My horse won't lunge and just stops or turns in — how do I fix it?

A horse that stops on the lunge line or consistently turns in toward the handler has learned that those behaviors end the exercise, and in most cases the handler inadvertently taught it. If the horse turns in and the handler pets it, gives it a rest, or simply lets it stand facing inward without redirecting it back out, the horse learns exactly what it needs to do to get out of working. The correction begins with understanding your own body position: are you inadvertently stepping in front of the drive line and blocking the horse's forward path? Are you dropping your energy and looking away in a way that signals the horse to stop? Many turn-in problems are handler position problems, not horse problems. To correct stopping on the line, the moment the horse slows without being asked, immediately step toward its hindquarters with energy and swing the whip end toward its hip to restart forward movement. The horse must learn that stopping is not its choice. For turning in, block the turn by stepping back toward the drive line and using the whip in front of the horse's nose to redirect it back to the circle — the whip tip pointed at the horse's eye turns it away, and then energy toward the hip restarts it on the circle. Consistency is everything: every unauthorized stop or turn-in must be immediately redirected every single time. A horse that is allowed to turn in even occasionally will continue to try it because it sometimes works. Once the horse is moving consistently on the circle, reward it by occasionally inviting it in on your terms so it learns the difference between coming in when asked and turning in without permission.