5 minute read
WHY WARM UP?
Like any athlete, horses have to warm up to get their muscles, tendons and ligaments ready to work. They also need to get their brain in the game for the work session.
We need to move our ponies from their grass-eating mode into work mode, and the warm-up is the time to do it.
It’s all about doing exercises that help us warm up the muscles and get our pony thinking and listening to our aids.
When the brain and body are warmed up, we have a pony who is ready to work and loose enough to have a low risk of injury.
Here we make a few suggestions for the warm-up and what you can do to really get your pony firing on all cylinders!
A STARTING POINT
It is generally advised that we warm up our horses and ponies for about 10-15 minutes in the walk. In colder weather, 15-20 minutes is best. We know walk can feel ‘slow’ and maybe a bit ‘boring’ but remember that if you can’t do something in the walk, you definitely won’t be able to do it in the trot or canter. So work on your walk, and you’ll soon see the benefits!
A BASIC WARM-UP
• Warm-up your pony on a long rein in the walk for at least 5-10 minutes. If it is safe to do so, it is ideal to do this outside of the arena.
• Then, once you arrive in the arena, move around the outside track.
• Start to vary the walk pace (i.e. do transitions within the gait), so go from a slow walk to a quicker walk, to the slowest walk you can do without halting, to the biggest walk you can do without trotting etc.
• When you are ready and your pony is feeling responsive, move into doing large circles and serpentines in the walk.
• After a few minutes, start to make the circles and serpentines smaller.
SOME SPECIFIC EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1: WALKING POLES
This exercise develops coordination, suppleness of the lumbar and sacroiliac area and a clear walk rhythm. It also teaches your pony to pick up all four feet!
To do this exercise, set up the poles in the arena on a straight line. Place them approximately 0.5m apart for ponies and around 0.75m apart for horses.
You can make this exercise more difficult by lifting the poles slightly off the ground or incorporating a transition before and after entering the poles. For example, you could trot into the poles, walk over the poles, and trot away from the poles, or halt before the poles, walk over the poles, and then halt after the poles.
EXERCISE 2: THE OVAL
This gets your pony sharp on the aids and develops an elastic, swinging trot.
To do this exercise, ride at a good working trot on the long sides of the oval, and then ride a slower trot through the top and bottom of the oval. As you come out of the top and bottom of the oval, encourage your pony to step with more energy (not faster) all the way down the long side.
EXERCISE 3: NUMBERED TRANSITIONS
This exercise develops looseness and swing in the pony’s body and helps to ease any stiffness. It also teaches your pony to be responsive to the aids.
To do this exercise:
1. Walk around the arena on the track.
2. After 10 strides of walk, ride a transition into a slow trot for 4 or 5 strides and then ride a downward transition to walk.
3. Be patient – you may have to repeat this a lot to get it right.
4. If you do this for 10-12 minutes, you should start to feel your pony’s back loosen and his whole body become more supple. The transitions will also become easier and smoother.
Exercise 4: Transitions from pace to pace
If ridden correctly, this exercise develops swing over the back, an engaged hind leg and a quick mind.
Once your pony is going forwards in a rhythmical and controlled way around the arena, you can start to do transitions on a 20m circle. It depends on what works best for your pony, but try a few options and you will soon see. Try, for instance, walk-trot-walk, or trot-canter-trot. The objective is to teach your pony to listen to your aids and to be ready to stop or go at any given movement.
REMEMBER
The older pony (generally 20 years or older) can benefit from an event longer warm-up, especially if the weather is cold or wet. A longer walking period would be advised for these ponies to allow their joints and muscles to loosen enough to start trotting. They may also need to do longer on straight lines before they are ready to begin bending.
TOP TIP!
You need to find a warm-up routine that works for you and your pony. The challenge is that as your pony gets stronger and fitter, your warm-up will need to change to suit him and his new level of fitness.
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE
A sign that you have warmed up successfully is a supple, relaxed, focused pony who is willing to stretch down and forward with good hindleg action. If you can get your pony warmed up to this level, you are well on your way to a successful training session!
