This is something I was taught 50 years ago and I still in force it at my barn.  We walk the first mile and last mile of our ride.

When I was a teen, the horses I rode were kept in straight stalls.  So when you took them out you let them walk for about a mile before you asked them to do anything.  It let them stretch out, and let the saddle find its comfortable spot.  It’s like an athlete, who warms up slowly.  Walking, stretching, then slowly increase exercise.  Even at an aerobics class they do warm ups and cool downs.  So doesn’t it make sense to do the same for your horse.

Now my horses are turned out, and I bring them into clean and tack before I ride, but I still hold true to my slow start-up.  It gives the horse time to walk around the field and look what’s changed in the last 15 minutes since I brought them into the barn.  I walk both ways because things look different from the other direction.  It gives us both time to relax from what we did before we moved off.  Gives me time to breathe, to release any tension, worries, and stress that my horse may sense and react to.  In general, it just gives us time to reconnect.

At the end of the ride we walk to get our heart rate, and breathing back to normal.  Gives the blood supply, that has been going to needed areas, time to rethink its direction.  It’s a good time to calm, and cool down.  A time to reflect on what you just accomplished and the areas you need to work on the next time.  It’s a time to praise your horse for the good work he has done.  It’s a time to just be together and enjoy each others company.  To take time to look around and feel a connection to the earth, the birds and small animals around you.  To feel God smiling at you for using one of the gifts He has given you.

It’s a time to just be.