Free Lounging (Lungeing)
We often put ourselves in this same position when we turn horses lose in a pasture. It is easy to get in the habit of walking the horse straight in, slipping off the halter or lead, and letting him continue straight past us into the pasture. I never thought much about turning horses lose in this way until I was working with the race horses and almost got fired for doing it. While I was being screamed at, I vaguely recalled a 4-H safety rule about always turning the horse to face you before letting him lose, but still didn't see the level of danger I was putting myself in by letting the horse run past me.
I am very fortunate to have a special mentor and dear friend that has guided my education, love and career with horses. Out of respect for his privacy I will not use his name. He has been an old man for as long as anyone can remember. A retired jockey and trainer, he possesses and incredible breadth and depth of knowledge.
When I went to visit him, I told him about my free lungeing experience. Stories of falling off, crashing into fences or near misses were always a source of laughter and great story telling for us. If a bone was broken in the incident, it made a better story. We are in the horse business after all, and these things are part of our life.
He didn't laugh at my free lungeing experience though. He shook his head and gave me that, "you should have known better" look. Then he told me a story of how a friend and fellow horseman helped him turn some horses out one day. Just as he was about to caution his friend to turn the horse toward him before letting him lose, the friend slipped the halter off. As the horse ran past his friend it kicked out--killing his friend on impact. He told me how he had to go tell his friend's wife what had happened and how many times he lamented not giving that warning in time.
I hope this warning will reach you in time. One of the first things we learn about horses is not to run up behind them and to stay away from the back of a horse. How quickly we become so comfortable around them that we forget how dangerous they can be. The most
Latest Articles