Exercise for Your Horse: A Warm-up Routine for Horseback Riders

No matter what discipline you ride, a good warm up routine is an essential part of every exercise session you give your horse. A good warm up enables your horse to stretch his muscles, allowing him to use himself more efficiently and helps reduce the chance of injury or soreness.

You should start your ride by asking your horse for a nice ground covering walk along the rail of the arena on a loose rein, encouraging him to stretch his neck out and lower his head. This enables him to stretch his back muscles and the muscles along his neck and topline. Gradually ask him for a longer walk, but don't let him break into a trot. Practice shortening his stride on the short sides of the arena and lengthening his stride down the long sides.

Eventually work your way onto a 20-meter circle at one end of the arena. Keep encouraging your horse to stretch and gently ask him for an easy trot. Try lengthening and shortening his stride on the circle but keep him at the same easy rhythm, gradually asking him for a bigger, longer trot. Reverse directions. Eventually bring your horse into an easy canter or lope, still on a loose rein if possible. Go back to a walk and reverse directions and canter on the other lead.

Bring your horse to a walk and go back out onto the rail. Gradually start to take a loose contact on your rein and urge your horse into a medium trot. Post to the trot, giving your horse a chance to warm up his back. Lengthen his stride on the long side of the arena and shorten it on the short side. Trot both directions, and then ask for the canter, riding in two point, again letting your horse warm up his back muscles. Repeat for both directions.

Next take up a slightly stronger contact with the bit and walk your horse on a twenty meter circle. Try using you outside leg to slowly push him out on the circle as you go around, increasing it to a fifteen meter circle, then a twenty, and so on until you reach the arena wall. Then practice using your outside leg to gradually make the circle smaller, until you are again on a ten meter circle. Do this both directions. This is known as "spiraling in and out." Once you have mastered it at the walk, try it at the trot and eventually the canter.