Warming Up Horses for Stretching

Video Transcript

"To warm your horse up before you do stretches I find that one of the most effective things to do if you have the area to do it, is to take them out and lunge them, if you are comfortable lunging your horse at the walk and the trot. It's probably not necessary for them to canter unless there is something that they really like to do that helps them to get settled down and focused. But again you're, the purpose isn't to be conditioning the horse right then, it's just to get them warmed up a little bit so their muscles are loose and you can start to do some stretches on them. If you can't do that, if you can't lunge them, you can take them for a walk up and down your driveway. You can jog them in hand, if the footing is ok. You can also just do some massage type things that are going to help just loosen the muscles up. Just using the flat of your hand, working in areas, creating some friction and creating some heat in there. Being careful to go with the muscles, don't be going across the fibers on them, go with the muscles and again let your horse be your guide."