Schneider’s Billy Royal Draw Tite is an excellent cavesson choice.

You can longe with just a halter, line and whip, but you won’t be getting the full benefit of the exercise and you may be compromising safety as well.

Using halter rings avoids trauma to the mouth, but the halter can be pulled out of position and up into the horse’s eye on the far side.  Longeing cavessons with rings are designed to fit snugly and stay in place and thus give the handler both more control and more safety than with just a bridle or halter.

Using a surcingle is preferable to bareback because it sends the horse the message of “yes, this is work time, not play time.” Surcingles with multiple Ds and rings offer many options for the use of sidereins, breastplate, martingale, crupper and overchecks.   A saddle with the addition of girth loops or a grab strap can accomplish some of the same things if the handler wants to ride after longeing.  However, a surcingle over the saddle can secure the stirrups and offers even more attachment possibilities. 
  
You may wonder what all those rings are for.  Rings on the top, sides or bottom of the cavesson are for attaching the longeline, sidereins,  martingale or overcheck.  Attaching the longeline is a matter of preference: The top ring of the cavesson keeps the line up and away from the horse’s legs, while some feel the bottom ring gives added control. Rings on the surcingle are for the same equipment.  They can double as turrets for securing lines when driving from the ground or for longeing with double lines.

Fitting
Longeing cavessons should fit exactly the same as the cavesson on your bridle, making sure it’s snug so that it doesn’t rotate around. Surcingles sit just behind the withers.  A snug fit is essential to prevent slipping around the belly.  Padding rolls on either side of the withers form a bridge across the top of the surcingle and prevent rotation.

Dover's suffolk Surcingle #3086 and Longe Cavesson #3006 (with perri's #720 side reins).

Some brands of surcingles give a range of fits (for example, 65" to 85"), while others just say “fits most horses.”  Make sure your horse’s barrel fits the size range when ordering from a catalog or visit a tack shop where you can put a tape measure on the surcingle yourself.

Wide belly bands distribute girth pressure over a wider area but, depending on the horse’s conformation, may interfere with foreleg movement by coming too close to the elbow crease.  Be especially careful fitting thin horses, horses with low withers and horses with more upright shoulders.

The Schneiders Drua-Tech Deluxe was durable and didn't slip.

The Fabri-Tech #8711, Dover #30139 and Valley Vet #19950 were strikingly similar surcingles.

An overhead attachment strap can be more stable than just using the line overhead and makes changing directions easier. This leather one is by Beval Saddlery (800-524-0136, www.beval.com).

Your choice of equipment depends upon your horse and situation. There's nothing "wrong" with longeing in a halter.

Materials
All the materials used in the surcingles and cavessons in this trial were of sufficient strength and durability.  Your choice then boils down to personal preference.  Leather, of course, is traditional and will last a lifetime if it’s of heavy harness quality, if it has tight stitching, and it’s properly maintained.  The downside is the time required for that care.

Neoprene and heavyweight nylon are also suitable and durable, with ease of cleaning being a big plus.  Expect them to last about as long as a synthetic saddle. 

Densely woven canvas is a remarkably resilient material for surcingles.  It resists fraying, is lightweight and has the unique advantage of being breathable.  The only precaution is to prevent mildew by using a pad so the surcingle doesn’t get wet from sweat or else to be sure to dry the canvas thoroughly before putting it away.  Nylon web has excellent strength, can be soaked to clean (although it can be tough to get embedded matter out of the weave), and will last as long as a well-made nylon halter.

If you lunge with a halter, a long chain attachment may help with control. The cahin runs through the inside cheek ring, under the nose, through the opposite cheek ring and attaches to the jaw ring. You'll need to switch it when you change directions (snap the line onto the bottom ring while you switch). This arrangement works well on a horse that bucks or tens to run out away from the handler.

What Are They Used For?
• Crupper—A strap running from the top of the surcingle and under the base of the tail.  It keeps the surcingle from sliding too far forward or from side-to-side.  Cruppers are always used in horses being broke to harness.  They’re also useful for horses with low-flat withers, especially ponies.
• Martingale—Same use as when riding, preventing the horse from carrying his head too high. 
• Side Reins—Used to help balance the horse and to increase swing through the topline.
• Breastplate—Used to prevent the surcingle from sliding back, especially for thin or flat-sided horses.
• Overcheck—Used to prevent the horse from getting his head too low, especially if he wants to buck.  Overchecks for longeing are forked.  They attach to the upper ring of the surcingle and run through high rings on either side of the cavesson.  Horses destined to work in harness will switch to an overcheck bit that uses a line running over the poll to the harness.

Adding a girth loop to your billets makes it much easier to unsnap sidereins when you're ready to ride. The loops can stay in place while you ride. They come in web (around $5 to $10) and leather (up to $35). If you want a quick (but not very attractive) loop, you can always knot a piece of baling twine and run the billets through it.

Details Matter
Tight, even stitching is a must, with no loose ends, just as it is with any tack.  Inspect the cut edges of synthetic materials for threads or fraying.  Buckles should have rollers for easy cinching and quick release.  Stainless steel hardware is better than plated rings and buckles, which can tarnish rapidly if scratched.

Snap ends on all accessories are more convenient than buckles and also safer because they can be released more quickly, especially in the event of a fall.  Make sure ring thickness on both surcingle and cavesson is compatible with your other equipment (side reins, overcheck, longeline, etc.)

White fleece on a surcingle is a nice touch but won’t last as long as the other materials it’s sewn to.  It will be difficult to keep clean because you may not be able to just throw it in the washer. 

Bottom Line
Our favorite surcingle was Dover’s Suffolk International Training Surcingle.  It’s attractive, well-made and reasonably priced at $39.90, making it also our Best Buy.  The ring options and fit are excellent, with three sizes available to make fit work, too.  The combination of webbing and leather may make some folks think twice, but the webbing cleans up beautifully.

In cavessons, we preferred the simplicity and fit of the Billy Royal Draw Tite leather longeing cavesson at $33.95.  It’s secure, attractive, and a good fit on a variety of full-size horses.  If you prefer your line attach to the top of the noseband, go with Dover’s Leather Lunge Cavesson at $34.90.

The Fabri-Tech #1115 and the Cover #3043 longeing cavessons were extremely similar.

A grab strap is a handy place to park sidereins while warming up or leading the horse, before you want to attach them to the bit. They're also more versatile that the D-rings for attaching side reins. Choose leather (this one is by Courbette, www.courbette.com, 800-848-8663), nylon or web, running from $10 to $35.

Put It To Use • Proper longeing equipment sends a work message to your horse. • Cavessons stay in place better than halters. • Surcingles allow for longeing attachments.  • Fit equipment snugly but comfortably.

Benefits of Longeing
Longeing is frequently used as a way to work off some extra energy before riding a strong horse, but its real purposes and advantages are much more broad:
• Introduce the young horse to tack before adding a rider or cart.
• Exercise without the influence of a rider’s weight, to help a horse find his natural balance and gaits.
• Help re-educate horses with head carriage and bit problems by allowing them to move freely but within the limits of correctly adjusted sidereins.
• Early rehab of horses with back problems or front leg injuries, where a rider’s weight would cause additional strain.
• Exercise the horse when you don’t have time to tack up.
• A change of pace for the horse, especially one that has limited or no turnout, who will enjoy the relative freedom that longeing provides.
• Allows the handler to watch how the horse moves from the ground for early detection of lameness and for making sense of things he may be feeling from the saddle.
• Building muscle and condition, especially at the canter or with frequent transitions between gaits.

Surcingle pads protect your surcingle from swear, especially canvas ones, but these take a long time to dry. They can come in the same materials as saddle pads, including this one in flannel (by Seams Right, 800-690-7237, www.seamsright.com), fleece, sheepskin and cotton.

Longeing Basics
• Never take your eyes off the horse.  This is an open invitation to bolt, change direction, run out or cut in toward the center of the circle.
• The classic “V” or triangle formation is essential to keeping horses moving forward.  The handler should be positioned at the point of the V, behind the horse’s shoulder and facing the same direction as the horse.  The line forms one side of the V, the whip the other.  The horse’s body is the base of the triangle.
• The whip is essential to keeping the horse’s attention and encouraging forward energy, but horses learn that the whip can’t actually reach them.  Use the longest whip you can handle, walk a small circle rather than pivoting in place, and continue to cast the whip toward the horse’s shoulder or croup at the four 90-degree points of the circle (12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock) so the horse moves out and forward.
• Keep the circle out at 20 meters (33 feet from the handler), and limit your sessions to 20 or 25 minutes, including changes of direction.
• Don’t allow the horse to buck, bolt or gallop.  Insist on the specified gait right from the start of the session. (Bad actors behave better when longed in tack than with a halter, especially when sidereins are added.)
• If you’re longeing in a bridle, twist the reins under the throatlatch and then undo the buckle and wrap them around the neck so the horse can’t step on them.
• If a horse tends to rear, try a standing martingale or sidereins with an elastic insert run between the legs from girth ring to ring on the underside of the cavesson.
• If the horse tends to buck and run out the line, run a chain through the near halter ring and under the chin, then through the off halter ring and up to the cheek ring.  When the horse is in the air for his buck, the handler can keep his head straight on the circle.
• Always wear gloves.  Always remove spurs.  Never let the end of the line drag on the ground.