By: Matthew M. Brendal
Pre-ride Warming Up and Cooling Down Your Horse
The pre-ride check of your horse is just as important as a pilot checking over his airplane before the plane leaves the ground. I have witnessed many people routinely catch, saddle and begin to ride their horse all in the time frame of a few short minutes. That's like someone yanking you out of bed in the morning and putting you straight to work. A horse is not a machine, it is an emotional and biological being. The pre-ride period can be a very valuable time spent on developing and refining your relationship with your horse.
A pre-ride and warm-up should probably take about 20-30 minutes. It can't be overstressed how this time is very important time for developing your horsemanship skills and relationship with your horse. This is a time to greet a friend and partner with a good brushing and hoof cleaning. The second portion of warming the horse up is refining your ground training. These habits helps read the horse's attitude and refine your communications. Ground training should be an important part of your riding/training regime.
1. View your horse from a distance prior to catching. Look for anything physically unusual. Limping, cuts, sluggishness, or other ailments.
2. Catch horse, halter and remove horse to grooming area.
3. Start at the tip of the nose and exam face.
4. On the left or near side I exam entire side.
5. Do the same on the right or far side.
6. Brush your horse with care, like you are holding your heart in your hand. I use three brushes, rubber massage brush, a course stiff brush and a soft brush. That means I brush my horse three times every time I brush my horse. Horses love habits and routine.
7. During the brushing, look for parasites, cuts, swelling and similar injuries.
8. I know some people are intimidated with handling a horses feet. You can ask your farrier for safe handling and techniques so you can look like a pro.
9. You should again have a system, normally the staring at the left front, left rear, right front, and right rear.
10. You should check for loose shoes, heat in the feet, swelling and similar problems.
11. You should pick out and any dirt, rocks and materials before and after the ride.
12. Now that the horse is brushed and his feet are cleaned, it's saddling time.
13. Put the saddle and supporting tack on. The cinch should be tightened in three separate times. Tighten the cinch a little bit between warm up exercises.
14. Do some warm-up and ground training exercises. Start slow, warm the horse up mentally and physically slowly. A warm-up and cool-down help prevent injuries to your horse, they are very important so don't just go through the motions.
15. A common warm-up is circling (similar to lunging but with purpose) your horse at a walk, trot and canter. It may also include jumping objects, backing through and over objects, walking sideways, disengaging hindquarters, moving the front end and similar activities. This helps the horse get lighter and softer.
15. Half way through the warm-up check and tighten your cinch and tack. Continue warm-up.
16. Prior to riding check and tighten your cinch and tack.
17. Ready to Ride!? Again spend time warming up the horse before the "work" begins. The pre-ride is designed to establish your TLC, (Trust, Leadership & Communication) and warm up the horse's mind and body prior to the ride. If the horse is unruly, nervous or scary for you to get on. If you think you may get hurt. STOP! Don't get on! The horse needs more ground training or you may need additional horsemanship training. There is never any reason to put yourself or the horse in harms way. Safety is paramount to activity with a horse.
18. Cool down. Never put up a hot horse. I will also take one more opportunity to brush my horse. I also look for any physical problems that my horse may have acquired during the ride. I also check and clean the horse's feet prior to releasing the horse.
Once a month I do an in-depth physical check. I check the teeth (using a dental speculum), body temperature (using a rectal thermometer), heart, respiration, gastrointestinal motility (using a stethoscope) , body condition score, skin turgor and other similar checks. This helps me know my horse better and gets her used to be handled touched in unfamiliar places. This also helps make my horse more veterinarian ready. Here is a list of my health check from my book Equine Management Program.
Weight
Height
Body Temperature
Heart Rate
Respiratory Rate
Skin Turgor
Capillary Refill Time and Color
Digital Pulse
Hoof Examination
Hoof Temperature
Gastrointestinal Motility
Teeth Exam
Back Spasms
Body Range of Motion
Ear Exam
Eye Exam
Body Condition Score
