During the warm-up, not only do we want to get our horse’s muscles warm, but we want to begin to get them supple, soft, and on the aids. The warm-up is also a great time to get to know the horse you’re riding and what aids work the best for them.
In this video, I will be showing you two great exercises to achieve these goals during your warm-up. This is a fun video from a lesson where I coach my student, Sylvia, who’s riding Mercurio for only the third time.
Using the leg yield at the walk and the three-loop serpentine at the trot, Sylvia learns how to communicate with her new mount Mercurio. These exercises are great for your warm-up, especially if you are riding a new horse. They really help you to find the right aids for your horse, and help to get them supple, soft, and responsive; all things that will set you up for a great ride!
Leg Yields at the Walk
This is a great exercise because it really helps you establish that inside hind leg to outside rein connection with your horse. Improving this connection often helps to create a more consistent contact, which makes this a great exercise for horses who like to curl or be inconsistent in the contact.
3-Loop Serpentine
After you have done some simple warm-up exercises at the trot such as 20m circles and changes of direction on the diagonals, the 3-loop serpentine is a great figure to ride. This exercise really helps you as the rider get to know your horse and what aids work for them. It is great for getting your horse supple and responsive. Since it involves lots of bending and turning, it is also a great exercise to help regulate tempo if you have a hot horse.
Try these two exercises during your warm-ups this week! They are great to use with any horse, but can be especially helpful when getting to know a new horse. These exercises really help to get your horse supple and on the aids, and remember, when your horse is supple, he is connected to you!
I hope that these tips help you with those next steps to find that ride you love!
