I'm still trying to figure out what works with Paddy. Normally I focus on having a steady, slow rhythm (because we all know how zoomy Paddy can be), and since our last dressage lesson, I've also been working on getting him straight and evenly in both reins by moving his shoulders around. But yesterday, I just didn't have the energy to be super demanding of him and ride every step, which is really what's required to make straight and steady happen for us right now. So instead, I took him out on the back track for a little conditioning work. We did our usual mile or so of walking to get loose, and then we did about 10 minutes of trot, alternating directions with short walk breaks. He was allowed to go whatever speed he wanted, but he couldn't haul on me and he had to stay balanced and over his back. I rode with a really soft rein, even as he flew over the ground, and tried to remember not to let him get really heavy on the left rein.
Note to self: We could totally win a trotting race against a Standardbred. Just sayin'.
After we did our little trot session, I decided that I did actually have it in me to ask for some more demanding work. I picked up the reins and started on some 15 meter trot circles, along with some trot squares and halts. He had a faster tempo than I would have liked, but he remained balanced and very over his topline. I could really feel his back lift up, and that was new. We also did some canter, which, while fast, was balanced and longer/lower than usual. I think that's a direct result of our warmup - normally if we work on slow rhythm, coming over the back doesn't happen so much.
So I don't think we have a warmup routine that works for us just yet, but it's interesting to try different things and see what sort of ride we have because of it. Maybe I need to let him trot it out for the first 10 minutes or so, then ask for more steady work? I don't know, but we'll continue to try different things. Paddy is a big thinker, and he needs the mental challenge of something other than zoomy trot to really get him working. At the same time, I don't want to kill the forward or stifle his desire to come over his back by having him do too much slow/collected work. It's a tough balance!
What do you do for warmup? What works for your horse and what doesn't?
Unrelated: I looked closely at the pics from the show on Saturday and discovered Mr. Sneaky trying to sample his winnings. I swear he has a prehensile nose!
I find that as much as I hate doing it, putting my horse to work right away is the way to go. Of course this differs for everyone but if I let her tool around and do her own thing in the warm up (this happens ALL THE TIME) I end up cursing myself for it afterwards. Sometimes if I let her warm up her own way I think that she's more agreeable to come together but in all reality she doesn't "come together" as well as she does when I just get on and get to it. This really sunk in for me when the guy I clinic with got on her once. I always thought she needed a long time to "loosen up", etc. but he got on and BAM she was working. It really sets the tone for my ride and does make things easier (for me) in the long run.
ReplyDeleteSaga was like that - straight to work or else he'd start goofing off. Isn't it funny how some of them need that time to get themselves ready to work and others use it to be naughty?
DeleteTrotting against a Standie you say?! (;
ReplyDeleteNoticed you're from the Austin area? I might be moving there soon myself...pending certain life events
Heh, I figured a Standie owner would call me out on that. ;)
DeleteIf you're moving to Austin, ping me privately! jen jobst at gmail dot com. That would be cool!
Ahaha, I love the sneaky lips!
ReplyDeleteGuinness is the laziest of thoroughbreds, so my warm up usually starts by getting him walking actively forward. Then we work on getting him straight and on my seat and leg aids. At that point I ask him to come into the bridle, then we trot. We'll do a little stretchy trot, then I'll ask him to come back into the bridle and we canter. He's usually stiff into the canter at first and resistant to my hand. We'll canter until he's soft in the hand, and his back comes up. Then we walk, and repeat the other direction, usually starting with the canter. During the walk breaks I'll do a lot of suppling and lateral work to get him working off my leg and working forward into my hands without freaking out. If we don't do that sort of work at the walk, in a low key way, we never get it without tension later. He's a silly fellow.
I used to wait to do my canter work until later in my ride, too. But,like you, found that my horse loosened up better at the canter and did better work after cantering. So ... we canter. I wonder if Paddy, coming from a more trotting-focused breed, loosens up nicely with a good forward trot instead of a canter?
Interesting about the canter work early on working for your horse too. I think you might be right about Paddy loosening up with a good forward trot. I'll continue to try it and see... who knows?
DeleteNom nom delicious ribbon. My best warm-up routine is 20-30 minutes pre-show lunging, a quick warm-up in the jumper ring (WTC, jump all the jumps and a few lines strung together), and then before the class we will WTC and jump a few jumps. Less is more with him, and standing somewhere quietly to "fall asleep" is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThe standing thing is interesting... I could never get any of my horses to do that. Glad it works for Simon, though!
DeleteAw, what a cute wrinkle-nose!
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of a hack out (anywhere from 10-40min) prior to starting "real work" if possible. If not, we usually walk once around the ring each way on the buckle, then pick up onto contact for ~10min of figures and easy lateral work; my particular horse does best when ridden up before being asked to stretch down. Then just enough trot to get to the canter and use the canter to loosen up the back and get the hind legs. Then we get into the meat of the day's work, whatever it happens to be.
Isn't it funny how some do better being ridden up, and some you have to start long and low and work up from there? Also cool that you do canter so early in the ride... that seems to be a common thing, and here I thought I was weird for doing it!
DeleteIf we are riding in the arena, for whatever reason, we start with two laps of me on foot and him walking behind me. This gives him the opportunity to check out the environment and bump me on the shoulder with his nose to make sure it is me. (Cutest thing ever.) Then we do a couple of circuits in both directions at the walk on the buckle, just letting him stretch himself out and move at his ground eating walk.
ReplyDeleteThen we get to work.
If we are riding out, we just go, no warm up necessary. Once we've been out on the trail for a while, I will ask for collection or lateral work, or whatever gait we can manage for the conditions, but only for a short amount of time. He gets a break when we ride trail.
Neat that you start out on foot! Sooo cute that he bumps you with his nose - he's adorable!
DeleteI think Paddy and my Fattie would be good mates with their prehensile noses! I usually ride out and I spend 5-10 minutes walking on a loose rein, then graduate to a trot on a loose rein with a few transitions and then a lopey-dope canter. I then go back to the walk and ask for a bit of lateral work and build up from there. I basically just make sure that all the 'buttons' are working before I ask any more. I always spend 5-10minutes walking on a loose rein to cool down too.
ReplyDeleteNice that you warm up on a long rein. I'd love to get to that, but we're a long ways from being balanced enough to do that. Maybe someday! Your warmup sounds a lot like what I did with Cash.
DeleteI like your concept of making sure the "buttons" work. I definitely do that too... well, when there are buttons. We're still working on installing those!
Carlos always did well with a good gallop before a lesson, whether that was in the roundpen without me, up a hill with me or around the field with me. I loved it too. Blew out his lungs and go and then down to work. When he got older a loose rein walk with lots of impulsion and then an easy canter.
ReplyDeleteRamone I'm still trying to figure out. Right now it seems like a lope and a buck in the round pen, loose rein walk in the arena and a lope in the arena. My best lessons definitely included a big easy lope in both direction
I can just picture you and Carlos galloping hell-for-leather at a show. Teehee!
DeleteHe said it smells like chocolate!
ReplyDeleteMorning of- I boot Henry up and lunge him- sometimes with tack, sometimes without. Then I get myself ready and we typically get on and hack around. If I have flat classes first we leave it at that and go into our flat classes. If I jump first- after I have flatted, trainer comes over and schools me OF.
Someone has to explain to me what "hack" means... I need my secret H/J decoder ring!!
DeleteHack = ride on a loose rein without real focus. IE, it describes the act of riding a horse for light exercise, and as a noun, it is a type of horse used for riding out at ordinary speeds over roads and trails. Or riding on the flat, when speaking of H/J.
DeleteRelaxed, forward, and flexible are my goals
ReplyDeleteWalk on the buckle for ten minutes
Leg yields in walk, sometimes shoulder-in and half-pass also in walk
Trotting large, big figures
Leg yield in trot and smaller figures, shoulder-in
Cantering and transitions, which get him really sharp
The lateral work has always been good for focus and loves it. I like it when he is ready to move forward a gear, sideways, or slow down. Then he is warmed up! :)
It used to take the entire ride to feel warmed up, but as the years have passed he needs less warm up.
"It used to take the entire ride to feel warmed up" <--- YES THIS! Just when I feel like we're starting to get it all together, he's exhausted. Gah! I'm hoping that as time goes on, we'll be able to get it together faster and have shorter, more productive sessions.
DeleteDefinitely. I also spent many rides in just walk and trot in the first year together because canter built too much tension and all he wanted to do was run! He hated trot/canter/trot transitions, which I considered a hallmark of dressage training. I had to give them up for a while. The canter to trot was so unbalanced that he would pop me out the saddle on the first step. Pogostick leg or something. It only took about the years to smooth them out! ;)
DeleteWe should totally have a trot race between him and O. WHO WOULD WIN THAT!
ReplyDeleteHahaha you're on!
DeleteI have a 'give an inch, take a mile' type alpha mare, and while I love her for it, it limits how much we can play around with things ;) Which is not to say that we don't play around with things or try new stuff, but simply that I have to be very clear and consistent with what the rules our. Our warm up normally consists of stretching in the walk (and hopefully the trot), then picking up a bit and doing some shoulder/haunches in, and some counter flexion exercises to get straight and even. Then we do some walk-halt and trot-halt transitions, before moving to backwards transitions within the trot.
ReplyDeleteIf we jump, we just shift the weight so more of the focus is on the whoa vs straightness & self-carriage and everything's a little sharper (ie canter-walk off of 1 half-halt vs three)
It's interesting how every horse takes a different warmup, isn't it? Your mare sounds super cool, btw!
DeleteI can rarely get anything very sensible from my gelding unless we canter. He is all rush-y and jig-jogging and tense. But once we have a loose, forward canter on a loose rein, which is sometimes messy and a bit fast, we can gradually direct that energy and do things with it. By not asking for collection or a frame, he usually relaxes and works quite low (his head carriage is naturally quite low). And then I can ask for more turns, smaller circles, a slower rhythm and more of a contact.
ReplyDeleteIf I fuss with the bit early-on however (for collection or insisting on walk), he tenses, head goes up, neck braces and it turns into a fight. I'm just lucky I can rely on him to relax in canter even in a big open paddock or new place (he relaxes more in that situation than in an indoor or other arena, because in the open we can do big open circles). He has very active paces and 'tends' to be quite straight (but finds lateral work a challenge and will balk with a firm contact) so maybe this type of warm-up works with his strengths and what he likes before making him think about the things he finds hard.
Paddy looks and sounds like such a darling!