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The Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down
Olympic Dressage Champion Carl Hester explains the importance of warming up your horse correctly and the art of cooling down your horse…
There are hundreds of features out there telling you how to ride in a symmetrical circle, approach a fence correctly or jump the perfect round, but very few articles concentrate on the important part that your warm up and cooling off routine has on your horse.
If you go to the gym, you wouldn’t suddenly jump onto the running machine and do 20 minutes straight off would you?! And if you did, you would probably either risk injury or at the very least feel very sore the next day, so why expect your horse to be any different?
Having ridden and trained hundreds of horses of all levels, abilities and ages, it goes without saying that some horses loosen up quicker than others and as a rider/trainer, it is up to you to decide what suits your horse best. The minimum warm up that I would do before moving up to trot would be 15 minutes of walk. This could either be done by taking him for a short hack or in the school working on a long rein, which would incorporate gentle changes of rein, circles and even some lateral work to get the horse moving away from my leg and travelling forward. I would encourage the horse to take the long rein contact down and really look to the horse to try and stretch over his back. This should never be forced, as some horses will naturally be tighter in the back than others and you will cause more problems trying to force his head down than you would just letting him be.
After lots of changes of direction and circles in walk, I would then look to move up a gear. Some horses prefer to warm up in canter, whilst others benefit more in the trot, again it’s up to you to decide what is best for your horse or pony and which ever pace is best suited to your horse. Transitions between canter and trot can be a good way to help loosen up the horse, but ultimately what you are looking for, is a loose rhythmical swinging trot and bouncy canter with the horse feeling relaxed and mentally prepared for your schooling session before you move on to anything more taxing. If it’s a particularly chilly day, don’t forget to use an exercise sheet to help keep him warm until you move up into the trot or canter.
The same would apply to your cooling down session. I like to wind down my schooling session by allowing the horse to take the rein contact down (not snatching it!) and work him long and low in the trot and the canter if I feel he is able to do this. Try and keep a contact in the rein but allow the horse to really swing through his back and think about an even rhythm as you make changes of rein and work on circles. Once I have trotted him like this, I would then either walk him off in the school for another 15 minutes or take him for a walk around the block to cool off. The most important aspect is to allow the horse to stretch out his muscles and relax his mind before putting him away in the stable or turning him out.
A good preparation to a schooling session or dressage test is all in the warm up and a happy, healthy horse is the result of both a good warm up and cool down session. Keeping a routine at home and at competitions also gives the horse a familiar routine, which helps to settle and focus their minds at competitions. Remember, after your dressage test, walk the horse out rather than take him straight back to the box.
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Stretching down is an important part of warming up and cooling down |
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