Warm up in arena and then hack out, or vice versa?

[Whoosh]

This seemed cross-disciplinary and conversational, so I thought I’d put it here. Question is as the title suggests: do you prefer to warm up in the arena and hack/trail ride after? Or do you prefer to warm up on the trail and then school in the arena? Why? Does it depend on the horse, what kind of work you’re doing, or other factors?

I tend to school in the ring and then cool out in the fields, but I’m starting to wonder if there might be benefits to mixing it up. Curious to see what other folks do and their reasoning. Thanks in advance for your input

[chocolate_chip_in]

I’ve always schooled first then done a quick hack to cool down. However, a couple of weeks ago a friend was starting their cool down hack right as I was mounting up, so we hacked with them as our warmup instead…and my lease horse felt absolutely fantastic, so much lighter and more supple to start than she usually is. I’m not riding her anymore (bought a horse oops!) but that ride showed me I should start mixing it up.

[sophie]

I had a lease mare that was so ring sour, I ended up taking her on hacks and trail rides only for a long time, then I reintroduced flat work progressively.

My preference has always been to hack on hilly terrain, on a long(ish) rein, as warm up and cool down. Unfortunately I live one New England where the winter weather isn’t quite ideal for that anymore ( rain, deep mud).

[Arlomine]

This is 100% Horse/scenario dependent.

I have had horses that would shut down in the arena, and required a short hack/trail ride first followed by arena work.

I have also had horses that would have killed me if I tried to ride them outside before their arena ride. These same horses later changed so it really didn’t matter one way or the other.

Most training choices with horses are situational. Don’t get married to the idea of something always having to be done a certain way.

[Gardenhorse]

With my current horse, I warm up with a hack whenever the weather allows, then work in the arena. Then sometimes cool down with a hack after as well. It started because we were rehabbing an injury and my vet was fine with us doing the walk work as a hack around the hay field once we were up to 20 min of walk, but wanted her initial trot work to be in the arena. So we’d hack for 20 min, then go in the arena and do our little bit of trot work. It turned into a habit that stuck even when she was back in full work. Hacking is a much nicer warm up than just walking around the ring.

[RhythmNCruise]

I agree that it’s dependent on the individual horse’s needs. My horse has never really been ridden in an arena as at my farm where he was raised, started, and trained, I just rode in one of the pastures. So, a 2 acre field was the closest thing he experienced to an “arena.” I showed him and he was fine in arenas, including indoors. I sold the farm and the boarding barn I moved to had an outdoor dressage ring and a covered dressage arena. He disliked the covered (footing was deep) and was mildly more tolerant of the outdoor. He preferred, as expected, to be worked in a big, open field (which luckily we had). He also preferred being hacked around the property at all three gaits to endless circles and schooling. He eventually began to realize the “work” happened in the big field by the covered arena, and he would go from perky and forward to sluggish and Eeyore-like as we reached the field.

At our current barn, I try to sneak “work” in without him realizing it. We always start with a walking hack on a loose rein through the woods and around the property. If he’s feeling particularly sluggish, I’ll take him somewhere we don’t normally go (we can ride out into the neighborhood if we want) so he gets on his toes and is more forward. I use that energy to get him going and eventually we wind up back at the big field (this barn has a HUGE open field) where we work a little and I get him moving well. Then we’ll head off around the property at trot and canter and back through the woods before coming back down to a walk and finishing with a nice walk around the property.

There is a small outdoor ring at our current barn. I’ve rarely ridden in it. He doesn’t see the point, LOL. He’ll be a good boy and all, but it’s obvious he’s none too thrilled with going round and round.

[McGurk]

Another vote for “it depends.”

As a novice dressage rider, I found it much easier to warm up outside the arena. I could get my long and low and stretching done more efficiently, and the little bit of extra forwardness was really helpful to.

I’d come in after a 30 minute hack and could put the horse together and get good quality work.

I might still use this routine today, even for a gymnastic or over fences school; using the hack outside the arena to really get forward, straight and relaxed, then do a short, sharp school in the ring.

The contrary argument is that it’s lovely to reward a horse after schooling in the arena by cooling out with a quiet hack.

Depends on the horse and the day.

[Mango20]

Mix it up so your horse doesn’t start anticipating. There are benefits to doing it both ways, so if you do it both ways, you get all the benefits.

Personally, I use my neighbor’s arena, so I have a short hack both at the beginning and end of my ride. If I am going to go on a longer hack, it’s more often than not after the ring work because my horse is very forward in the open and I’d prefer a more relaxed ride.

[quietann]

I’ve done both, but generally prefer to hack first.

[LilDunFilly]

I’ve done it both ways. Most of the time I’ve been riding schoolies, and would hack out after the lesson as a cool down along with other people I’d been lessoning with. When I was schooling a ring-sour gelding, we’d hack for 30+ minutes then do maybe 10 minutes of arena work (mostly just letting him canter around since the trails were rocky).

My personal preference was to hack out before and after though. That facility didn’t have actual turnout (you could throw a horse into an unused arena for ~15 minutes or use a sunpen, that’s it) so I wanted to give the horses as much outside time as possible + give them a chance to loosen up before getting to work. There was a big fire trail that went around the property (about 1-1.5 miles I think), which took 20-25 minutes on a slow walk or 15~ for a fast walk. If we did the long trail before a ride, we might just wander around the barns to cool out instead.

[Salty]

This is so true. I had one who needed a mile of canter in 2 point before work. Another one needed a few low jumps before dressage. Just listen to your horse and they’ll tell you.

[WildGooseChase]

I warm up in the arena, then hack out, then come back to the arena. I do not want my horses rushing back to the barn, so they do a few more minutes of real work before we cool out. I also make my horses stand tied for a little while, 10-15 minutes, after I’m done untacking and grooming again, just further reinforcement of the rushing principle.

[RMJacobs]

When I first started driving my Hackney pony, even though he wanted to go, go, go, he would still try to bolt for home when we got near it. Not having an arena, I would come to my driveway and insist we keep going. At first, I was doing this five or six times a drive. Gradually, I was able to reduce the number of times I had to push him past the bottom of the driveway, and he eventually got to being as relaxed as he ever got as we approached home. Until I let him know, he wasn’t sure if we were actually going home or just going past. He was a hot little dude for sure, but at least I got rid of the urge to bolt for home.

Rebecca

[Janet]

Both.
It is about a 10-15 minute walk from my barn to the ring, which is on my sister’s farm, So I always get at least a 10 - 15 minute ride out in the open before and after my work in the ring.
Sometimes I do a longer ride in the open before or after the work in the ring.

[Demerara_Stables]

Both. I want their first and last few minutes under saddle to be in a long and low, forward, swinging walk on the buckle. They really do need to spend much more time walking to warm up and cool out than most people give. Mine do 15-20 minutes before and after the arena in the field or on the driveway if it’s too muddy. One caveat is that if it’s a new horse to my program and they aren’t used to being outside of the ring, they’ll only go for a hack after the arena for a few weeks, just to be sure they aren’t silly. Once they realize that the field is fun and relaxing, they aren’t too fresh to take out before the arena.

[beowulf]

I prefer to always hack first. It’s a good litmus test for how that horse is feeling that day, warms them up without souring them, and by the time they’re limber they can go right to work. I have a bridle loop that I made around the property. It’s hilly with lots of logs, and does a fantastic job of suppling them and also building muscle.

Their quality of ring work is usually better immediately following a hack; and the plus side is, they don’t get ring sour with this routine.

I usually do a bridle loop hack, 15-20m of ring work, and then finish with a hack around the property.

[SharonA1]

I part-lease an older horse who does not get much work. He does so much better with a warm-up hack before getting in the ring.

I no longer can stand to just go from barn to arena and back to barn, myself, so, it’s good that he and I agree on this matter.

[Bonnie2]

Another depends. If your horse tends to be hot and reactive, some work in the ring first will improve your chances of a safe and pleasant hack. If your horse tends not to be forward enough or is a bit stiff to start, then hacking first can loosen them up and cheer them up.

[pluvinel]

@Arlomine

This is 100% Horse/scenario dependent.

I have had horses that would shut down in the arena, and required a short hack/trail ride first followed by arena work.

I have also had horses that would have killed me if I tried to ride them outside before their arena ride. These same horses later changed so it really didn’t matter one way or the other.

Most training choices with horses are situational. Don’t get married to the idea of something always having to be done a certain way.

Totally agree and could not have said it better…you have to ride the horse that you have under you that day.

If there are gale force winds that day, work in the indoor can be a good place to see if you have a brain with you that day.

[TWH_Girl]

I do both. I like to end with a little arena riding if I am at home so they don’t rush home and think we are done. It’s good to mix up the routine because they are smart and anticipate things.