Warm Up Woes

[Ample Prosecco]

I loathe warm ups! Partly because I am way more nervous out of the ring than in it, partly because there is so little space and often lots of chaos, but mostly because Lottie is very, very hard to warm up. She is a super clever mare and loves to anticipate. We have learned in lessons never to jump the same jump or combination more than twice. Jump one - nice. Jump 2 - wilder. Jump 3: "YES YES I KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING: LOCK ON & LAUNCH' car crash.

Which means warm ups start ok and go rapidly downhill. Once I have jumped one of the fences a couple of times, I can't even just canter round without her attemptingt to turn onto the line and surge towards the jump.

However when we get into the ring she is fab! Rideable, listening, easy.

Efforts so far:

A) School warm ups at home. Set up a single jump. Jump it once (always ok) and then keep re-presenting and if she surges, circle away till she turns into the line calmly without a surge, then carry on over. I have done that many times and it works in that circling stops her surging for that 1 jump or session, but does not generalise to next time.

B) Jump exercises at home - repeating jumps but mixing it up. Jump from trot, jump, turn back jump again. Jump then halt. Jump on a circle or fig 8 pattern in a rhythm. Again works fine during schooling but no generalisation.

C) Put her firmly back in her box everytime she surges: basically halt and back up. This just winds her up.

D) Develop a very precise warm up routine focused in being on the aids. Walk-halt a few transitions, then walk trot a few, then trot canter a few, then adjust gears in trot, then in canter. Then do some lateral work to get her listening to steering with the legs. Then start jumping. All fine till we start jumping. Then she is exactly the same.

E) Live with it and limit warm up jumps to 1 cross, 1 straight, 1 oxer. Ie never repeat a jump. This does mean we jump well below class height in the warm up - ie i might do a cross then a straight at 60 and an oxer at 75 for a 90. Which is fine at 90 but there is a limit to how big I'd want to compete over if I can't jump more than 75 in a warm up! And I would not want to whack fences higher immediatey. So if I only have 3 fences to warm up over then I feel this will be quite restrictive.

At the moment I am doing E at competitions with the hope that work at home improves things over time. But nothing is changing at comps despite lots of effort.

Any bright ideas?

 

[TPO]

What does Joe say?

I'm not a jumper and it's been 20yrs since I've been in a warm up arena as a rider so feel free to ignore me.

It reads you do not have control so need to go back a few steps. All the good old Buck B stuff that we should have control of each leg [& their mind].

That fence 2, and then 3, are able to be wilder means that there's a lack of control in the canter and I'd assume a loss of softness and throughness (of that's even a word).

Personally, since you've had good results with his methods so far, I'd go back to Joe rather than a SJ trainer. I'd ask him and work on whatever he suggested. I'd guess it would be flatwork and then poles before he had a plan for a warm up that you could use off site.

 

[tda]

I will preface with the fact I am not a showjumper , but......years ago when I did a little bit of workers i hardly ever warmed up properly, it was way too buzzy for me, jump was never at the right height, i didnt have a helper to put it at the right height, blah blah blah, so I decided that a) pony already knew how to jump, b) the height was not excessive, so I went it in the warm up, quick walk and canter, jumped one or two jumps that looked doable then moved to the side.
Is it acceptable you only jump two jumps before going into the ring? I know it's a bit bigger than my experience

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Joe advised the circling away, halting and backing up. He accepts she anticipates all the time and in flatwork we manage that by mixing things up all the time so we are keeping her constantly unsure of what is coming next. She is like a kid with ADHD - impulsive, wants to please and is forever offering unwanted behaviours: now? this? how about now? And for tasks that are repetitive she understands very quickly and anticipates so we need to avoid repetition.

In many ways that anticipation is a good thing - she knows her job and she wants to do it, so she lands, looks for the next fence and locks on early. All fab. And in the ring, where she knows she does not know where she is going, then she is great. I don't lack control generally. I can canter very slow circles in warm ups and in lessons. After jumps, between jumps etc.

I just can't warm up her up properly because it's all the things that are not helpful to her - same task over and over and limited ability to mix it up. I can't halt afterwards as people are coming up behind. I can't back up. I can't circle away without cutting others up. There is not enough space and too many people to address the problems at the actual show. And addressing them at home works at home but does not generalise.

I think living with it might be the only answer! Is there a reason a horse should not jump 75 in a warm up, and then 100 in the ring? Like @tda says, she knows the job and is confident at the height. Does it really matter as long as she is thoroughly warmed up in terms of back, muscles, heart rate etc?

 

[scats]

I was a junior showjumper and pretty successful. I had a Wembley pony who knew her job and the sight of a jump put her in ‘work’ mode.
Warm-ups wound her up, so it was pop a cross and then an oxer and then into the ring. There really was no point starting a battle with her.

 

[greenbean10]

Not read the other comments yet but I also showjump and find warm ups difficult - although thankfully my horse is pretty easy!

I know you touched on this in your post but do you really need to warm up over the fences?

Could you instead focus on getting her really engaged and listening on the flat.

90cm is still pretty small - even a couple of jumps at 70 would be fine. I usually just jump what’s there in the warm up!

On that note, do you need to start with a cross pole? Again, I normally start with a small vertical (70cm!), do that once or twice, then a small oxer then a bigger vertical and go in. I am jumping Discovery and loathe warm ups so much that I rarely jump the height of the class, plus it’s so much harder to get a good stride! I’ve gone into a Discovery having only jumped 70cm in the warm up - I really don’t think it matters as long as the horse is warmed up properly in terms of muscles - there is no need to jump big fences IMO.

I think we are all taught to start with a crosspole but for experienced horses I think there is really no need.

I also think it’s worse to risk winding her up and losing your confidence. I have gone into a BN having jumped just one fence (but a good flat warm up) and it was fine.

Just seen you have questioned that in your previous post, there is really nothing wrong with popping a few small jumps and going into a 90. It is still very small in the grand scheme of things. Imagine how long it would take to warm up for a 1.30m if you had to start with crosspoles!

I know it’s horses for courses, but honestly I wouldn’t worry too much if you don’t do much. 75cm to 90cm really isn’t that different!

 

[TheMule]

Can you split your warm up into 2 parts? I generally like to warm up when it’s quiet, so when others are walking the course for example. You can do your first 3 or 4 jumps. Then take her out, chill her out and go back in for a bigger upright and oxer?

 

[greenbean10]

Another one from me sorry - I can never see a stride in the warm up so half the time I won’t even jump an oxer if it’s looking a bit big! Often my first oxer of the day is the first fence - which is never going to be huge at 90/1m level.

For some reason everything looks bigger and more terrifying in a warm up to me

 

[P.forpony]

I wouldn't be to concerned with option E to be honest.
You see far more people crashing round a warm up overdoing it.
As long as she's actually warmed up physically on the flat and has popped a few to make sure body and brain know its a jumping day, I'd be happy.

If you're worried about height progression you could start your warm up fences a bit bigger. If she's capable of doing a course of 100+ then starting with a x pole or a 60cm seems a bit too basic.

Alternatively, if that's your preference do you think she'd clock on if you did small x pole, straight, oxer, then reset, did some flat work and went back to xpole and did the same 3 again but bigger?

 

[sportsmansB]

I had a very clever mare who also needed E
I didn't bother with a cross pole tbh
I warmed up well on the flat
I started at about 70 over a straight pole
Put it up to 85 ish and circled into it more tightly (if possible) or back to it off the other rein (again if poss)
Jumped one oxer at closer to full height, again if coming off other rein was possible I might have done that, depends how tight the warm up and how many other people in it.
If all went OK I just left it there... I did the same for XC as she was very straight and very brave, feeling like up to 1m at least, the first 3 fences on the course are also usually a bit warm-uppy and I didn't need to get her forward as she already was.

 

[ihatework]

I’ve groomed for one that needed the E approach.

She’s not a young horse, she knows her job, ditch the cross. If you ‘need’ a nice opener then a cross oxer - very inviting and can be pretty much height of course. Then whatever you have left in controllable brain capacity.

 

[millitiger]

I think as long as muscles are warmed up well, there is no need to start with a cross pole or 70cm fence.

I had a very hot horse and he started with a 90-95cm vertical, then square oxer at 95 then square oxer at 105/110. That was it.
If he felt rideable that day, I might finish on a taller vertical.
We were competing 110-115.

He was very experienced, careful, brave and quick footed so we didn't need to remind him how to jump in the warm up- it was for me to get my eye in, not him!

 

[quizzie]

I think as long as muscles are warmed up well, there is no need to start with a cross pole or 70cm fence.

I had a very hot horse and he started with a 90-95cm vertical, then square oxer at 95 then square oxer at 105/110. That was it.
If he felt rideable that day, I might finish on a taller vertical.
We were competing 110-115.

He was very experienced, careful, brave and quick footed so we didn't need to remind him how to jump in the warm up- it was for me to get my eye in, not him!

Very similar...good warm-up, then max 3-4 fences for SJ warmup when eventing (even up to int/adv)....they know their job, just need to be told what phase is coming!

I would do a high cross pole out of trot (hey mate...its the SJ!)
One upright a little under height, then one oxer similar, but fairly wide.
I would then walk on a loose rein, and 1-2 before I was due might canter a tall upright on a tight turn to sharpen up front legs/focus the brain

Any more than that and it was counterproductive.!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Thanks everyone. It's really reassuring to know that E is not a terrible idea. Re the cross, it's one of those things that I just assume is useful! Every lesson with mutiple trainers starts with a cross. But then if I only have 3-4 jumps to work with, wasting one of them on a cross seems a bad idea. A cross oxer is a good idea as it's bit more inviting. LIke @greenbean10 everything looks a lot bigger in a warm up. I think it's the lack of space. I walked a discovery in May and thought it looked ok then the warm up jumps at about 80 looked humoungous. And Lottie was awful in the warm up but fine in the ring. As usual.

 

[greenbean10]

Thanks everyone. It's really reassuring to know that E is not a terrible idea. Re the cross, it's one of those things that I just assume is useful! Every lesson with mutiple trainers starts with a cross. But then if I only have 3-4 jumps to work with, wasting one of them on a cross seems a bad idea. A cross oxer is a good idea as it's bit more inviting. LIke @greenbean10 everything looks a lot bigger in a warm up. I think it's the lack of space. I walked a discovery in May and thought it looked ok then the warm up jumps at about 80 looked humoungous. And Lottie was awful in the warm up but fine in the ring. As usual.

I used to always start with a cross, but going to shows on my own I now just jump what’s there! In fact, I get a little irritated when people start making the upright a crosspole now as I think for most horses there is just no need to jump one when warming up for a 1m class!

My trainer used to always laugh at me in warm ups because I’d warm up for a Discovery never jumping an oxer bigger than 80cm! That just looks too big for me in a warm up, so I’m glad you feel the same!

 

[humblepie]

My show jumping days long gone but I had an ex racehorse who got to Foxhunter/Grade C etc. I am another one who is useless at seeing a stride to a single jump - put me in a ring and I was fine. I wouldn't have anyone with me who could help with fences so I would probably just pop one or two that I felt comfortable with and go into the ring. As others have said, my horse knew her job and I was better off not crashing through a warm up fence and upsetting us both.

 

[LEC]

Sounds like the warm up is more for you than the horse. Mine is an absolute idiot in the warm up, gets chronically wound up so just don’t worry if I can jump one or two and then I leave it. Sometimes she is more rideable so I can jump more. I just adapt. Also I let them make a mistake if being an idiot because they need to learn rather than being protected.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Can you work her at home before you travel, pop a fence to get your eye in, then box her up and take her more or less straight into the ring without a prep jump at the show?