i’ll try to do that. Or at least buy a slot in Intro A and be prepared to scratch! Just getting her onto showgrounds and in and out of the trailer should be a good learning experience. Will explore the other idea mentioned about trailering into a busy barn. I think maybe my coach might be able to help me get into one…she trains at a few different barns i think. All of these good ideas are…good.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be peeved (that’s your prerogative), but as an alternate perspective, I think a lot of horses (mine included) benefit from being reminded which movements are on today’s agenda, e.g., “hey, we’re doing 3’s and 2’s today, and full, not half, pirouettes.”
Although an hour plus warmup does seem a little long, who am I to judge what someone else’s horse needs? I do a 45 min warmup myself with my current ride (a good 15 min is just getting settled, some schooling, more settling, then schooling right before we go in). In her younger days I most likely was doing hour long warmups to get her relaxed.
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Yes, but if you need to do the 2s and 4s one day, you should be able to check them off your to-do list in the last 5-10 minutes of your warm up. Not desperately try to cling to the rhythm of the tempis or trying to fire off a single clean change, which is what I often see.
I think too many people ride above their level on horses that they aren’t suited for, adding to the hour plus warm up, but that’s a discussion for another thread (and not even one I’m inclined to start).
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Oh, yes, on that we completely agree! Definitely school them as a quick reminder to make sure they’re in there, but don’t try to learn them in the warm-up 
I have totally seen that, and you’re right that it’s 1) unproductive and not going to work, and 2) super irritating to everyone else that has to get out of your way while you struggle through it 
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I have a friend who rides a hot, hot, hot PRE mare that absolutely takes an hour in warm-up. Partly because the mare is out 24/7 at home and it takes her a solid 30 minutes to stop being a dingbat after having been in stall or hand-walked for the last 24 hours plus at a show.
OTOH, my PSG gelding - I’d hack him around for 20 minutes at the walk to loosen up (outside the warm-up ring), school the movements for 20 minutes in the warm-up ring, then knock the test out. Every horse needs a different prep.
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It makes the most sense for horses that are not working and walking on a long rein to get out of the warmup ring.
I am guilty of riding my test in the warmup, but I don’t have a dressage arena at my barn. The only chance I really have, outside of trailering over occasionally for a lesson, to actually feel what the movement should be in the correct dimensions is to do it is before my test in warmup.
I am moving barns, so will soon have a real 20x60 to school in, but that will be the first time for me in 30 years.
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Very true, but not always possible. Some shows literally have no where else you can go - or have paved roads around the grounds.
Honestly kind of surprised to see dressage people advocating for “slow on the inside”. I typically want all the room I can get on the interior of the arena for figures/lateral work in a warmup. Additionally, entering/exiting the warmup arena is a lot easier when the slowest work is on the outside (vs dodging an extended canter on the wall when trying to get out for my test).
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I do walking on a long rein several times during my warm-up as part of my warm-up. My dude gets very tense at shows and the long rein walking helps tremendously when scattered in between the “real work”.
I agree that if you’re not warming up for a class and just stretching your horse’s legs that should be done via handwalking down the aisle.
In general, it feels more out of the way to be on the rail, but I just watch the others and do the rail or inside track depending on what everyone else is doing. Definitely have the least right-of-way if I’m the one walking.
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to have to pull your horse up, or to have to alter an S or 20m circle…or abort an upward transition because somebody is coming barreling down on you seems like it would be a depressant/downer/conflicting instruction to a horse. How helpful can a warm up be when there are so many inconsiderate people focused on only themselves and their horse and their problems that need a quick fix. Do they ever hit your horse accidently with their whips?
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Most of the time you can survive nicely and get what you need accomplished. There may be many horses doing different things in a confined area so, no, you wont always get to circle exactly when you want to.
Warmups vary in size and crowdedness with the management and facility. Happily the closest recognized shows to me have several warmup areas and I have seen little conflict.
I still shudder when I remember the little unrecognized shows of my youth that offered everything from western pleasure to barrels to saddleseat to jumpers with one chaotic warmup for two or three rings! Even the late lamented Childrens Services big recognized show tried to do multidisciplines and sometimes had children’s hunter under saddle prepping at the same time as three gaited show horses being followed with whips and shaker cans!
I agree. I do not like to pass on the rail just like I don’t pass cars on the right.
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