warming up before riding?

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caitlin95uk

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i have been told by a doctor that im damaging my muscles by not warming up before doing a sport :/ and at school we warm up properly before any p.e lessons, so the only sports left is riding. I never warm up as it sounds a weird thing to do.. but i have pulled muscles in the top of my arm and have made my knee really hurt sometimes, sometimes leaving me in pain the next day.
So do any of you warm up before you ride? if so what do you do? as cant imagine people stretching in the middle of the yard or even jogging the outside of the school before you hop on?
if not, do any of you pull muscles when riding?
never used to happen with my old horse, maybe that is because i was running around the field trying to catch him? :D :D :D
 
All I do are a few minutes of stretching out my arms, legs and back, and I also circle my legs to loosen the old hips. I don't look that daft, and I certainly do feel better after I dismount - not nearly as much pain!
 
I have this problem! I really need to relax, especially my leg muscles.

I'll do it with you! I'm now going to do the different stretches in the yard, before I hop on, just to warm up a little bit, who cares if I look silly?!

x
 
i never did but i certainly will now - at teh moment i anm sat here in total agony with a very painful frozen shoulder extending up my neck and down my right arm - i cannot move!!!!
i know its due to my last lesson when i had to fight to get my very spooky horse to move forward = ive so learned my lesson - from now on i will definiteley warm up before every lesson - i need to lol, im 43 and new to riding - i will do it in my horses stable so noone can see and laugh xxxx
 
haha! so im not the only one! all cassey will have to do is spook and she will pull a muscle in my arm?! so maybe now when i fall off my muscles will be warmed up and not in so much pain! :D yes the stable looks like its the best place to stretch ahah!
 
umm maybe mucking out might serve as warming up, ive never heard of anyone pull a muscle while mucking out? so maybe it is warming up :) sounds more realistic than pulling out the lycras and stretching, or jogging around the arena ?
 
I didnt use to warm up till i pulled my inner thigh area a few times - Ouch!:eek:
Now i do some leg stretches. i take them out of the stirrups and stretch them towards the floor then pull them right up (so my knees are together at the top of the saddle) a few times, and i do one where i try get my knees as far off the saddle as possible.
These wouldn't be safe on an unsound ride though.
Before that i just did some walking work to warm the horse up =/. I am always more bothered about the horse being stretched out than i am myself. I just do the stretches in the field before i go up to the yard as nobody can see me there! :p
 
I too have a continuously bad back and I can't ride 'cold'. If I drive to the yard and just tack up and get on, my back is stiff as a board and apart from not being able to ride properly, that's the most likely time I'll jar it - and then I'll be in bed for the next 3 weeks.

For me, I just need to get my blood pumping and my muscles warm before riding.
I usually find that the morning stable chores are enough to loosen me up, so I do all of that first, which gets my blood pumping, and my back muscles are then warm and loosened up.

If that is not possible (like now, as we have nigh time t/o so stables are done for the morning) I take the dog for a really brisk walk straight before I ride.
 
I never do an actual warm up, but I reckon by the time I've walked through the field to get my pony in, carried my tack / grooming kit / hat etc out, brushed him, tacked up etc etc that I'm already pretty warm. :)
 
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