The Art of Natural Dressage

I was just wondering which exercise I should practice on Magik before I start riding him in a few months. I was told that certain exercises should be done after riding and others before (like us I imagine). I want to start right away so that in May, Magik should be prepared.
Thanks for your help!!

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Jocelyne
[Hug your animals everyday. You never know!

you mean a warming up?? or something else??

if it is a warming up it depents on the horse, the same as a human, some need more exercise then the other to get their muscles warmed.
But what i do is start with walk for about 10 min., then 2 min. trot (loose rein) then 5 min. walk then 5 min. trot
then 10 min. walk and 3 min. galop and walk again for about 10 min. and pony is warm. And we go for longer times trot.

After the ride, it depents of what we have done and how far etc. Just walking i wait till the breath is normal again.
most of the time i walk next to the pony so he can realy take a rest. And put him back in the fields.
As soon the breath is normal the pony will be fine. However they could be wet, but that had given me no problems at all.
The will take a roll in the sand and they get dry soon.

thanks Inge, I will remember this when I'm riding. However, I was thinking more on the line BEFORE riding. For example, I do ask for lateral flexion on the ground, stretching of the neck line, stretching of the front and hind legs. But someone told me that I had to be careful because some should be done AFTER I ride. Like humans, we do have some stretching exercises that we should do before any strenuous activity.

But when I ride, I will consider what you just wrote.
Thanks
Joc

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Jocelyne
[Hug your animals everyday. You never know!

I think it's beneficial to do some light stretching work with the horse before riding but I don't think I would do anything other than this and basic forward movement. I think if I was to start asking for flexion and bending, this will create problems as the horse needs to have warmed up correctly in the first place before these parts come into action.

It will depend a lot on the horse in question also. My veteran for example who suffers with arthritis in his hocks and knees, benefits from some very light stretching and lots of time spent in walk, whether this is ridden or in hand makes no difference to him. My mare on the other hand gets very tight through her neck so for her most definitely if I ask for any kind of flexion or bending before she is ready it will cause more harm than good. Any bending/flexion work I do with my mare is always the second half of the session, once she is fully warmed up.

Hope this helps
Tx

Thanks so much. I guess I was assuming that the flexions were good because I learnt them when doing Parelli. However, I do them now with no pressure. I taught them to touch my hand with their nose. But I now I understand the importance of just walking at first while riding and this is an exercise in itself.
Thanks for clarifying.

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Jocelyne
[Hug your animals everyday. You never know!

In principle, the whole Gymnasium is designed for the purpose of riding the horse without damaging neither him or yourself.

The (TAONARA) Gymnasium includes:

(collected) Halt
Backing
Schaukel (Rocking Horse)
Flexions
Ramener
Lifting the shoulders
Turn around the forehand
Turn around the hind quarters
Shoulder in
Travers
Transitions

It works best if someone can continue groundwork while a passive yet not hindering rider get on.

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www.equusuniversalis.com

ha now i understand what you were looking for.
i think it depents on were the horse stay during the day. When a horse live 24/7 outside in a field or large paddock.
They are the whole day walking. Between the naps ofcourse. But you know what i mean.
if a horse is stabled then it need a warming up before streching. Because the muscles are more "colder"