FOLLOWING on from Lisa’s information about the importance of riders warming up before getting in the saddle, now it’s time to think about your horse’s warm-up regime.

At any equestrian competition, riders warm-up their horses carefully in preparation for the challenges ahead. The warm-up process poses plenty of questions for both horse and rider.

What do riders regard as the benefits of warming up their horse? What is the optimum time for a warm-up? Is there any difference between a show jumping rider’s warm-up and a dressage rider’s warm-up? Does warming up positively affect performance for horse and rider?

Few comprehensive studies have been carried out about the benefits of warm-up exercises before competition and their impact on performance.

A new equine study, by associate professor Dr Jane Williams from Hartpury University and Hartpury graduate Maud Chatel (BSc (Hons) Equine Science), founder and owner of France-based equine therapy company Rehactiv’Equine, have provided the answers to these questions through carrying out a preliminary study involving more than 250 riders.

The purpose of this new study was to improve the understanding of what dressage and show jumping riders consider to be the benefits of performing particular warm-up exercises.

Advantage

Head of research at Hartpury University, Dr Williams said: “To ensure optimal performance, undertaking a warming up regime before intense exercise is acknowledged as an effective way to lower the risk of injury and increase performance in human athletes.

“The same applies to equestrian sport, where it’s widely acknowledged that both the horse and rider should complete a pre-competition warm-up to prepare them for the demands of competition.”

The researchers wanted to try and understand dressage and show jumping riders’ decision-making when warming up at home and prior to a competition.

Previous studies have shown that an efficient warm-up regime will help to reduce lactic acid accumulation in the muscles, delaying the onset of fatigue and providing a potential performance advantage over horses which have not been warmed up adequately.

Before the study by Dr Williams and Chatel, few researchers had evaluated what constitutes an ‘ideal’ warm-up for different disciplines, horse experience, training level, fitness or how different environmental factors influence the warm-up. The riders who took part in the study answered a range of questions and shared these to selected French equine-related groups on Facebook, on an anonymous basis about their attitudes and approach to the warm-up process.

The study found that dressage riders and show jumpers maintain that warm-up regimes should prepare the horse for work, increase responsiveness to the riders’ aids, increase the horse’s suppleness and promote relaxation to enhance performance and decrease injury risk.

Warm-up duration used was similar for both dressage riders and show jumpers, averaging 10 to 20 minutes. Dressage riders used walk as their main warm-up gait, whilst show jumpers preferred trot.

Across both disciplines, riders included lateral work, transitions and jumping as part of their warm-up. During a competition, approximately half of the dressage riders and show jumpers surveyed agreed that using the horses’ usual warm-up routine was beneficial.

Duration

Chatel, whose business offers sports massage treatments for horses and riders of all levels across France, said: “Riders felt factors such as the stress level of both the horse and rider, crowdedness of the arena, arena size and surface as well as time allocated by the venue were important factors that could impact their warm-up routines.

“Both showjumpers and dressage riders considered horses were warmed up adequately using subjective measures likely to vary between riders: the horse’s responsive to the aids, when the horse felt supple and relaxed.

Future research in this area is warranted to investigate if rider recall of warm-up regimes matches the duration and activities included in practice.