SJ/comp warm up help desperately needed!

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daydreamer

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hi,

I would love some advice on warming up at competitions. A while back I entered a competition at my riding school not expecting to do well but (sadly/scarily) I qualified for the BHS national riding schools equitation final which is next Wednesday at Moreton Morrell.

Although I am a competent and relatively experienced rider I hardly ever compete and I get very nervous/don't have enough experience to know how to warm up well at competitions.

I will be riding a smallish TB who is usually very sweet but I don't know when he last went off the riding school premises so i suspect it will be all very exciting for him. I have only been riding him (weekly) for about 6 weeks so don't know him *that* well.

In the warm up dressage i was planning on starting by trying to relax us both in body and mind by trot figures of eights maybe some 20 m circles then a bit of canter. Then i was going to try and pick him up a bit more, maybe do some shallow loops, ride 20m squares/circles/diamonds. My dressage is at 10.40. Does 45 minutes for warm up sound about right?!

He then has dressage (same test) with someone else at 12.10. She is then jumping him first, class starts at 3pm not sure what time she goes. My jumping class starts at 4pm and i am about 12 competitors in. The course should be quite short, about 7 jumps.

I have no real idea how to warm up for the jumping, especially as he will already have been round. Should I just do a couple of practice jumps? How should i decide if the jump was "good enough" and it is ok to stop.

If it helps to know I am probably one of those people who gets intimidated in warm ups and ends up just walking trying to stay out of the way and then might have one mad scramble in desperation over the jump just before i have to go in!

Any advice welcome and very very gratefully received. Thanks.
 
IMO it totally depends on the horse.

When we warm up for sj we walk round a couple of times, do some inside and outside flexion, the same in trot and in canter to make sure he's totally warmed up. Pop a couple of jumps and straight in.
 
For the jumping I wouldn't have too much of a set plan. Try and not let others worry you and don't let them intimidate you or change your focus. I would want to check my horse was listening to my aids so transitions and flexion. Jump wise I would pop a cross a little upright, a bigger upright and an oxer. How many times I jumped these would depend on the horse but I probably total about 8 fences (that's just what suits me and my horses though) I would want to make sure the horse wasn't tanking me in or away from the fence but was going forward off my leg. I'd want to make sure we had a good rhythm in the canter and the horses attention was focused on me then I'd go in. Hope you have fun
 
The horses owners are going to be there as is the other rider - both of which will want you to do well and will help you. They know the horse and I'm sure will be really supportive. Good Luck!
 
Thanks guys that gives me some ideas to make a rough plan with :) I am off to do some visualisation about being calm and it all going wonderfully. I'm trying to work on the basis that the more i plan (or at least know what i am trying to achieve) the less stressful i will find it. I suspect the day might pass in a bit of a daze anyway as i said i would go and help prepare the horses and load up and the box is coming at 5.30am! *Not* loving the change to BST right now as it will feel even earlier! It is then about a 3 hour drive to the venue :eek: I have to admit i can't understand why anyone would want to compete regularly!!
 
Moreton morrell will have plenty of space for your warm up, and although it is a big place and likely to be busy, the arenas are all very close to one another and the lorry park.

I would just make sure you and the horse are relaxed. As he is jumping before anyway, I'd say just get yourself warmed up over the jumps and don't worry too much about him, he knows his job.

Bring a warm coat as it gets very windy out by the arenas though!

Enjoy it and good luck!!
 
It depends on what he is like to jump at home. If he becomes more excited the more he jumps, just go over a jump about 30seconds before you go in. Otherwise, i think most people do 4-12 warm up jumps. Cross-pole, straight and then a spread maybe.
 
Well done on getting to the finals, I would not worry too much about the warm up, as the horse will have had a fare bit of work already, just give him enough to keep him supple and for you to get your eye in. It is much better to just do 5-6 good jumps than over doing things. If you are feeling a bit intimidated why not ask a friend on the ground to help, if they set a jump up for you and tell you in a loudish voice so that other people are aware you should be able to get a good clear shot at it. As long as they are polite and you don't hogg the jump it should be fine.
 
in all honesty, it depends on the horse. with my previous horses i used to do a quick warm up, only doing a short amount of flat and then doing (probably too many) warm up jumps. However, when i first got my current horse I did this 'routine' and found that he wouldn't jump as 'freely' and got quite tense and then wouldn't go as easily in the ring. I only recently discovered a much better warm up routine which is to do a good 10/15 minutes of just flatwork and then start doing some jumps, I now usually do about 6-8 jumps, but it depends on how he's jumping. I always make sure that I've done a vertical and an oxer at least the height of the fences in the JO. So just plan around what you & your horse need :)
 
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