There are many exercises you can do in hand with your horse, this allows them to strengthen their muscles without carrying your weight. In hand exercises can also be beneficial for improving the overall partnership with your horse. Remember to stay calm in these exercises, particularly if you haven’t done in hand work with your horse before it can often take some time for him to understand what is being asked for him.
In this exercise you will be working on increasing your horse’s core strength as well as improving his overall symmetry. Ensure your horse is confident with reining back, in hand, in a straight line before beginning this exercise.
This exercise may prove quite difficult for your horse, you want to be focused on getting a few good steps back, don’t push your horse too far as he may become unsettled and tense. If he can only manage a few steps stop and praise him. You are looking for your horse to be able step back confidently, taking the same size steps back on each rein. If this isn’t happening it is likely one side is not as developed as the other, he may be housing muscular tension which will also be effecting his ridden work.
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When working your horse, no matter their fitness level, an effective warm up can help to prevent muscle tension and injury. Always allow your horse plenty of time to walk and stretch before taking up the reins, this improves your horse’s mobility and allows him to become relaxed before beginning work. From here you can begin your warm up, be focused on what you want to achieve, you want to be increasing your horse’s heart rate so the blood flows to the muscle’s warming them up.
This great exercise helps increase the blood flow and builds up the fitness levels in your horse after their initial walk and stretch.
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