by cadence » Tue Jul 26, 2005 6:03 pm
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Big bodies take big time to warm up. All those muscles to get moving. My gelding is 17 hh and still growing and he takes a good 30 to 45 minutes of warming up before I feel he is truly ready for anything heavy. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Since he tends to be an excitable powerhouse, I do a lot of walk-halt-walk and walk-trot-walk transitions, incorporating random squiggles throughout the arena changing directions - - sort of like if you were taking a pen on a paper and just randomly drawing squiggles and curves, corners, turns, circles, etc.... well that's what we do. This not only loosens up a stiff, big body, but wonders of wonders, it gets the rider loosened up too because the transitions and multi-frequent directional changes force the rider to move their shoulders, hips and legs to make proper turns. Sometimes, the stiffness is not all the horse, but rather the horse responding to the rider's stiffness. This exercise also loosens up the horse's mind and keeps him from guessing what direction to go in, and teaches the horse to wait for the rider's instructions - excellent for an argumentative horse too. I use this because my youngster likes to argue and take charge until he gets "knocked down a peg" with this exercise and has to completely rely on me for instructions. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Next, we move into trot, continuing the same squiggles, serpentines, circles, figure of 8s, loops and zig-zags, incorporating half-halts, transitions to walk-trot, trot-halt-trot, etc. Depending on how relaxed, balanced and supple the horse feels, which sometimes takes my guy about 10-20 minutes of trotting and trotting transitions, before I feel he is ready to move into any canter work. Cantering gets my guy quite excitable, and excitable in him means big, powerful, uphill, foreward movement which can be difficult to sit, so we do many half-halts and transitions canter-trot-canter, with loops, figures, serpentines, half-circles, all while incorporating transitions. Only simple changes during warm-up. All loops, circles, half-circles, etc., require the use of many half-halts, all of which get the horse listening to the rider. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Another very good exercise taught by my coach is to go on a 20m circle, turn the horse's shoulders in and have the horse walk in a continual big shoulder-in the entire way around the 20m circle. I call it the "shoulder-in circle". It forces the horse to really cross their hindlegs significantly, tunes up the rider's coordination for proper cues of when to support, when to release, when to cue, etc., to keep the horse on the proper alignment and track. This exercise is huge for stretching the croup, hips and back-quarter muscles as well as all across the shoulders, down the chest and up into the neck. They simply #ed_op#U#ed_cl#have#ed_op#/U#ed_cl# to cross their legs in order to stay on their feet or else they'd fall on their nose. As you get a couple good cross-legs, walk them straight forward a few strides and begin again. Eventually, your horse will become so supple, balanced and coordinated that they can do this the entire 20 meters in exactly the track you put them on but that takes time and practice. This is done at a walk and once very well handled, can be attempted at a trot, although only do this if you have a horse who understands to be straight when going on a straight line and understands when to do the "shoulder-in-circle" versus a proper circle. If your horse is green then do not attempt this exercise unless you are convinced your horse understands the dynamics of a perfectly circular 20m circle and can do a good, balanced, rhythmic shoulder-in on a straight line with the support of a wall as well as without the support of a wall. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#That's my routine and I stick to it, even at a show. The only different thing I incorporate at a show is I take my horse in bridle-in-hand and walk him around and check out everything, see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells and then after we've wandered the entire grounds, he goes back in his stall to think about that. It settles him and then he's ready to ride. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#
Patience! Practice! Persistence!