How's Your Warmup?

Have you ever thought about creating a warm up routine for your horse? A warm up routine can be a beneficial addition to any rider's training with their horse. It is an opportunity to check in with your horse on their energy level and attention. It's a chance for them to stretch and warm up their muscles which can help prevent injuries as you move into more strenuous exercises.

For some people a warm up routine can sound tedious. They may start imagining riders who ritualistically go through the same groundwork exercises every time before they ride their horse and instantly feel bored. But a warm up routine should be unique for each horse and riders' needs. The goal is for the warm up to help the horse and rider, rather than just check a box of accomplishment.

So what can a warm up routine look like? For me that depends on what my goals are with the horse I'm working. With Buddy, my old guy, I like to do a warm up that allows him to stretch out his muscles, as he can get a bit stiff. When he lived in a stall he needed more stretching than he does now, living in a large dry lot with two mares who make him move more on a daily basis. He also needs more warm up in the winter than he does in the summer (don't we all). So for Buddy his warm up might look like a bit of lunging at all three gaits. Or some liberty work going around obstacles. The whole goal of his warm up at this point in his life as a lesson horse, is to get some movement to work out any stiffness he might have. I don't worry about pushing him very much in this warm up, as most of his lessons are beginner lessons and quite easy for him.

With Kat, when she is tuned up and being ridden regularly, I will send her both ways on the lunge line walk/trot/lope. Her tell sign is how she handles the ask for a lope. If she squeals at me and flings her head in the air, we've got some extra energy and I'll do a little more work on the ground. If she's quiet and responsive then I hop on to ride. Usually this little check in takes less than five minutes. When I get on her I do a check in of a different kind. I will usually take her through her basic maneuvers and see how responsive she is to my leg, seat, and rein cues. Anywhere there is resistance I camp out for a while until she softens.

I have a Thoroughbred in training right now who requires a longer than average warm up routine on the ground. Reggie is a very sweet guy with a few things working against him physically. He has some weakness in his hind end and when he arrived he was undermuscled and underweight (at no fault of his owner, she only recently bought him). I do a lot of lunging with bend, lateral work, pole work, and backing with Reggie before I ever get on him. My primary goal is to condition him so he can use his body better and feel more comfortable as whole. If I hop on him before he's been warmed up well, he gets fussy as his back is very stiff.

I have a client who has a very long routine with her horse on the ground and under saddle because of how much energy her horse has. She has a horse that you almost need to put a ride on before you can put a ride on him, if that makes any sense. She regularly has to spend 30 minutes to an hour with this horse working him just to get his brain to a point where he can actually start to think and learn. This isn't about tiring him out, it's about getting his attention on her. Some days he gives it easily, but most days she has to work for it. These are the horses we jokingly say need to be ridden eight days a week. They are a lot of work and keep you on your toes. Eventually this horse will mature out of needing to be worked so hard and so frequently, but for right now that is where he is at.

It's important to correctly identify what your horse needs, they are all unique. Some horses require a longer ground warm up, where others can be suffienctly warmed up solely in the saddle if that is the riders preference. It always looks different for horses who are in regular work and in good condition versus those who are not. Age plays a factor too. Horses who are very young or very old are both more prone to injury without proper warm up. Horses in their prime still need warm up, but you can often get away with doing less. What you include in your warm up routine is also tied to what tasks you expect your horse to do. When you are asking them to do Dressage, jumping, or speedwork for example, these are more physically strenous than a horse plodding along at a walk with a child on its back. You don't show up at the gym and immediately start lifting 100lb weights. You don't run a marathon without stretching first and preparing yourself. Our horses are athletes, let's treat them as such and give them a chance to prepare their bodies and minds for what we want them to do.