Help pls warming up lazy horse for dressage

[Midge13]

As I’m an older rider I get exhausted warming up ex eventer for flatwork . We school about twice a week and hack three times a week. Takes about 20/30 mins lots of cantering and trotting then leg yielding and shoulder fore to supple her - she’s 19 and is then really good to work with. BUT how do I shorten that warming up time? Lungeing beforehand, spurs although I’ve never used them. Previous owners (teenagers) always used them. Any suggestions pls?

 

[Vodkagirly]

Transitions, Transitions and a few more Transitions! Direction and changes within pace as well.
But IMO older horses often need longer to warm up and get supple so increasing your fitness may be required.

 

[Midge13]

Transitions, Transitions and a few more Transitions! Direction and changes within pace as well.
But IMO older horses often need longer to warm up and get supple so increasing your fitness may be required.

Thanks for reply.

 

[stangs]

Slightly confused - is the issue here that she’s stiff, behind the leg, or is her stiffness making her behind the leg? In any case, transitions and lots of shapes are the go to, though an older horse will always need that longer warm up. You could try doing more of the warmup in walk to stop yourself from getting tired out. As long as you’re doing exercises to increase suppleness, I don’t think it matters if you do a little less trot and a little more walk.

Lunging I would definitely advise against, spurs I don’t think would help. Some in-hand work to help warm up the back before you get on could be another option?

 

[AmyMay]

Is 25/30 mins too long to be slowly and quietly warming up a 19 year old horse?

 

[Midge13]

Slightly confused - is the issue here that she’s stiff, behind the leg, or is her stiffness making her behind the leg? In any case, transitions and lots of shapes are the go to, though an older horse will always need that longer warm up. You could try doing more of the warmup in walk to stop yourself from getting tired out. As long as you’re doing exercises to increase suppleness, I don’t think it matters if you do a little less trot and a little more walk.

Lunging I would definitely advise against, spurs I don’t think would help. Some in-hand work to help warm up the back before you get on could be another option?

Thanks for advice

 

[Midge13]

Think I’d better get myself fitter! Thanks for all the replies

 

[tristar]

Is 25/30 mins too long to be slowly and quietly warming up a 19 year old horse?

i use that length of time with young and older horses

 

[SEL]

When I had my old one I found a few laps on either rein in canter with a loose rein and weight out of the saddle would really help. He'd stretch, blow, snort and then relax and actually be able to work nicely. If you tried to pick up a contact before that he'd be hollow, wiggly and grumpy. Obviously I didn't go straight into canter from the box, but his trot was awful until he'd cantered.

 

[ihatework]

I don’t think 20/30 mins is too long to be warming up a horse, but equally is it in an older horses best interest to be doing that long in trot & canter to be sufficiently loosened off?

Some general management suggestions that may (or may not!) help:
Ride following turnout rather than from the box.
Keep a close eye on age related subtle lameness and consider using Cartrophen/joint injections/joint supplements strategically.
Rugging, depending on the horse sometimes just having them a little warmer by increasing rugging or standing them under heat lamps can help.
Be sure that tack/saddle isn’t contributing to the time to warm up, also your position/effectiveness.

As for the actual ridden warm up can more of it be done in walk to help conserve both your energy and minimise the strain in a teenage horse? A hack around the block followed by some focussed lateral work in walk to supple and straighten could easily be as, if not more, effective than 20 mins trotting and cantering.

 

[oldie48]

I used to walk my old boy round the block before schooling him. It took about 15 minutes but he'd be so much better for it. Once in the school I used to do some canter work early on as it helped the trot. I was still taking him to comps in his early 20's and if I could we'd amble round the lorry park in walk before going in to warm up properly.

 

[AandK]

Before I had to retire my old boy 2.5yrs ago (he is now 24), I would always go for a 10min walk down the road and back before going in the school, then spend another 10mins warming up, I think I started this in his mid to late teens. He didn't have any stiffness issues, but I felt it worked well for him anyway.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I find a good brisk walk for at least 10 minutes even on a loose rein helps mine his 17 with mild hock arthritis, leg wraps on the legs for 20 minutes before you ride in very cold or damp weather I think can help, and also ride as soon as they come in from the field his much stiffer after being stood in.

 

[paddi22]

has the horse any history of arthritis? what's your arena surface like? and is the horse being exercised after standing in stable or coming from field? those things make a huge difference. a stiff arthritic horse being taken out to ride after standing in will always take a good while to get warmed up.

I wouldn't consider a 20 min warmup much for that kind of horse. and I definitely wouldn't be lunging, cantering or doing much trot before at least 10 mins of walking and gentle bending to start. as another poster said, a quick walk hack will do wonders for warming them up in an easy way.

a horse that age is the equivalent to around a 60 year old person I think. so you have to think that you aren't going to get a person that age to suddenly start touching their toes or running flat out. some things I find really helpful are the back on track rugs, they are great for keeping their backs warm and muscles softer. also a good joint supplement.

is your main issue the horse being stiff, or the horse being behind your leg?

 

[scats]

I had a eureka moment with Millie a few weeks back. I’d got into the awful habit of expecting too much of her straight away. If I didn’t get an instant response to the leg from the second I went on the school, I was getting frustrated and felt the need to sharpen her up from the get go. I’d do tonnes of transitions etc but I felt that I simply annoyed her and it didn’t set us up for a good session. Everything would go downhill- i would feel like the work she was giving me was hurried and forced and she’d start popping out shoulders in canter and the wheels would fall off. I think it stemmed from feeling pressured that if I didn’t set the tone from the word go, she would ignore me for the rest of the session, but I have come to realise that’s not at all true.

I took a huge step back and remembered something I had read somewhere that the first 5 minutes belongs to the horse. So provided they go when you ask and stop when you ask, you need to give them time to adjust to the weight in the saddle, ease out of any stiffness they may have (from age, being stabled, whatever they’ve done in the field that day) and mentally get in the right frame of mind.

The difference I’ve felt after warming-up in this way, and the positive way my subsequent sessions have ended, has convinced me this is entirely the right approach for Millie. I do have to ignore that nagging feeling that she’s feeling ‘sloppy’ and ‘behind the leg’ for the first 5-10 minutes and I just go with it. Provided she stays in the pace I put her in and she moves off within a stride of being asked to change pace, I accept it. I don’t worry too much about transitions during this stage, I just lightly move her body around a bit and do big circles and shapes. I don’t do any on and back at this stage, I don’t ask for anything bigger or ‘more’ of anything. I simple let her loosen up underneath me. I won’t deny that its hard to ignore that desire in me to want more and push for more, because it doesn’t feel how I like it, but I just remind myself that this is her 5 minutes, not mine.

We then pop into canter and as long as she is relatively forward and stays in the pace, I just let it swing underneath me and don’t ask or expect anything. Do this on the other rein too and then I find that once we are back in trot after the second canter, I can feel the change in her trot and her body in general.
I then know she is ready for more and that’s when I start expecting more of her - sharper to the aids, on and back etc. The difference in the paces from the ones she starts off in becomes really very evident, but I’ve let it come naturally and as a result I get a happier horse and a less frustrated rider.

This might be even more useful for you if your horse is older as there is a high possibility of some stiffness.