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Let's have a think about our warm-up routines.
We all know that the walk is an essential part of preparing to work a horse in order to avoid soundness issues, correct?
But why? Do you know that it's not only the soft tissues that needs time to warm up but also the synovial (joint) fluid within all your horses main concussive joints.
When cold the synovial fluid resembles a thick gel or paste, and it needs time to warm up in order to become more fluid and function correctly as a lubricant and allow the joints to function correctly & without damage.
The walk itself is slow with no moment of suspension or use of recoil of tendons and an active conscience muscle use :
🐴 It is a low impact gait so exercises can be done in walk many more times compared to faster gaits as it will not put too much strain on you horse. You don't have to worry about getting problems by doing this.
🐴 The joints, fascia, tendons and ligaments are loaded gradually. This is good for reducing the risk of injury particularly with weak, tired and older horses, as well as those recovering from injury.
🐴 There is time to think, react and for both horse and rider to consolidate a movement, particularly if it involves learning a new skill and as rider we get enough time to adjust where needed or assist thehorse in doing it correctly.
🐴 The muscles are used differently, they are used actively and do not rely on the recoil of tendons.
🐴 Meaning there is less stretch and elastic recoil compared to the faster gaits. Instead slow controlled contractions are required. This makes walk an excellent gait for enhancing strengthening exercises.
🐴 Combining walk with pole excercises we also train preproception very well, without straining tendons helping the horse use it's body in a correct way. One interesting thing that I didn't fully appreciate until I learned to look at these exercises was the increased motion of the"roll" along the axis of the spine. Remembering that even at a normal walk with no poles you still have significantly more range of motion within the spinal vertebrae that in any other gait! With the addition of the poles this is definitely noticeable and you can really feel yourself move from side to side as the horse rolls his trunk in order to raise each leg in turn, and just think about the spinal mobility you're creating that you would never be able to achieve otherwise!
🐴 Walking is also a good relaxing excercise for stressed horses who need to learn to breathe through the movement and let go of tension "hot-spots" in the back, constantly improving spinal flexion & mobility which is why it's so popular in rehabilitation. This is one of the reasons why it's so important to return the horse to the long/low extended frame in between periods of more active & demanding work; offering the horse a chance to stretch & avoid over-using tired local muscle groups.
🐴 Pole work also helps supple the joints in the legs, as they actively are 'picked up off the floor'. Let's have a quick overview of the bio-mechanics involved. For a horse to successfully walk over any obstacle it is necessary for them to stabilise their back and use their core muscles, physically lifting each leg over the obstacle as opposed to "springing" as they would in trot or canter. As the poles are raised in height, this effort is further amplified, requiring more musculature control, you will also see the horse lower his head in order to focus, balance and help stabilise & extend the spine through the use of their spinal ligament system. Allow them to lower the head please !
And there are certain walk excercises that in fact can 'reboot' the horse internal mechanics. For horses that have poor preproception, and wrong balance in the body, slow walk excercises on and off slanted hill-sides can teach them to find their footing again and use the natural pendulem and balance in the body again.
Fascinating ! Start walking excercises NOW !
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