Your warmup routine

[mydogs]

What does your normal warm up look like?
How much time do you spending walking? On a Long rein?
How old is your horse and what level are you schooling?

I found my horse and I do really well if we spend 30 mins walking. He is 22 with hardly any joint stiffness besides his poll/tmj. Maybe 5-10 mins of long rein and the rest is spent getting him to bend and working on everything we need to do. But, that doesn’t really leave me with much time to work on the trot and canter. Due to weather and my horse having a very minor respiratory issue, I don’t want to make him work for 60 mins in the summer. So I either have to cut the walk shorter or not focus on the trot or canter as much that day.

Hoping to get some new ideas from everyone to help find a new routine that might work for us.

[splitrockfarmnc]

I have several horses that I’m riding or teaching on right now, and I have a different “routine” with each horse. The quotes just mean that I may adjust the warm-up based on the weather, where we are riding, the footing, or how long it’s been since that horse was last ridden. Here are a couple examples:

I have a student who is riding a 20+ year old Cob-style mare. The mare had schooled some 2nd level work in a previous life, but that’s been a while. She is very out of shape and quite stiff, and her new rider is still developing effective aids to help remedy that. Her warm up usually consists of a short walk trail ride (10-15 mins), then another 10-15 mins of walking in the arena, with a focus on keeping her marching forward from a lighter aid. We also do a lot of walk-halt-walk-halt-backup-walk transitions (or some variation of that). If I ride, I’ll ask for some leg yields in the walk as well. If all is going well, we’ll move to a long rein trot with transitions to walk and back to trot again. The canter is kept short right now, maybe a 20m circle or two and one long side, but in the future we’ll be able to add to that.The trot and canter work probably only lasts another 10-15 mins, and that is plenty for her! Then she gets a cooldown walk either in the arena or around the farm, and then it’s back to the barn.

Another mare I ride regularly is in her teens, and is schooling 2nd and 3rd with the exception of flying changes. She is a firecracker with a spook, so as soon as she gets into the arena, we give her a job to do. No lollygagging or wandering around, looking for something to spook at. So of course we start in the walk, right away with transitions to halt and then to walk again. We do walk leg yields, shoulder-in, renvers, travers, turn on forehand and turn on haunches, half pass, and any other maneuvering around of shoulders or hindquarters that feels necessary that day. This work lasts about 15-20 minutes, and it really gets her focused. She forgets all about the horse-eating demons that DEFINITELY live in the woods. It also loosens her up tremendously, so by the time you go to trot, she is forward, swinging, and looking for the next task. After work, we do a cooldown trail ride.

It sounds like our routines are similar, so I don’t know if this gives you any new ideas, but I figured I’d share anyway!

[Nestor]

My horse is 21, but he’s needed the same warmup for the last 7 years I’ve been riding him, so this isn’t age related, just who he is (stiff and crooked by default).

We walk for about 30 minutes. We start on the buckle, just forward and letting him get his body moving. When he feels loose, I pick up the reins and we work on shoulder-fore, some figures, and then lateral work, mostly shoulder-in, travers, renvers. I do all of my walk work without stirrups because I find it helps me to unlock my hips after a day sitting at a desk, and then I am more effective for the entire ride. The lateral work really helps me to check that I truly have him on the aids, and to remind him of where he needs to be, too. He’s schooled up to 4th, and at this point we are just riding for fun so I have zero plans to ever even school him above 2nd, so this works for us.

In my perfect world, my warmup would start outside of the ring and we’d hack around the farm, but I don’t think I’d ever make myself go back in the ring for the work part of the ride, so instead we tend to do a long cool down walk around the farm after we’re done.

[2DogsFarm]

My horses are turned out 24/7 so when I get on, I consider they have already walked around a good deal.
We get right to work after perhaps a 10min stretchy walk in each direction.
This routine worked for my 27yo 2nd-3rd level TB and my current 17yo TW(now Dressaging)H.

I have ridden & audited clinics with Jeff Ashton Moore - co-author USDF Judge’s handbook - & he tells students to get right to work, giving the example of dancers. As a former competitive ballroom dancer he has cred here too.
He says you never see a ballet troupe or ballroom dancers just wander around before going onstage.

[mmeqcenter]

9 year old OTTB mare, been doing dressage for about 1 year.
A typical day, on a 20m circle, our warm up includes:
5 mins walk
-incl. Turn on haunches for changes of direction
10 mins trot + walk/trot transitions
-incl. alternating from shoulder-in to counter bend
10 mins canter + trot/canter transitions
-incl. alternating from shoulder-fore to counter bend

She’s a spooky but lazy mare so this is changed depending on how she’s behaving. On a really lazy day I’ll do halt-trot-halt transitions to get her up off my leg. On a spooky day we’ll do about a billion changes of directions at all gaits.

[beowulf]

i also have different routines for different horses, but my current gelding goes best with something like this:

10 Y/O TB, 1st level -
hand-walk 5-10m, with hand-jog for 2-3m before getting on.
hack 15m of walking, on the buckle on trails
pick up reins, ask for leg yields up/down the driveway, still at walk
20m into ride, bring into arena and start work - breaks every 5m, with lots of walk poles
total ride time is under an hour, with ~20m dedicated to the handwalking & hack, and 15-20m dedicated to actual ring-work.

i only school flat 1-2x a week. doing so has tremendously improved his ‘sharpness’ - he is naturally lazy and behind the leg, and probably identifies as a sloth rather than a TB. keeping the sessions short and sweet, has been much more productive than longer 45-60m rides all focused on the flat.

i should mention also, that this is a horse that has the following list of grievances (all maintained with injections, etc): neck arthritis, kissing spine, old fractured pelvis.

this slow, gradual warm-up has made a huge difference in his top-line.

[mydogs]

@splitrockfarmnc

It sounds like our routines are similar, so I don’t know if this gives you any new ideas, but I figured I’d share anyway!

It is great to know that at least others find a similar warm-up to be as effective for their horses as it is for mine!

[MysticOakRanch]

@2DogsFarm

I have ridden & audited clinics with Jeff Ashton Moore - co-author USDF Judge’s handbook - & he tells students to get right to work, giving the example of dancers. As a former competitive ballroom dancer he has cred here too.
He says you never see a ballet troupe or ballroom dancers just wander around before going onstage.

I’ve ridden with JAM a few times. I have to disagree with him on this topic. Dancers do a LOT of stretching before they go onstage. I can remember several decades ago, the first time I went to see a ballet, and I was walking around outside the theatre building because it was a newer building, and quite lovely, and the troupe was out in back, stretching! Apparently it was too warm inside for them, so they moved their warm up to the outdoors. Ask a dancer if you don’t believe me - they do considerable muscle warm up before they go on stage.

Warm up is all about getting the muscles ready to work - stretching and suppling.

My horses are also out on pasture - I still walk them before we go to work. Neither of mine are that old - 10 and 11 - I start with about 10 minutes of free walk (we hack outside the arena), then depending on how they feel, I may do more walk work in the arena, but not free walk. Leg yield, turn on forehand, lateral work, whatever it feels like they need.

Then I do a few minutes of stretching trot - usually doing bigger serpentines. After that, I often do some leg yield on a longer rein - with contact, but still in a stretching frame. I may also do some shoulder in, haunches in on a longer contact, while posting - I use this more as a suppling exercise then a collecting exercise. Then, depending on how the horse feels, I either move on to some canter trot transitions, or walk trot transitions. After that, I go to work. That warm up often takes 20 to 30 minutes - basically half my ride is gearing up toward more collected work…

[Scribbler]

My mare is lower level, perfectly healthy, but a couch potato with a strong sense of no! until she gets warmed up. Pretty much my whole ride is structured around not having her get pissy and balky. It is possible she has some undiagnosed stiffness as well that she works out of.

Anyhow, we have a nice set of well groomed park trails right next to barn, so I do at least 15 minutes marching walk, maybe some shoulder in before I ask for trot, and am strategic about where to ask for first trot (on softer sand, or headed towards barn). She needs to be awake enough to do big trot/collected trot transitions before she will canter. After cantering she can be quite hot and forward. Total personality change!

Once we have canter on the trail we can go work in the arena. But I find there is lots I can do on trails. Transitions within and between gaits, shoulder in, flexions, etc. Basically everything that doesn’t require circles.

So I don’t necessarily end up spending an hour in the arena.

I realize this is an eccentric routine, invented as a problem solving strategy, but it works for us.

[Foxtail]

For the last horse I had in serious work it looked something like this:

In hand work, starting first with transitions (walk-halt-walk, halt-rein back-halt), then moving into lateral work (mostly leg yields, counter shoulder in, and shoulder in on the circle). In between activities I’d ask him to stretch his neck down and out. Sometimes on the wall, sometimes on a volte.

Actually, most of our warm up was done in hand. The horse had some lingering behavioral issues under saddle from prior poor riding, which meant that a lot of his under saddle work was teaching him how to relax mentally, and only then working on schooling. However I would always ride him on a loose rein for a few minutes after I got on and use that time to sort out any mental tension issues. If he felt alright I’d do the same in the trot. And then from there we’d properly school, or work on whatever issues popped up that day.

[emipou]

For me, it really depends on the horse and the day. I’ll share my last two warm-ups with you though.

First horse is 26, KWPN, great shape but starting to feel his age and needs more time to get moving, especially when it’s cold out (this morning was drizzling). We walked on the bit but with a longer rein for about 10-15 minutes. We worked on the following - first just moving, then halt/walk transitions, long side, half circle/change direction, long side, half circle/change direction, etc. shoulder-in, walk/halt/rein back transitions, walk LY, large circle, change direction/extending his gait. We added trot transitions to the warm-up once he was ready (I sort of just felt it and went for it maybe 10+ minutes in). Then we worked on trot/walk transitions, trot/halt transitions, and circles/serpentines/LY.

This was a really good warm-up for us and paid off as he was really responsive once we moved to trot and canter.
We’ve been working at first/second level but he’s been a bit behind the leg lately, so we’ve been focusing heavily on getting him more in front of the leg.

My ride before that was with a forward going PRE, about 15yo. He’s very stiff going to the left, so we start at the left, working on bend at the walk, SI, circles, then LY. I think we did some spiral circles as well. Then we switched directions and did some of the same that direction. Added trot in once it felt right. Everything goes quicker with this guy. Our warm-up was maybe 10 minutes. He’s still new to me, so we don’t have too much homework yet, just working mostly on building a connection and understanding buttons.

[Manni01]

I am a big fan of walk for the warm up. For several reasons… Horses in freedom are usually walking all day Thats what their joints need. In order to avoid injuries a lot of walk is very useful in order to lubricate all the joints. Also most of the upper level riders do at least 40 min walk with their horses. I do a lot of walk with my horse. And after 5 min with long reins I do a lot of excersises with my horse. I think it reduces the time I need to trot my horse.

[2DogsFarm]

@MysticOakRanch you misinterpreted (or my descriptive skills suck) what I paraphrased from JAM.

I took him to mean exactly what you describe - dancers stretch to warmup, horses can do the same < anything beyond a flat-footed/plodding walk - i.e.: a free or marching walk will supple & warm them up as well.

My lesson/working warmup is pretty much like you describe.
I gauge how much non-collected work is needed for each depending on how they feel U/S.

[netg]

Both horses typically get 10+ minutes on a long or loose rein in a marching walk. Whether we go in straight lines except when we hit corners or take a lot of bending lines depends on how the horse feels. My gelding has days he comes out just absolutely WIRED. Those days, we start cantering almost immediately, because I don’t want to die. He’s a 16 year old OTTB who also evented, and has had a lot of hoof issues and back tightness issues - so on days he comes out stiffer, we never go in a straight line, but instead I focus on getting him straight on a curve. We do serpentines, circles, etc.
My mare, tends to have a super speedy brain that moves faster than her body can when I get on. We walk on a LOOSE rein, only very loose curves, until she starts to settle mentally. That same mental sharpness is making her really shine as we progress, but for her warmup is as much about mental as physical preparedness. In her case, she puts us in a rushing walk, and it’s actually when she slows that we start other work. I won’t touch her mouth until then.
After that, I start feeling for how my horse is bending/not bending that day, and play with lateral work starting in the walk to start working the muscles which are contracted in extension. If they feel stiff one way, I never ask them to hold that bend - but just gradually build up to more of it. Once walk feels good, we trot and do the same thing, then canter and do similar. By the time that’s done, we’ve done some forward and back work and our lateral work, and we’re starting to collect about as much as easily comes to us, so I ask for additional collection, work on anything I’m focusing on lately, etc. The warmup IS a big part of the work, and the maturity at which my gelding does it vs my mare shows that it’s not simply a warmup.

[Training_Cupid]

I usually start with about 10 minutes walking, and feel like I’m the slowest person ever because almost everyone else I see tends to only walk a minute or two before trotting. I usually walk on a loose rein about 1.5 laps each direction, then gradually shorten the reins and start doing some bending (like shallow loop serpentines), and ramp up from there.
I happened to have read this article earlier today that gives some suggestions: https://dressagetoday.com/instruction/structure-your-dressage-warm-up-with-david-marcus-31028

[MysticOakRanch]

@2DogsFarm

@MysticOakRanch you misinterpreted (or my descriptive skills suck) what I paraphrased from JAM.

I took him to mean exactly what you describe - dancers stretch to warmup, horses can do the same < anything beyond a flat-footed/plodding walk - i.e.: a free or marching walk will supple & warm them up as well.

My lesson/working warmup is pretty much like you describe.
I gauge how much non-collected work is needed for each depending on how they feel U/S.

I must have misinterpreted it! Glad to hear, because I have heard clinicians say “get right to work”, and it drives me nuts… I see a lot of trainers ride that way too - adding a long warm up and cool down is not as efficient - but it is better for the horse!

I do agree, the horse should be walking with purpose - the walk is not a grazing gait (Conrad Schumacher said that at a clinic I audited!). Freewalk means a walk with purpose and energy - and that is a good way to start out.

[slp2]

The warm-up I use for my 2 horses are such a contrast! My older horse (11) starts out tight in her back and needs to work a little in trot/canter before she really starts to “unlock”. With her, I hack up and down the barn driveway (packed dirt surface) and it’s a 15 minute walk with a some uphill and downhill sections. If it’s winter, and we can’t hack— a spiral in and out on a circle (both directions, at the walk) is another great warm-up exercise for loosening up her back. With that exercise, I am trying to get the hind leg to cross under, but I take my time when decreasing and increasing the size of the circle. Once we start trotting, I ask for lateral work fairly early—leg yields loosen up her hind end and back, also shoulder-in. I don’t worry about where her head is for the first few minutes (or it will make me crazy). Once her back is looser, I can start to ask for some connection… For her, the LY and SI at trot is a better warm-up than endless trotting around in circles! Then I gradually get to the “work” part of the ride. She has endless stamina, so our warm-up can be 20 minutes (including trot/canter) and then she is still good for another 30 minutes of work.

My young horse is completely different. She starts out supple, loose and pushing from behind. Which is great . . . but I have to make the most of that time because she also loses steam way quicker (is not nearly as strong and fit as my older horse). So, after we establish a good, ground covering walk, —I ask for the trot and we get right to work. So after just a few times around at the trot, we start doing serpentines, ask for a little lengthen, then a little shorten, leg yield, shoulder-in (or shoulder-fore), etc. We do the majority of our “real work” in the first 20-25 minutes. Some days, that’s all we can do, because she starts to tire and loses the quality in the work. AFTER our ride, is when we head out for our hack at the walk. Again—just works better for this horse.