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 Mature beyond Years
Posts: 10780
   
Location: North of the 49th Parallel | What is your routine for a hot horse? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1302
Location: California | I'm guessing you are talking about at a race? Mine is lots of walking and trotting, I barely lope. Lots of sitting down and making them pay attention and think about rate as well as bending and moving their body around. I also always keep mine moving and focused on something I am asking. |
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Mature beyond Years
Posts: 10780
Location: North of the 49th Parallel | Yes, at a race. Going to the vet next week to fix some stuff but she's naturally a hot horse. Do you use a different bit while warming up and switch right before a run? (she knows what bit she has in her mouth and what it means). |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | little_bug - 2014-06-05 4:55 PM
I'm guessing you are talking about at a race? Mine is lots of walking and trotting, I barely lope. Lots of sitting down and making them pay attention and think about rate as well as bending and moving their body around. I also always keep mine moving and focused on something I am asking.
This is pretty much exactly how I warm up a hot/nervous horse, actually I prob don't lope one at all. And when they're good and warm/stretched I'll get off and hand walk until it's time to run. Whatever it takes to keep one calm/relaxed. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 927
Location: Iowa | I don't canter around at all. Just walk and trot. I tie him back up till 10 before I run. I don't mount until they start to drag my set. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I trot mine early to loosen him up, then either let him relax at the trailer with a buddy for a few minutes while I pin my hat on, tie up other loose ends, etc., or I hand walk him until they are 2 or 3 away then I step on, move him off my feet once each direction and put my rubber bands on. He gets wound up just by trotting a little bit, so I always make sure to have 5-10 minutes of chill time where I'm not on him and the cinch is loose before we have to go run, and I don't get on before I absolutely have to. |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | little_bug - 2014-06-05 4:55 PM I'm guessing you are talking about at a race? Mine is lots of walking and trotting, I barely lope. Lots of sitting down and making them pay attention and think about rate as well as bending and moving their body around. I also always keep mine moving and focused on something I am asking.
Same here. Some days mine is hotter than others. On the bad days where it seems like an electric atmosphere I barely lope at all but walk and trot a lot. Some days aren't so bad so I do lope and ask for stops. I just try to keep her mind on what she's doing. |
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 A Lady with Fight
Posts: 2701
Location: NC | bccanchaser16 - 2014-06-05 7:25 PM
Yes, at a race. Going to the vet next week to fix some stuff but she's naturally a hot horse. Do you use a different bit while warming up and switch right before a run? (she knows what bit she has in her mouth and what it means).
Mine is nowhere close to hot, but yes, I work at home and warm up in the same bit. I switch out to my running bit the drag before I run. If I'm at an arena where I'm close to the trailer, I will walk back to the trailer, switch my headstall out, tighten the cinch one more time, mount back up, and walk back to the arena. If not, I'll just switch out headstalls inside the holding pen or right near the alleyway. |
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 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
Location: North MS | Great thread-appears my young horse is a hot one. I hadn't thought about minimal loping. My next plan is to walk and stop, trot to walk, lope to trot and all forms of rate around the warmup pen. Some backing thrown in. I've come up with a funny- he has a "Drill Bit". I've got a loomis with the martingale that goes with it to practice in and that is what I plan to use for all his "exercises". For running I have him a Dutton combination gag with a smooth snaffle mouthpiece to run in. Theory is that it still has gag, but I have some emergency rate-ability if I need it. More practice tomorrow and we will see how it goes Saturday lol. |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | I warm up in my running bits. |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | CYA Ranch - 2014-06-05 10:06 PM I warm up in my running bits.
Me too. I don't ride in them at home and if I do any pattern work, I use something similar but slightly different. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I also used split reins until i am done with warm up and am waiting the lean over snap snap snap. With split reins you can set back and relax and have your hands in a natural spot i never ride with my barrel reins only use the for running. Watch people ride with them it puts rider in am unatural position body and hands.
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | walk walk walk. For my sass master right when I get on gets to trot both directions(which is really just dancing at races), lope one circle both directions on the correct lead. then walking only. It helps get his mind right and more quieted down. It also helps with him when I have two horses to take his bridle off if we aren't running for awhile and ponying him off of my other horse in a halter, I have finally gotten him to the point where he can relax enough to drop(his man business) and wait patiently. putting the bridle back on and getting ready to race is a whole other story but it makes for a much less stressful day!
ETA: my other horse that I pony him off of is my hot horses best buddy but the hot horse is very alpha over him. So he is thinking more about keeping the other horse in line and not about running and racing. and we only walk or stand and wait.
Edited by Crowned Image 2014-06-06 8:08 AM
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 Member
Posts: 31
Location: Florida | I walk and walk... any trotting is far from the arena. Then keep steady walking, all over the grounds, around the alley until I walk right into the alleyway. Standing or loping, both make her hotter. |
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 Ms. Marine
Posts: 4641
Location: Texas | I walk my hot mare away from the area and stretch her. About 20 minutes before our run, I will walk her up toward the ally way to let her look around, and then I walk her away until it's time for our run. |
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| My routine depends on the situation. If I'm at a small jackpot and running more than one horse, I will pony my hot horse at a walk and trot, then he gets tied back up at the trailer until a little before our run. I give myself enough time to lope a handful of circles each direction, just enough until I can feel him relax. I try to stay away from the arena when I do this. I only head to the gate a couple of runs before me so I don't stress him out at the gate. If he's the only one I'm running, I get on with just enough time to walk, trot, and lope my circles. He's best if there's no standing around waiting, so I try to time it just right. If there's going to be a wait, I get off and either tie up to the trailer or hang out away from the arena.
You might have to try different routines to see what your horse likes the best. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Good thread! |
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Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| I have a question about not loping as part of your warm up. Do you feel like you get your horse warmed up enough and its muscles loose enough without the loping? This was also the recommendation of a top trainer when asked about warming up hot horses. But with my Kinesiology background I am just afraid that the muscles aren't warmed up enough for a run if we don't do some loping. Any thoughts on this? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1368
| With my hot (isn) horse I do as much walking as I can because usually he wants to get right to work. I'll trot him both ways till he feels nice and loose and then I'll lope. Usually when he is being really hot its the lope that settles him down. I've seen some people with hot horses go straight to the loping, which I don't agree with, but some things work better for certain horses. |
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 Go For It!
Location: Texas | First off, I ride them everyday at home and I don't play tug of war with them. If they are hot at home then I let them run in a big circle until they settle down on their own. I just guide them in the circle till they relax. I'm a run sucker so I can get a hot horse to be pretty quiet in a short amount of time. 1 or 2 weeks is usually all it takes. When I get to the barrel race I may tie them to the fence somewhere or put them in a pen close to the alley... Then I will saddle, ride around away from the arena for about 10 minutes, and then go sit quietly near the arena till its time to run. I've had some real goofballs that this stuff worked on. I had my husband video a horse I was riding for a friend and she didn't even believe it was her horse, lol.
You just have to be patient and you can turn one around. Good luck!
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 364
| Jenbabe - 2014-06-06 5:42 PM
I have a question about not loping as part of your warm up. Do you feel like you get your horse warmed up enough and its muscles loose enough without the loping? This was also the recommendation of a top trainer when asked about warming up hot horses. But with my Kinesiology background I am just afraid that the muscles aren't warmed up enough for a run if we don't do some loping. Any thoughts on this?
I agree loping is important and essential to a good warm up. I also believe a hotter horse needs to be loped, loped, and loped. This is what cutters do to bring those horses DOWN. Not only does it get them thinking but they are not bound up full of nerves, tight muscles and prone to injury. The problem is when competing, you won't always have the luxury of a nice loping pen for you to spend a good amount of time in. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1410
Location: Peach State | I personally trot ALOT then lope till my gelding calms down a little (he's very hot too) do spiral down and out both direction. A few roll backs then the rest is walking and just sharpening cues and flexing to make sure he's loose. I do this about 50 before my run then get off and hand walk until my run. (Usually 2drags)
And depending on the season if it's cold a lot more trotting and stretching. |
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Warm up routine