Let me say that doing warm up exercise is never going to do harm. There is no reason to believe that it is a bad thing. But for most of us, it probably does not offer many advantages.
Some people believe that to make a horse safe to ride, they need to get the “freshness” out through exercise. This is not true. So-called “freshness” is the result of a lack of focus and anxiety.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea to work out at the gym for the first time in months? Or perhaps you made plans to go on a hike with some friends to get away from the television for the day. What about going for a horse ride after a few months of hibernating indoors during a cold wet winter?
I believe that many horse people suffer a severe affliction, a curse if you like, that dooms them and their horses to ordinariness. I call it exercise fixation.
