How to Warm Up a Horse Before Riding: A Safe Routine for Training and Competition

By Dr Duncan Houston

A warm-up should prepare your horse for work without tiring them before the real session begins.

Starting difficult movements, fast canter work or jumping too early may place sudden demands on muscles, joints, tendons, coordination and the cardiovascular system. At the other extreme, spending too long cantering, drilling transitions or repeatedly jumping in the warm-up can create fatigue, heat accumulation and deteriorating technique before the horse reaches the main task.

The best warm-up is therefore not the longest or hardest one. It is the one that progressively prepares the individual horse for the specific work ahead.

Quick Answer

Most horses benefit from approximately 10 to 20 minutes of progressive movement before ordinary schooling, with around 20 to 30 minutes often appropriate before more demanding competition or fast work. These are practical ranges rather than scientifically proven limits.

Start with relaxed walking, progress gradually through trot and canter, then introduce a small amount of discipline-specific work. The horse should finish the warm-up moving evenly, responding comfortably and feeling prepared, not sweaty, tired or increasingly resistant.

What Does a Warm-Up Actually Do?

A warm-up gradually changes the horse from a resting state to an exercising state.

During progressive exercise:

• Muscle temperature increases

• Oxygen consumption rises

• Blood flow to working muscle increases

• Aerobic energy production becomes available more quickly

• Heart rate and breathing rise gradually

• Movement patterns become more coordinated for the task ahead

• The rider has an opportunity to assess soundness, responsiveness and behaviour

In six fit Standardbreds, a ten-minute low-intensity warm-up increased muscle temperature from approximately 36.6°C without a warm-up to 38.3°C. It also increased peak oxygen consumption, reduced reliance on anaerobic metabolism and increased average run time to fatigue from 124 seconds without a warm-up to 173 seconds after the moderate warm-up. (Physiology Journals)

A separate study involving 13 fit Standardbreds found that a five-minute warm-up increased the aerobic contribution during subsequent high-intensity exercise from approximately 72% to 79%. However, that study did not find a significant difference in total run time, showing that physiological benefits do not always translate into an obvious performance improvement in every exercise test. (BeVA)

Does Warming Up Prevent Injuries?

It is reasonable to believe that progressing gradually into work is safer than asking a resting horse to perform immediately at maximum intensity. However, the direct equine evidence is more limited than many articles suggest.

The principal equine warm-up studies measured:

• Muscle temperature

• Oxygen use

• Lactate production

• Muscle glycogen metabolism

• Surface limb temperature

• Time to fatigue

They did not follow large populations of horses to determine whether a particular warm-up reduced tendon injuries, fractures or other musculoskeletal injuries over a season. It is therefore more accurate to say that warm-up prepares the horse physiologically and may reduce avoidable strain, rather than claiming that a set routine has been proved to prevent injury. (Physiology Journals)

What matters just as much, and often more, is the horse’s underlying conditioning. Racehorse studies have shown that musculoskeletal injury risk is influenced by recent exercise history, accumulated loading and how progressively the horse has been prepared. A twenty-minute warm-up cannot compensate for weeks of inadequate conditioning, sudden workload increases or an existing injury. (PubMed)

Is More Warming Always Better?

No.

In the Standardbred study comparing different warm-ups, horses completed either:

• No warm-up

• Ten minutes at approximately 50% of maximal oxygen consumption

• A more intensive protocol that included short intervals at 80%, 90% and 100% of maximal oxygen consumption

The harder warm-up increased muscle temperature more, but it did not produce better subsequent performance. Horses completed the longest sprint after the lower-intensity warm-up. The researchers suggested that the harder preliminary work may have introduced fatigue that offset its physiological benefits. (Physiology Journals)

This is the central rule:

A warm-up should increase readiness faster than it increases fatigue.

More trotting, more cantering and more jumps do not automatically make a horse safer.

Does Warming Tendons Make Them Safer?

This is more complicated than simply saying that warm tendons are more elastic.

A thermographic study of six jumping horses and six leisure horses found that rectal and distal-limb surface temperatures increased as warm-up duration increased. Surface temperatures also remained elevated 30 minutes later, particularly in the trained jumping horses. However, skin temperature over a tendon is not the same as measuring the tendon’s core temperature, and the study did not evaluate subsequent injury rates. (MDPI)

More heat is not necessarily better. During sustained galloping, the central superficial digital flexor tendon may reach very high temperatures. An experimental study recorded estimated intratendinous temperatures of approximately 43°C to 45°C, leading researchers to investigate excessive heat as a possible contributor to tendon degeneration. (ScienceDirect)

The practical goal is therefore progressive loading and appropriate preparation, not trying to make the legs as hot as possible.

How Long Should You Warm Up a Horse?

There is no universal minimum or maximum that suits every horse.

The appropriate duration changes according to:

• Fitness

• Age

• Soundness

• Discipline

• Intensity of the planned session

• Weather

• Footing

• Time spent standing beforehand

• Whether the horse lives in a stable or moves freely at pasture

• The rider’s balance and experience

A horse that has spent several hours walking around a paddock may begin less stiff than a horse that has stood in a stable overnight, but turnout does not completely replace the need for a task-specific warm-up.

Practical warm-up ranges

Horse and planned work	Initial easy movement	Approximate total warm-up
Fit horse, quiet hack or light schooling	5 to 10 minutes	10 to 15 minutes
Normal flatwork session	8 to 12 minutes	15 to 25 minutes
Jumping or demanding dressage work	10 to 15 minutes	20 to 30 minutes
Fast work, eventing or strenuous conditioning	10 to 15 minutes	20 to 30 minutes or more
Older, stiff or recently rested horse	10 to 15 minutes	20 to 30 minutes, mostly low intensity
Hot or humid conditions	Enough easy work to establish rhythm	Reduce unnecessary volume and heat production

These ranges are a clinical starting framework, not pass-or-fail thresholds. A horse showing discomfort after fifteen minutes does not need another fifteen minutes to “finish warming up.” It needs reassessment.

A Three-Phase Horse Warm-Up Routine

Phase 1: Easy Movement and Assessment

Begin with approximately 5 to 10 minutes of active walking. Allow longer, often 10 to 15 minutes, for older horses, horses coming directly from a stable, horses returning from reduced work or those exercising in cold conditions.

Use:

• Straight lines

• Large turns

• Both reins

• A regular, forward walk

• Gentle changes of direction

• Simple transitions between halt and walk

The horse should be allowed to use its head and neck naturally. This does not mean abandoning all contact or allowing the horse to rush. The aim is calm, active movement without early collection or restriction.

During this phase, assess:

• Whether the stride is even

• Whether one rein feels noticeably different

• Whether the horse is stumbling

• Whether the back feels unusually rigid

• Whether the horse resents the girth, saddle or rider

• Whether breathing appears normal

• Whether behaviour is consistent with that horse’s baseline

The walk is not merely dead time before the “real” work. It is the first clinical checkpoint of the session.

Phase 2: Progressive Aerobic Work

Progress into rising trot when the horse is walking freely and evenly.

Use:

• Large circles

• Long sides

• Changes of rein

• Gradual transitions

• Short periods of trot separated by walk

• Changes in stride length without forcing collection

• Canter only after the horse has established rhythm and balance in trot

Increase duration and intensity progressively rather than moving from a loose walk directly into sitting trot, collected work or repeated canter transitions.

The purpose is to raise cardiovascular and muscular demand while still conserving energy for the main session.

A longer low-intensity warm-up may be more useful than an intense one for horses preparing for brief, high-speed work. Controlled Standardbred research found that a moderate warm-up enhanced aerobic metabolism and time to fatigue without the additional workload of the harder protocol. (Physiology Journals)

Phase 3: Discipline-Specific Preparation

The final phase should resemble the movements and energy demands of the planned work, but at a lower volume.

A horse about to jump needs a different final preparation from a horse going for a quiet trail ride.

Dressage

After the initial walk, trot and canter phases, progressively introduce:

• Frequent transitions

• Changes of direction

• Shallow lateral movements

• Lengthening and shortening

• Movements required in the upcoming test

• More collection only after the horse is moving freely forward

Do not begin with maximum collection, repeated passage, difficult pirouettes or intense lateral work while the horse is still rigid.

Dressage conditioning research supports matching training to the actual durations, transitions and short periods of increased intensity required during competition rather than relying only on continuous generic exercise. (PubMed)

Show Jumping

Begin with flatwork before jumping.

A sensible sequence is:

1. Establish walk, trot and canter rhythm.

2. Check both canter leads and transitions.

3. Use ground poles or a small crossrail.

4. Progress to a low vertical.

5. Add an oxer or more technical fence only when the horse is balanced.

6. Finish after a small number of good-quality efforts.

The goal is not to jump the competition at home in the warm-up arena.

A standardised 1.10-metre jumping course created a physiological workload comparable with cantering around a flat track at approximately 8 metres per second in one study of 21 actively competing Warmbloods. This reinforces that the actual course is substantial exercise and that excessive warm-up jumping can consume energy before the horse enters the ring. (PubMed)

Eventing and Cross-Country

The warm-up should prepare the horse for speed, terrain, jumping and rapid changes in balance.

After progressive flatwork, consider:

• A few forward canter intervals

• Gradual changes of pace

• Several appropriately sized jumping efforts

• Practice opening and closing the stride

• Brief exposure to the type of footing or gradient expected

Do not exhaust the horse with a long sequence of fences before cross-country. The horse still needs cardiovascular, muscular and mental reserves for the course itself.

Endurance and Long-Distance Riding

The warm-up should remain aerobic and economical.

Use steady walking and trotting to establish rhythm, mobility and willingness to move forward. A long-distance horse does not need to begin the day with repeated high-intensity bursts that waste energy, increase heat storage or accelerate fluid loss.

Racing and Fast Work

High-speed horses require a progressive protocol designed around their training program, fitness, surface and intended distance.

Controlled studies in Standardbreds show that relatively low-intensity preliminary exercise can improve oxygen kinetics during subsequent sprint work. A harder warm-up was not automatically better. (Physiology Journals)

Fast-work routines should be designed with the trainer and attending veterinarian rather than copied from another horse.

Should Ground Poles Be Included?

Ground poles can be useful after the horse has completed the initial easy phase.

In a study of 41 horses, walking over ground and raised poles increased flexion of several limb joints during the swing phase. Raised poles generally produced larger changes than ground poles. (PubMed)

This does not mean raised poles should be placed into every horse’s first few minutes of work.

Pole exercises may be inappropriate when the horse:

• Is not yet moving evenly

• Has active lameness

• Is weak or uncoordinated

• Is returning from tendon or ligament injury

• Has significant arthritis

• Is unfamiliar with poles

• Is working on slippery or unstable footing

Begin with correctly spaced ground poles and increase difficulty only when the horse remains relaxed and coordinated.

Should You Stretch Your Horse Before Riding?

Dynamic movement is generally more useful as a riding warm-up than forcefully holding a cold limb at the end of its range.

Controlled dynamic mobilisation exercises, sometimes called carrot stretches, have been shown to increase multifidus muscle cross-sectional area and improve left-right symmetry when performed consistently over three months. That evidence supports their use as part of an ongoing conditioning or rehabilitation program, not as proof that several stretches immediately before riding will prevent injury that day. (PubMed)

Avoid:

• Pulling a limb forcefully forward or backward

• Holding a stretch while the horse is resisting

• Stretching an acutely painful joint or muscle

• Using stretching to delay examination of lameness

• Performing difficult mobilisation exercises on slippery ground

When prescribed for rehabilitation, use the technique, frequency and range recommended by the treating veterinarian or physiotherapist.

How Do You Know When the Horse Is Warmed Up?

There is no single number, amount of sweat or exact minute that proves readiness.

Useful signs include:

• The stride has become regular and even

• The horse moves willingly forward

• Turns and transitions feel balanced

• The back feels less guarded

• Both reins feel reasonably similar for that horse

• The horse responds without excessive delay or resistance

• Breathing is increased but controlled

• The horse remains mentally attentive

• Sport-specific movements can be performed without deterioration

Sweating is not required. A clipped horse in cool weather may work effectively with very little visible sweat, while a horse in humid conditions may sweat heavily during relatively light work.

What matters most is movement quality, comfort and recovery.

What Signs Mean You Should Stop the Warm-Up?

Stop and reassess when the horse develops:

• Increasing unevenness

• Repeated stumbling or toe dragging

• A shortened stride on one limb

• Reluctance to turn in one direction

• Sudden resistance to canter

• Persistent tail swishing, ear pinning or kicking out

• Back pain or sinking away from pressure

• Abnormal breathing

• Unexpected weakness

• Muscle trembling

• Markedly reduced coordination

• A rapid decline in performance

The mistake I see owners make is assuming that every stiff or uneven horse simply needs longer to loosen up.

A horse that improves after ten minutes may still have arthritis, back pain, hoof pain or another underlying problem. “Working out of it” is not the same as proving that nothing is wrong.

How Should You Warm Up in Cold Weather?

Cold conditions often justify a longer easy phase, but not necessarily a harder one.

Practical adjustments include:

• Add several minutes of active walk

• Use large lines before tighter circles

• Delay collected work

• Delay jumping until movement is free

• Use a correctly fitted exercise sheet when appropriate

• Remove or adjust rugs before the horse becomes excessively hot

• Check frozen, slippery or deeply uneven footing

• Allow more time for an older or arthritic horse

• Reassess the horse after standing at the mounting block or warm-up gate

A rigid rule such as “every horse needs forty minutes in winter” is not evidence-based. Some horses may genuinely need a long progressive session. Others will become tired before the main work if every cold-day warm-up is automatically extended.

How Should You Warm Up in Hot or Humid Weather?

In hot conditions, the horse still needs preparation, but the warm-up should not become a pre-competition endurance event.

Reduce:

• Unnecessary trotting

• Repeated canter laps

• Excessive jumping

• Long periods standing in direct sun

• Heavy rugs or equipment

• Work that does not directly contribute to readiness

Use shade, airflow and drinking water whenever available. Keep the lower-intensity phase sufficient to establish rhythm, then use a small amount of targeted intensity rather than accumulating a large volume of work.

A study involving ten international eventing horses found that approximately eight minutes of cold-water rinsing after warm-up produced a modest reduction in rectal and skin temperatures during subsequent exercise. A 2025 study of six trained Thoroughbreds also found that a ten-minute pre-exercise shower reduced body-weight loss and heat accumulation without altering run time. (MDPI)

The Thoroughbred study also found that walking for 30 minutes in a very hot environment raised body temperature before the main work. This is a useful reminder that extending the low-intensity phase indefinitely is not automatically protective when heat is already the major challenge. (J-STAGE)

Heat acclimation should occur over days or weeks, not during one long warm-up. Four elite sport horses training for 14 days in a heated arena showed reduced cardiovascular and thermal strain by the end of the acclimation period. (PubMed)

Does the Horse Need Another Warm-Up After a Delay?

Usually, some degree of re-warming is sensible after a prolonged interruption.

There is no validated equine rule stating that every horse must repeat the warm-up after exactly 10, 15 or 20 minutes.

A thermographic study found that distal-limb surface temperatures remained elevated after 30 minutes, especially in trained jumping horses. However, retained surface warmth does not prove that the horse remains mentally, biomechanically and metabolically prepared for maximum work. (MDPI)

After a competition delay, return to:

• Active walk

• Several minutes of trot

• A short canter

• A small number of key movements or fences

The longer the delay, the colder the conditions and the more explosive the upcoming task, the more important this becomes.

Do not repeat the entire original warm-up automatically. Repeatedly completing full jumping warm-ups because a class has been delayed can create more fatigue than readiness.

How Should Older Horses Be Warmed Up?

Senior horses often benefit from:

• A longer walking phase

• Gradual transitions

• Large curves

• Less time on small circles

• A slower progression into collection

• Regular changes of rein

• Careful monitoring the following day

The warm-up should make an older horse move more comfortably, not disguise persistent pain.

Arrange a veterinary assessment when an older horse:

• Regularly begins lame

• Requires progressively longer to loosen up

• Becomes stiff again immediately after stopping

• Struggles to rise

• Has recurrent back soreness

• Stumbles increasingly

• Develops reduced performance

• Becomes unwilling to canter, jump or turn

Age does not make pain normal.

What About Young Horses?

Young horses need gradual physical and mental preparation, but prolonged warm-ups can also fatigue an immature or weak horse.

Keep sessions:

• Simple

• Progressive

• Varied

• Appropriate for the horse’s balance

• Appropriate for its stage of conditioning

• Free from excessive repetition

Do not use an extended warm-up to force a young horse into collection or posture it does not yet have the strength to maintain.

Fatigue reduces coordination. Once the horse begins losing balance or technique, continuing to drill the movement is more likely to teach compensation than improve it.

What About Horses Returning From Injury?

A rehabilitation warm-up is part of the treatment protocol and should not be improvised.

The horse may require restrictions on:

• Speed

• Duration

• Circle size

• Surface

• Pole height

• Inclines

• Canter

• Jumping

• Total weekly workload

A horse returning from tendon injury may need carefully controlled straight-line walking before any faster work. A horse recovering from back pain may need specific mobilisation or strengthening exercises. A horse returning after a fracture or joint injury may have an entirely different plan.

Feeling enthusiastic is not evidence that the tissue has regained normal strength.

How Worried Should You Be?

Lower concern

The horse:

• Starts sound

• Progressively becomes more supple

• Maintains even movement

• Responds normally

• Recovers promptly

• Shows no new pain or behavioural resistance

Continue with the planned work while monitoring movement quality.

Moderate concern

The horse:

• Feels mildly stiff

• Has been standing for a long period

• Is returning after several days off

• Is older or poorly conditioned

• Is working in cold conditions

• Shows mild reluctance that improves but does not completely disappear

Reduce intensity, extend the easy phase and reassess before beginning difficult work. Arrange veterinary assessment if the pattern repeatedly returns.

High concern

Stop the session and contact your veterinarian when the horse has:

• Persistent or worsening lameness

• Repeated stumbling

• Marked back pain

• New swelling or heat

• Strong digital pulses

• Unusual breathing at low intensity

• Significant muscle trembling

• Abnormal weakness

• A sudden change in behaviour

• Failure to recover normally

Do not attempt to “warm through” these signs.

Critical concern

Treat the situation as an emergency when the horse develops:

• Severe or non-weight-bearing lameness

• Collapse

• Severe incoordination

• Inability to stand

• Marked respiratory distress

• Altered awareness

• Seizures

• Severe muscle rigidity or pain

• Red or brown urine after exercise

• Extreme overheating

• Persistent rapid breathing with weakness

• Rapid deterioration

Exertional heat illness can progress from agitation and abnormal gait to disorientation, collapse, seizures and death. Stop exercise, begin rapid cooling when heat illness is suspected and contact a veterinarian immediately. (MSD Veterinary Manual)

When Is a Warm-Up Problem an Emergency?

The warm-up itself is rarely the primary diagnosis.

It may reveal:

• Acute lameness

• Tendon or ligament injury

• Hoof pain

• Laminitis

• Back pain

• Exertional rhabdomyolysis

• Neurological disease

• Respiratory disease

• Cardiac disease

• Heat illness

• Exhaustion

Seek immediate veterinary help if a horse becomes painful, uncoordinated, distressed or systemically unwell during what should be low-intensity preparation.

For suspected heat illness:

1. Stop work.

2. Remove tack.

3. Move the horse into shade and airflow.

4. Begin continuous cold-water cooling.

5. Keep the area safe because affected horses may become uncoordinated or unpredictable.

6. Contact your veterinarian.

Core temperature may continue rising after exercise has stopped, particularly in hot and humid conditions. (MSD Veterinary Manual)

What Should You Do Before Every Ride?

1. Look at the horse before tacking up

Check:

• General attitude

• Appetite

• Limb swelling

• Wounds

• Hoof condition

• Digital pulses

• Symmetry

• Whether the horse is standing abnormally

2. Check the tack

Ensure:

• The saddle is positioned correctly

• The girth is secure without being suddenly overtightened

• Pads are flat

• Boots and bandages are correctly fitted

• Nothing is rubbing or pinching

• Equipment is appropriate for the task

3. Observe the first minutes carefully

Do not spend the entire walk looking at your phone or chatting while the horse reveals how it feels.

Notice the rhythm, breathing, symmetry and behaviour.

4. Increase only one demand at a time

Progress through:

• Duration

• Speed

• Collection

• Technical difficulty

• Fence height

Do not increase all of them simultaneously.

5. Preserve energy for the main work

Once the horse feels prepared, begin the planned session.

A warm-up is not meant to become an entirely separate training session before the training session.

Common Warm-Up Mistakes

Starting difficult work too early

Collected movements, fast canter or jumping should not be the horse’s first meaningful exercise after leaving the stable.

Treating the clock as more important than the horse

Twenty minutes may be adequate for one horse and inappropriate for another.

Making the warm-up too intense

Repeated jumping, galloping or demanding transitions can cause fatigue before performance begins.

Assuming sweat proves readiness

Sweating depends heavily on coat, fitness, weather and humidity.

Working on small circles immediately

Small circles increase turning and balancing demands. Begin with straight lines and larger shapes.

Trying to ride through lameness

A lame horse needs assessment, not a longer warm-up.

Repeating the whole routine after every delay

Use a targeted re-warm rather than exhausting the horse with multiple complete warm-ups.

Ignoring the rider

A stiff, unbalanced rider can restrict the horse and create uneven forces. Riders should prepare their own hips, ankles, core and balance rather than expecting the horse’s first ten minutes to perform that job for them.

How Can You Reduce Exercise-Related Injury Risk?

Warm-up is only one part of a larger prevention plan.

The more important long-term factors include:

• Progressive conditioning

• Adequate recovery

• Appropriate surfaces

• Correct hoof care

• Suitable tack

• Maintaining a healthy body condition

• Regular veterinary and dental care

• Recognising subtle lameness early

• Avoiding sudden workload increases

• Matching the horse to the discipline

• Monitoring performance trends

• Adjusting work after illness or time off

Research in racehorses demonstrates that musculoskeletal injury reflects the balance between beneficial adaptation to loading and excessive accumulated stress. Too little preparation followed by sudden intense work can be dangerous, but so can rapidly accumulating excessive high-speed exercise. (PubMed)

The goal is not to protect the horse from every physical load. Healthy tissue needs appropriate loading to become stronger. The goal is to apply that load progressively enough for adaptation to occur.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ten minutes enough to warm up a horse?

It may be enough before light work for a fit, sound horse in mild conditions. More demanding work, cold weather, older horses and horses coming directly from a stable commonly require longer progressive preparation.

How long should a horse walk before trotting?

Five to ten minutes is a useful starting range. Consider 10 to 15 minutes for an older, stiff, recently rested or cold horse. Progress only when the horse is walking evenly and comfortably.

Should a horse canter during every warm-up?

Not necessarily. Canter should be included when it prepares the horse for the planned work. It may not be required before a gentle walk-trot rehabilitation session or quiet in-hand exercise.

How many jumps should a horse do in the warm-up?

There is no universal number. Use enough progressive efforts to establish rhythm, confidence and technique, then stop. Jump quality matters more than accumulating a large number of fences.

Can a horse be warmed up too much?

Yes. A horse that becomes tired, overheated, less coordinated or less responsive has gone beyond useful preparation. Harder warm-ups are not automatically more effective, and one equine study found no added benefit from the higher-intensity protocol. (Physiology Journals)

Final Thoughts

A good warm-up is a transition, not a test of endurance.

Begin with relaxed but purposeful movement. Increase speed, balance and technical difficulty gradually. Finish with a small amount of work that resembles the task ahead.

Do not chase a rigid number of minutes while ignoring the horse in front of you. A fit competition horse, a senior pony, a young horse and a horse returning from injury should not all complete the same routine.

Most importantly, use the warm-up as an assessment. If the horse becomes more even, comfortable and responsive, progress sensibly. If pain, asymmetry, weakness or breathing difficulty persists or worsens, stop.

The safest warm-up is not the one that makes the horse hottest. It is the one that leaves the horse prepared, comfortable and physically capable of performing the work that follows.

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Use ASK A VET™ to record warm-up duration, exercise intensity, recovery, movement changes and episodes of stiffness or poor performance. If your horse repeatedly needs longer to loosen up or develops pain during exercise, tailored veterinary guidance can help determine whether the routine or the horse needs further assessment.