Polish your Turns: Interspersed with intervals of active, ground-covering walking, practice several turn–on- forehands and then turn-on-haunches in each direction. Use small motions of about one-half inch, using your hand on the bridge of his nose. Poll Flexion, unmounted: Using your hands, slowly and gently swivel the horse’s head, not neck, from side to side to loosen his poll. As a general rule, spend about two minutes on each exercise before moving to the next, and then repeat the list again from top to bottom as time allows. The following workouts at the walk will help the horse maintain the strength of those postural muscles.īelow are suggestions and brief descriptions for exercise routines to fill a 25-minute session for the average horse. On the other hand, the postural muscles will take upwards of three months to recover fitness if allowed to lose strength.
Brisk snowman full#
Horses respond rapidly to cardiovascular conditioning, and when you resume your full riding schedule in the spring when the good riding weather arrives, your horse will recover this fitness within three weeks. From a fitness standpoint, this matters more than trying to keep up cardiovascular gains. If you consistently practice these 25-minute workouts at least three times per week, you will maintain a majority of tone in your horse’s postural muscle system. These might include backing up, lateral work in hand, and bodywork techniques such as belly lifts and pelvic tucks. You can extend their benefits by dynamic stretches or calisthenics prior to mounting. Treat them with the same focus as you would a dressage test or show. Really concentrate on creating the highest quality movements and figures for those 25 minutes. Recruiting these muscles develops more finely-tuned motor control through greater range of motion in limbs and joint flexion.Įven during the busiest days it is likely you can find 25 minutes to get on and ride one of the walk routines below. These are the ones that create and store patterns. Engaging in training periods without trotting, therefore, can allow for a positive change in the horse’s posture and stride.įurther, walking recruits a greater number of small postural muscles that stabilize the spine. Conversely, the isometric stabilizing role played by the back when trotting can create tension patterns.
Walking allows for full contraction of the long back muscles within a pulsating and swinging motion that prevents tension. Work at the walk is highly fruitful for educating the horse’s body, confirming postures, and loosening him. Use days of inclement weather to re-tool how you perceive these quieter workouts and just what you can accomplish. Neither of these scenarios allows riders to reap the enormous benefits of time spent schooling the walk. Alternatively, many riders assume it is not worth saddling up if they are confined to only walking.
These are purposeful sessions, not strolls.īecause the walk does not require much physical effort on our part as riders, it is common to drift off and lose focus. And note how I have used the term workouts, since that is how you should think of them. In other words, there is big value in workouts at the walk. This kind of training refines muscle recruitment, releases tension stored in poor postural habits, and stimulates the slow-twitch fibers used for stabilizing the skeleton. Many classical dressage masters from the past often praised the merits of long schooling sessions at only the walk.
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