I lunge all horses in bridles with snaffle bits - never a halter or lunging cavesson. I attach the lunge line by running it through the inside bit ring, over the poll and clipping it to the outside bit ring. I either remove the bridle reins (very young, green horses that won't be ridden), or loop them under the stirrups of the saddle. If they are too short for this, I tie them up with the throatlatch.

From the earliest days, I use sidereins - very long for young, green horses, and shorter for older horses. I give the horse a few minutes to "play" up on the lunge at the very start of the lesson, and then I attach the sidereins and we begin to work.

I have a number of reasons for proceeding in this fashion:

1) I truely dislike lunging cavessons. I have tried them all, from the most expensive to the bargin basement style, and I have never found one that fits properly or looks comfortable for the horse. They almost all invariably end up pressing against the horse's outside eye, unless you wrench them so tight that the horse has NO mobility with his jaw. This is just my personal experience - others may find them useful, but I cannot endorse their use.

The other thing I dislike about cavessons is that I feel it is unnatural to try to guide the horse via a ring on the front of the horse's face. We don't ever do this - we always try to handle the horse from one side or the other, or with direct rein contact when riding.

2) The lunge rein over the poll has a number of advantages, but most importantly, it keeps the rein pressure on the outside, where you will want it to be when you ride the horse. The over-the-poll arrangement encourages the horse to stretch down and forward. The fact that you have to manually change the rein when you change direction gives the handler an opportunity to really reward thehorse with pats and chat, and to teach the horse to stand quietly while the tack is adjusted. The arrangement offers a refined method of communication through the bit rings with the lunging horse. The handler can use the lunge rein much as a rider would use the reins - small half-halts, a bit of bending and a "flutter" on the reins to encourage rounding. This is the purpose of the excercise. PERIOD! Teaching a horse manners has no place in the lunge ring. That would fall to BULLPEN WORK. I'll describe that in further texts.

3) Getting the horse (and rider) properly dressed for work is an exercise in discipline and clearly delineates the work period from play or rest. A bridle and saddle are requisite. A bit is part of a bridle.

4) Lunging, I feel, should be part of a carefully planned and executed training program designed to progressively develop the horse's athleticism and strength. It's *work*, therefore the horse should be dressed for work and dressed to learn. The handler should focus on the useful work that can be achieved on the lunge. Even young horses can, in a short time, derive great benefit from properly executed lunge line work that will not stress their developing bodies or immature minds. BUT, every horse should learn that it is work time, not play time. Anything less is, IMO, just "exercise" and really a waste of opportunity and time in which the horse could learn something useful and systematically develop toward a "dressage-ready" prospect.

In conclusion, I can say that I have successfully used lunging as I have described, and it continues to be a part of every horse's regimen - even every Grand Prix horse gets lunged from time to time. A horse that is well schooled on the lunge can be a pleasure to work in hand, and can still be worked when riding is impossible. Lunging is also an important tool for conditioning and suppling, and plays an important role in returning an injured horse to work.

I can also say that I see many people who "lunge" their horses improperly, and that such activity is actually detrimental to the horse, causing and perpetuating such problems as joint unsoundness, falling on the forehand, hollow backs and lack of balance. If you do not know how to lunge a horse, find someone to teach you, and then carefully pay attention to what is going on when you do it!

These are just the way I handle it and intrepret the purpose, and your experience may vary. Other people will have developed lunging techniques that work for them.