For me assessing and warming up the horse go hand in hand. At the beginning of each and every training session with our horse we must stand back and make an assessment of what we have to work with. This assessment includes the way our horse looks and feels, and also very importantly, how we feel.
It is very important that when we do this we have NO EXPECTATIONS! We are totally in assessment mode – discovering what is – how do we feel – how does our horse feel – being honest but not being critical. And staying balanced – things are never all bad or all good! It is useful to give words to what we see/feel. For example, he feels full of excitement today, he feels tight through the shoulders, I feel tight in my right shoulder and neck, etc.
Whether I had lunged or not my ridden warm-up will be as quiet and calm as possible. The objectives are to:
-Warm up muscles
-Assess myself and the horse
-Start to work on the basic ingredients
-Establish a basic balance by work on my seat. This could include riding without reins, exercises and stretches on horseback, releasing in rising trot, minimising the rise, switching between rising/sitting/ standing for a given number of strides. I call this work “lunging myself”. It is essential that the horse maintains a quiet rhythm and that the rider feels “safe” to do this well
-Stretch to release unwanted tension. Larger circles in trot or canter with a big inside bend help the horse to release through his shoulders. It is important that the rider is consistent with the stretch and keeps the contact as straightness is resumed. Just throwing the rein away or non-stop giving and taking can be very irritating to the horse.
It can help to talk to your horse about what you are feeling either aloud or in your mind. Apologise to him for not being soft enough yet or straight enough or whatever – but not desperate – just “forgive me, I’m working on it!” In return we have to do the same for him.
Canter can help to really loosen the horse and the rider. The key thing is just to let it happen. Let the horse’s back move yours. Transitions in and out of canter will build energy but be careful with the excitement!
Charles de Kunffy, in his book, The Athletic Development of the Dressage Horse, (17) explains that walk and canter are the most natural paces for the horse. They are the paces our horse chooses most often when at liberty in the field. Recognise this and use this in your warm-up.
Go and watch top riders warming up at competitions. You will see some very different approaches. Recently I benefited from a visit to Saumur in France for an international dressage competition (CDIO***). I watched the warm-up for the Freestyle Grand Prix Music test. At one end of the scale I watched a French Cadre Noir rider on an Anglo-Arab preparing for his test with a very typical slow-build warm up - lots of slow work in walk with lateral work on a fair length of rein. Then slow stretchy trotting on the same lines. Then canter work, increasing engagement, and down to serious work.
At the same time a Portuguese rider commenced his warm-up with canter work in a collected outline. Shortening the canter, and going on again. Then pirouettes and changes. Poor execution was repeated. Good executions were rewarded with much verbal praise and patting with a period of walk on a completely loose rein. Whilst both warm-ups appeared to have the same underlying average level of energy and difficulty the actual patterns of energy were completely different.
I don’t think that this means that we need to choose one of these methods. Rather we can learn by thinking through why the riders chose these particular ways of warming up. Some elements we may learn could help us but copying for the sake of it without understanding is rank stupidity!
Many riders wonder how long they should spend warming up. The answer is as long as it takes. Sometimes the whole training session could be just warming up!