Winter Warm Ups

It is cold. Colder than it usually is when I ride. The barn is insulated and the horses have breathed their warmth into the stalls and aisleways through the night, but it is still cold. 

My current routine has me arriving at the barn at around 9:30. Usually, at this time of day, the horses are softly munching on their breakfasts, the fast eaters picking at crumbs of hay. The sun is up and the insulated ceiling starts to drip condensation.

This morning is different. Today I arrived at the barn shortly after 8:00. I head out before the horses have had breakfast. The sun isn’t all the way up and settled in the sky. My car thermometer reads 18 degrees. The barn is quiet. The horses prick up their ears as I walk in, “is it breakfast time?”. “Sorry not yet guys” I whisper as I grab a flake and toss it to my boy, Jack. A little something to make the early morning ride more bearable. The rest of the herd will be fed in a little bit. 

I brush and tack up in the stall. Letting Jack eat his early breakfast as I wrap his legs and brush his shiny black coat. Usually I start shedding layers of clothing as I brush and tack up, but not this morning. It is cold. 

We head out into the arena, which is even colder than the barn. We start our warm up. But this morning, have I mentioned, it’s cold. So we walk a few extra laps around the arena. I let his head hang long and stretched. I let his stride be free. Then into a trot. Long and straight. Almost skeletal in it’s swinging movement. The goal is to get our muscles warm. To bring blood and nutrients and life to our muscles, tendons, ligaments, to our heart and lungs, to our souls. We trot figure eights and laps around the arena. Jack breathes with each stride. Free and unencumbered by excess aids or difficult requests I make of him. Our breath can be seen. Now, we move into a canter. Feel the beat, feel the stride, feel his legs. I take this time to think about me now too. Where is my weight? Where am I collapsing? Where am I leaning? I make corrections. We slow back to a walk, then a stop. A few backing strides for good measure. The warm up has been long. Longer than I usually make them. But the minutes feel well used and the cold doesn’t feel as noticable.

As we begin to work on more complicated movements and skills, laterals, shoulder-in, counter-canter, I know Jack is ready. I am ready. We are not only warmed up, we are united. We are ready to tackle the new homework from our trainer and to practice old exercises that seem to teach us something new every time. We are filled now with warmth, connection, and life. Our lungs are open, our blood is pumping, and our souls are alive. 

Throughout the ride I come back to my warm up, where did I notice off steps? Where was I weak? Where was I too heavy? As I answer these questions and adjust my body, my cues, and my seat, we connect deeper. I change my mind on which exercise to work on next, picking one that I hope will strengthen and stretch his left hind. It goes well. He softens and uses his back leg more effectively and the “offness” I felt in warm up fades away. We move from one exercise to another, working through the cold. Walking when needed. 

As our ride concludes, the barn is more like what I’m used to and it’s 9:30. The sun has settled in the sky. The rest of the horses have been fed and the barn and arena have warmed to the point where now the condensation drips. I have shed a few layers and my face feels warm. It was a good ride thanks in part to a good warm up. Now we begin our cool down. Or maybe we should call it our warm down. 

Thanks for reading and sharing. I would love to hear about your favorite warm ups. In the summer or the winter!