I love this question, because the warm up is often brushed over, often people tend to get on their horse and go without thinking much about the warm up. Its also, I feel, a bit misunderstood, but the warm up is SO important, not just for your horses body but also for your safety and the efficiency of your training.

When I first got this question I was so excited because I thought ‘yes a dressage question’ But its actually not specific to dressage at all, its about ALL disciplines, its about riding in general.

In this episode I cover why the warm up is so important

• Firstly and most importantly you want to set yourself and the horse up for success.
• Secondly you want to warm up the body physically, warm up the muscles.
• Thirdly you are preparing the mind and the body for work.
• Finally, Warming up is about having both structure in your training and flexibility through feeling the horse.

I then cover what the POINT of the warm up is – no matter what you are going to do in your ride that day- dressage training, pole work, laterals, going for a trail ride with friends- it doesn’t matter what your doing- the point of any warm up is the following:

• To get the horse on the aids.
• To get the horse in front of the leg.

So, in summary, in order to have an effective warm up you need to:

• Know what your training to achieve that day.
• Know how to get your horse on the aids.
• Know how to get your horse in front of the leg.
• Know your horse well enough to be flexible and adapt to how he feels that day without compromising the effectiveness of your riding.

We then cover my warm up tips which I think are real gems so listen in for these at the end.  

Having an effective warm up really is so important for the success of your training, but more importantly your and your horses safety so if you want to become more confident in the warm up, and these aspects of the warm up then I really encourage you to join the MSW Riding Academy which is launching very soon!