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Member
Posts: 44
| I always see girls at races who get off and stretch their horses legs before a run..I think it's a good thing to do but I don't want to do something wrong and do more harm than good. I know not to stretch cold muscles, but I need ideas as for exactly what stretches you do, how long you hold them, etc. (links would be a plus)  Thanks | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
  
| Dr. Kim told me to stretch side to side, take a treat and have them bend to the side and down(towards the hind hoof) hold a couple seconds and do the other side. Then under their tail push each side out, the point of their butt there is a bone there, hold it 90 seconds. Pull each front leg out and down, closer to the ground the better, 30 seconds.
Forgot to add, she said before and after is best. You can also take a treat and get them to bend to their chest and then try and get them to move their head up to really stretch it.
Edited by FlyingJT 2015-02-08 4:26 PM
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | FlyingJT - 2015-02-08 4:22 PM Dr. Kim told me to stretch side to side, take a treat and have them bend to the side and down(towards the hind hoof) hold a couple seconds and do the other side. Then under their tail push each side out, the point of their butt there is a bone there, hold it 90 seconds. Pull each front leg out and down, closer to the ground the better, 30 seconds. Forgot to add, she said before and after is best. You can also take a treat and get them to bend to their chest and then try and get them to move their head up to really stretch it.
This is what I've been doing for the past week. My geldings have come to love it (mostly because they get a few pieces of Forco after they do ask I ask) Except I have a hard time doing the stretch near their butt by myself. My horse certainly isn't warmed up when I'm doing these. I mostly see girls stretching the front legs at races. I would think that as long as your pushing your horse too hard you shouldn't doing any damage. Curious about that though because both of my horses are not being ridden to warm the muscles up.
Martha Josey also talked about doing a stretch in last months BHN where she talked about getting horses to lower their heads down between ther legs. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1094
Location: Idahome | I do stretches and I think it makes a difference. Try and do a little stretching for yourself at the same time. You would be surprised how much better you feel before you run. You can get on YouTube and watch some videos on how to stretch. Just make sure they are someone that know what they are talking about. I am a visual and hands on learner, so YouTube always helps rather than someone just talking trying to explain it to me. | |
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Stretching before a run