Warming up and cooling down your horse

Each time you rider your horse, it is important to warm him up and cool him down. It does not just benefit his body, but also his mind.

To put it in a nut shell, warming up your horse is preparing him for his work, relaxing him which will allow you, the rider, to also mentally and physically prepare for your ride.

Warming Up

The aim for the warm up is to raise your horses’ core body and muscle temperature. This will enable the muscles become loose and supple as there will be an increased flow of blood to these areas which delivers more oxygen and nutrients.

The beginning of your warm up should spent walking your horse round in the school in big circles and sweeping shapes, not making him turn tightly. Alternatively, a simple hack around the block often works well.

After 10 minutes, you can pick up a trot, opening his frame and working in a light contact which remains soft. Your horse will start to supple and slowly you can pick up the contact.

Ideal warm up exercises are transitions, changing the rein, shallow loops, large circles and serpentines. You may then want to go on and introduce some suppling exercises such as leg yield and some flexion. This will enable him to use all his muscles to loosen him up thoroughly.

As a rider, you will gauge how relaxed he is and when he feels ready to continue on with the work you require him to do.

Cooling Down

Before you dismount your horse, remember you should always cool down after you have ridden him. It is essential to spend time to cooling down as it allows your horse to relax and unwind after he has worked.
It is also important for his muscles, as this is when the waste products which have built up during work will be removed. It will prevent problems such as tying up which is when your horse suffers from cramp in his muscles from a built up of lactic acid.

You should never underestimate the importance of cooling your horse down as this will prevent many injuries such as strained muscles.

Ideal cooling down exercises are trotting around the school on a long rein, with a light contact in large circles, changing the rein often to allow all muscles to relax. This will let the blood to flow through his muscles and flush away the lactates which have built up during exercise.

You can then bring your horse back to walk to let him stretch and cool off until his heart and respiration rate has returned back to normal.

The time spent warming up and cooling down will prevent your horse from injuries, and you will also find that he will be more focused and willing to work.