Warm up tips for exciteable, strong horse!!

Fabio's Filly!

Fabio's Filly!

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Oct 30, 2008
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Lincolnshire
Question in the title really. Just wondered what exercises the rest of you use when warming up an exciteable horse? Miro is so forward going and for the first 10 minutes or so is desperate to break into canter!!! I've been warming up with lots of transitions to get him listening and also quite a bit of canter work to get it out of his system!!

I'm so used to having to warm up Fabio who is really laid back that i'm having to totally readjust with Miro who couldn't be more different!!!
 
lunge, lunge and lunge. There is another thread on here about this same thing only at shows, you may want to look at it, since this is almost the exact same.:)

One thing I may recommend is don't canter. If he wants to canter (because he is forward) work on the walk and halt. Because when you are "letting it out of his system" you are actually letting him get away with what he wants to do (even if you told him to do it).
 
Tuff_up said:
One thing I may recommend is don't canter. If he wants to canter (because he is forward) work on the walk and halt. Because when you are "letting it out of his system" you are actually letting him get away with what he wants to do (even if you told him to do it).
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I agree. Out hacking, I'd just go for a blast to 'get it out of her system' so to say. But not schooling. Lots of transitions and lots of exercises to keep him thinking. Serpentines, 10m circle at each marker, changing rein all over the place, lateral work, indirect transitions (ie. halt to trot, and back, etc.) or if all else fails, lunging! I'd make sure you're doing productive lunging though, not just letting him bomb about on the end of a line.
 
sometimes its a good thing to just school in walk only

really does this sort good, and if exciteble as long as you are going from leg to hand in a contact they cant do much, you can use the fact you are walking against them by making v small circles

any way I will get told off for not lunging so

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Jim is like that - he will walk round on a long rein but the walk gets progressively worse, then he starts spooking at threatening to take off. Ignored he'll do ust that. Trot is hopeless as he'll just hopscotch (trot in front, canter behind) & constantly try to break & spook. So we canter before we trot.

I can insist & make him work through it but it just turns into an argument with us both getting tense & him so hot that there's not much chance of any good work coming from it. Instead I do 5 minutes walk then give him a canter, even one 20m circle helps a lot but ideally I'll lob him round for a few laps on both reins. It's not a work canter though, the deal is that if he wants to canter then he does it without any support from me, he steps under & swings so he loosens himself up nicely, he keeps the pace to one of my chosing, doesn't get strong & comes back when he's asked.

There are days when we don't canter, usually when he's feel so sharp that I'm not sure I'd hold him. But generally this works well for us - canter is naturally his best pace & because he finds it easy he relaxes better in it & loosens up over his back quicker. It doesn't make him hotter to canter first & he certainly doesn't feel like he's "getting away" with anything.

ETA lunging isn't an option in this case. I like living & I don't want him hurt either!
 
@carthorse :)

how much do you use your lower leg when you ride is it completely off his
side ?

its just when I get a nutter I apply loads of lower leg in the walk for the first two minutes on really small circles and they relax very quickly to walking on a long rein, I think they arnt made to accept it because they are bright and its needed for a week or two to be constanly riding forward through everything, it can lighten off once they relax all the time

after a few circits of this on each rein I go back to the working walk and it usualy stay relaxed.

takes longer the first time but after three or four rides it shortens to nothing at all :)

you may ride with a strong lower leg but was just explaining why I asked :)

but talk to them, any old nonsense will do :) let them hear a calm friendly voice all the time

:D
 
Lord no, riding with the leg off him means he reacts far too sharply when it's applied!

I think it's just a case of finding what works for the individual. He (grudgingly) accepts that he has to walk for five minutes but after that canter normally works better for us than trot.

Each to their own though, if a horse is likely to get too headstrong in canter then obviously my approach wouldn't work. Likewise no matter how securely I've got Jim between hand & leg & how small the circle he is quite capable of making his feelings known & he won't settle into relaxed work. Anyway a "one size fits all" horse world would be terribly boring wouldn't it :p
 
it would, i agree and you have a good way that works, i however have to correct the horse before i return it

the rider getting the horse back expects change and i have to keep the leg on no matter what

simple reason being is because i want it there and he should accept it

it the old i'll meet you half way if you ride my way

and agreed it can be a very refreshing experience when i make them accpet the fact that i am going to ride them forward

rather than sitting quietly ................i dont care and expect to ride that way but yes it can be a rough ride through :D
 
Maybe the difference is that I'd be looking at correcting the rider as well as the horse? IME some horses have to be ridden with an acceptance of what they are, that's not to say they can't be well behaved & mannerly but ultimately a square peg just doesn't fit a round hole. If the rider cannot accept that & make allowances then it's probably better for everyone if they part ways because no mater how well the horse is reschooled it will ultimately revert to type unless it's day to day rider can keep up the work.

It's not so much a case of meeting halfway as finding the easiest & most effective way to get him to settle & produce nice work. We do have occassional days when there's a difference of opinion & to date he's never won but those battles are few & far between nowadays & God help me if I ever lose one because I think that will be ground I'll never get back.
 
I'm with Carthorse on this one. Skippy went so much better if I just let him canter round a few laps. Why get into a fight? He would settle beautifully and then go on to do some lovely work. All horses are different and if a few laps of canter is what works then why not just do it?

I used to ride a friends horse that just refused to walk or even trot. She used to get into a total flap and very upset about it. I just made the horse canter round till I said stop (which was at least a lap after he had said stop!). Didnt take too many times of this before he decided walking was a better option:D

With Arnie I do lots and lots of very very small circles and changes of direction at walk but its horses for courses.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'm finding i'm having to adapt my riding a lot as my other horse is so opposite, completely laid back and needs lots of leg!!! Not a bad thing though as it's really making me work hard to keep the new boy happy.

I'll see how we go with lots of transitions, circles, serpentines before starting any 'real' work. Was leg yielding him in walk yesterday and half of it was done in trot as he was just full of beans!
 
My mare is like this when she is in season. I've been trying lots of things, and have found the best thing so far is to go straight into trot, and do lots of movements in trot first, maybe some 10m circles over some poles and stuff like that, and then incorporate transitions to get her listening more once she has been trotted for 10 mins or so. And not canter until I feel like she is more relaxed and chilled, cos canter tends to set her off again! Then I just canter the long sides to start with, back to trot until she calms down again etc...
 
I think you are misunderstanding, this expecting quiet work re sorting dosnt involve any fighting

I have many cases where they are back with their owners and absolutely fine and I agree a square peg dosnt always fit in a round hole thats not exaclty a fair description of my methods

its something I can do knobody knows why its works so well and so quickly and tbh If you dont want to try it thats up to you, but others on the board may have horses this will work for

I am not posting under every one else saying that their methods are wrong

and I agree some horses are worse than others but how can you really expect your horse to respect your wishes if you can ride it forward and you wait for it to settle

I cannot see why people think I battle with the horses I dont at all in fact very few do, I simply suggested that carthorses might as it seems to have been ridden quietly for a long while

but in my experience not many fight at all, and if nobody belives the differance next horse I will get in i will video what this method is so you can see

how there is rarely a battle and it works permenantly

if you want to disregard it before trying it thats up to you I dont care :D just dont keep running it down cos others may find it useful

and it bloody works
 
I also think its a little unfair you sussgest that I cant correct horses for riders and they should sell them

sell them to who ...............dont they need to be corrected before this anyway??

it is totally possible to make forward going horses lazy even if you want to take it that far

there are lots of horses I have done leading normal lives and a feel if they had not been reshaped into the correct hole they would have experienced pretty awful lives

surely its better for them to have a few days of relearning something that is the most essencial part of riding a horse (riding forward) cos without this you arnt really riding it are you , just sittin on top like :D

I strongly belive its better for these horses to re learn than re home without being reschooled

its only putting leg on its side.....its not cruel ........or too much to ask imo
 
I'm with Carthorse on this one. Skippy went so much better if I just let him canter round a few laps. Why get into a fight? He would settle beautifully and then go on to do some lovely work. All horses are different and if a few laps of canter is what works then why not just do it?
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If I let my mare do her canter to let it out my mare would canter until she was dead. We have had lessons where she looks like she was in a rain storm from all the sweat and she would still love to canter unstead of walk. So I do alot of walking (not transitions) but walking.
 
Skippys Mum said:
All horses are different and if a few laps of canter is what works then why not just do it?

With Arnie I do lots and lots of very very small circles and changes of direction at walk but its horses for courses.
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Tuff_up said:
If I let my mare do her canter to let it out my mare would canter until she was dead. We have had lessons where she looks like she was in a rain storm from all the sweat and she would still love to canter unstead of walk. So I do alot of walking (not transitions) but walking.
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Tuff up - if you look again at my post I did say IF it works then why not just do it. I also said I do lots and lots of WALK with my other horse.

Which brings me back to the original question. If a few laps of canter settle the horse WHY not just try it:D?
 
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