Step1
Teach your horse to lunge quietly on a 25-foot circle in a bitting rig or bridle with side reins and surcingle before attempting to ground drive him.
Step2
Tack your horse up as though you where going to do a full lunging session with both his bridle and surcingle on, but no side reins.
Step3
Attach a 25-foot lunge line to the left side of your horse's bit. Most surcingles have three loops on each side: a top, middle and lower loop. You want to attach the one lunge line to each side of the bit and run the line through the middle loop on each side. Once this is done, calmly lay the excess line from the right side over the surcingle, so the ropes are together on one side as though you where going to lunge your horse tracking left. Instead of holding the line in your left hand and a whip in your right hand as if you were lunging, you will be holding a line in each hand. You can ask an assistant to follow along on your right with a lunging whip.
Step4
Ask your horse to walk forward. This is where all the practicing and reinforcing voice commands while lunging comes into play. Start out working at a walk on a 20-meter circle as though you where lunging.
Step5
After your horse has walked a complete circle pull back gently on both lines and ask your horse to halt. Reinforce the motion and pressure on the bit with your voice by saying "halt." At first your horse will be responding more to your voice that the pressure on the bit. Repeat the walk-halt exercise several times.
Step6
Introduce a few straight lines into your circle by applying pressure to the right side of the bit through your lunge line. Once your horse gives right, then apply pressure to the inside and bring him back on the circle. The secret is to maintain forward motion. You can also use the rail to help teach your horse to turn. Simply walk the horse along the rail and apply pressure to the inside rein whenever you come to a corner. This will teach your horse to associate the pressure from the bit with turning. Every time you come to a new corner ask your horse to turn a little earlier.
Step7
Try changing reins or direction. Develop a good forward walk, then slowly let your line out leaving ample room to swing yourself around behind the horse. Hold the reins high enough that you can lift them over your horse's back without making a great deal of unnecessary motion with the lines. Apply pressure to the right side and as he begins to turn right, lift both lines over his back and take up a position on his right side. He may startle a bit when you move the lines or turn very sharply at first. That is fine, just ask him to once again walk on and repeat the walk-halt exercise tracking right.
Step8
Change directions several times until you can do so easily and without your horse fussing or shying when you move the lines. Bring your horse back onto a 20-meter circle and when he is calmly walking try letting the right line slip down around his rump, so that it rest a few inches above his hocks. With amble preparation this should not a big deal. If your horse does panic, bolt forward or shy, just ask him to walk quietly and start again. You can have an assistant walk by his head at first. If your horses jigs a little a first that is fine as long as he settles back down. Once your horse is settled, you should be able to take up a driving position several feet behind your horse.
Step9
Start adding some walk-trot transitions into the mix. Start just like you did with the walk, start out on a 20-meter circle. After your horse has performed several walk-trot transitions on a circle, start asking for the trot on a few straight lines and on the rail.
Step10
Keep your long lining lessons short at first, only 15 to 20 minutes in length. Letting lines move across his back and hindquarter goes against your horse's inherent nature and that alone is mentally taxing on a young horse. The key is to be slow and patient, repeating the same exercise over and over again in several sessions.
