10 thoughts on “A Dressage/Massage Warm-Up Ride.”

  1. So after years of reading your blog, I decided to join Barnies for exactly this. I wanted to get more of a sense of how to do some of the things you talked about. I know you are supposed to warm up your horse for 20 minutes, but actually seeing it is very helpful. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Welcome, and thanks for joining. Glad the video helped. If you have a video that you’d like my thoughts on, please send it to me, either a youtube link or by wetransfer.com
      Glad to have you with us.

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  2. I am wondering – I usually warm my horse up online first. No side reins, etc., but just a free warm up on a long line. Some walk, trot, and canter. It seems that there are advantages for the horse in using a non-ridden warmup, since I think it would be easier for the horse to get relaxed and stretching without carrying a rider. Do you think that is true? And, does the 20 minute time period vary depending upon what you are planning to do as part of your riding session. Example, if you aren’t planning to ride in connection with the reins (or with contact) as part of your riding session, do you still need a 20 minute warm up? And, if you did online warm up first, would that take care of the warm up once you were riding?

    Reply
    • That 20 min. is how long it takes the synovial fluid to warm in their joints and ours. If there is a limited period of time, then no work beyond the warm-up. I’ll do some LFB and other things to engage a horse’s mind but I steer away from lunging (although there is a lunging video there) I might lunge in rare instances but I’m more prone to let him run at liberty before a ride. More questions?

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  3. I continued to watch the video, and I saw that, during the 20 minutes, the rider started to pick up the reins and to ask for some lateral movements. So, that started me wondering what the difference is between the 20 minute warm up and the actual riding session. Because, it seems that, during the 20 minute warm up period, the ride wasn’t just free walking for warm up – the rider started asking the horse to carry himself and to more engage himself and his joints.

    Reply
    • It’s 20 min, no contact, and depending on the horse and rider, might go through all gaits, but NO CONTACT. She may have picked up the neckring but didn’t ride on contact. If the horse began to engage, it was his doing and not the riders. We want the horse to feel his body freely and by moving forward, once his joints are lubricated, he will naturally improve if we don’t get in the way. Any training session would be brief and come after this. I think there is a video that describes this. One thing I would add, so much depends on the horse. The amount of time we ride, how often, etc depends. It’s a fluid conversation.

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