way out if they can. So you want to show them. Whatever you ask them do they have to find it easy. If you force things onto them then they don’t find it easy. Then they don’t want to do it. Then each time you want to do something with the horse and you start with force you have to keep doing it by force. You don’t want to do that. You want to show them 5-6-7 times to find an easy way.

I’m whistling, that is the signal for her to do the turn. I do [click] for trot and [kiss] for canter. They learn. What I like to start when I start the canter is a nice transition. The horse has got to canter around 10 times around the circle, at least ten times, that is when they start to relax. Three or four times is not enough. Ten times, then they start to relax--if you want to practice the trot-canter transition. Which is really the bread and butter of all the transitions--trot to canter and canter to trot. In all the tests--that transition will go with you all the way to the Grand Prix because in the Grand Prix test you’ve got the transition from passage to canter.

(The horse goes from canter to trot in the video) When the horse breaks down like that you say, ‘no.’ You want them to canter on their own. You don’t want them to break down into the trot without you asking. When they do, you give them an extra circle.
I picked this [lunge] whip that’s a little longer, I want to be able to touch with the whip if I need to. I don’t want to be chasing them around. About 7-8 times around now. Now we are going to see if she’s going to do a pirouette at the canter.

(whistle). . . (kiss). . . ‘canter.’. . . ‘good girl.’ Now I’m going to tell her that was really good. ‘Walk, and I’m going to give you a pat. Super girl.’ People say, second time you did it? Yeah, the second time. But I’m working with a smart horse. A lot of horses are not that smart. [Giving the horse a treat], I bribe her a little bit too.

Lets go the other way . . .”