Hi lee,

-Did you watch the video's on this Uni called "Join-up for teens"? Please watch it together with your daughter!
This shows that as an adult you can coach your daughter through the process of Join-up, either from outside the roundpen or together with her in the pen. Two advantages:
1st, your daughter wil experience that, when she uses the basics of Equus, the horse responds and relaxes. Horses are re-active animals, so the horse will mirror the actions of your daughter. This is a very rewarding situation for all involved, most people will never forget that feeling for the rest of their lives.
2nd, Once she gets the feeling for it, she should be able to handle the horse according to these principles for the rest of the relationship.
- Now to the free lunging: wouldn't you be bored, if your teacher made you go through the same routine everyday? It would wear out the relationship, and it does wear out the miracles of the Join-up process, which is meant as a form of communication! Never a training or routine!
If you want to train your horse on a daily basis, without riding, I would suggest you longline and maybe learn to use the lines as longreins, this means you can vary whatever you do with the horse from the ground.
There are wonderful lessons on this Uni on longlining and advanced longlining, there is almost no limit to the possibilities of longlining.
Please let us know how things go!
Miriam

Hi Lee,

I free lunge on a regular basis but have tried (fairly successfully) to differ it from the once in a blue moon that we do join up. Try using the rope less, starting as if he was on lines by asking for a walk, trot and canter and only use the rope to push him up when he needs a push to move up a pace. I use voice commands along with sounds such as cluck for trot, kiss for canter along with the command. I also will do something different but fun while important to his training. One day we'll walk and trot over the trot poles and between the jump posts in the arena, go for a walk out the back where there's lots of trees and grass, practice trotting on the lead, etc. Admittedly I don't have the advantage of being able to ride yet as he's only just 3 so going for starting this year.

Hopefully you find a solution. :)

In regards to your daughter I would recommend you to do as Miriam suggested and have your daughter do a join up with your horse.

Dear Lee. I often answer similar questions like yours with the comment that this is a problem of definition of "Join-Up". In the strict sense it is the moment of the first time a horse you don't know is approaching you after having been sent away. You can reapeat that a couple of times, but then it becomes useless because you know each other. On the other hand you continue to communicate with your horse for lifetime with the same gestures, you may call that also "Join-Up" but for the the horse and you it is a different thing: it is just communication.
Rudi

Thank you all so much! Great advice.
I'll start on long lining this week and have Polly do her own join up.
Rudi, perfect answer. Thanks so much.
Lee