EvRMoore Equine, LLC
The PROPER Warm Up and Cool Down

Warm Up 25+ minutes

(including grooming and tacking up)

Ride Time 30-45 minutes

(not including warm up and cool down)

Cool Down 25+ minutes

(including untacking and hosing off)

Why Warm Up

Horses are athletes- their muscles need to warm up just as ours do before performing athletic activities
Reduce risk of straining muscles, tendons, ligaments, and even breaking bones
Allow heart and lungs to increase in production for healthy and valuable workouts

How to Warm Up and Cool Down the right way

Begin in the barn. Warming up begins with currying your horse and allowing them to relax and stretch. Some important stretches are legs (forward, backward) and carrot stretches for the neck. Also helping lift the horse’s back will only make topline use that much better
When you enter the arena. Don’t just hop on and start trotting! Allow the horse 5+ minutes of free walking, then 5+ minutes of medium walk on contact (both directions). This helps warm up the horse’s back, legs, neck as well as the rider’s body. If you are riding your free walk and find yourself “bored”...stretch yourself! Legs, arms, no stirrup work, tightening your ab and back muscles to be properly fit and warmed up for your ride- it is just as important to be ea fit rider. You can serpentine, add in circles, and some light leg yielding at the walk for added stretch and warm up.
Now we can trot! Once you and your horse are properly warmed up at the walk you may begin trotting. This should follow a similar pattern as the walk- free reigns to allow horse to stretch neck and back both directions, then add in contact and flexion.
After your ride… Cool Down. Everything you did for your warm up should be done for your cool down...Just in reverse order! Then, once the horse is relaxed and breathing is back to normal, a 5 minute hose off followed by a thorough sweat scrape (this is extremely important) will finish a perfect ride.

Reduces risk of muscle cramps
Prevents post-exercise blood from pooling and reduces concentration of exercise hormones
Allows heart and lungs to regulate back to normal activity
Reduces risk of heat trapped within the body which can lead to stroke, colic, tying up etc.