Before trail riding: the best way to warm up and cool down horses
Q: Can you explain why warm-up and cool-down are so important in cross country and, for example, what do your horses’ warm-up and cool-down usually look like at a major competition?
~ Lexy M.
, North Carolina A: Cross country is undoubtedly the most physically demanding phase in eventing, so it is crucial to give your horse a proper warm-up before entering the high pressure of the competition.
A good warm-up gradually raises the horse’s heart rate and breathing, boosts circulation, helps loosen the joints, and makes the muscles more supple for the work ahead.
In addition, you should use the warm-up to gauge your horse’s gears and prepare him to approach fences at speed, while also making sure he is responsive to your aids for steering and speed control.
This is especially important for his focus and adjustability on course.
From the first fence on, you need to make sure he is ready to perform.
Cool-down is just as important.
Imagine you have just finished a marathon.
You probably would not cross the finish line and immediately sit down on the couch to watch television.
It is the same with horses.
When their breathing and heart rate have risen and their adrenaline is high, you need to gradually bring them back down so their muscles have a chance to recover and relax.
A proper cool-down for the horse is really important so his muscles have the best chance to recover, especially because you do not want them to be stiff and tight for show jumping the next day.
Cross country warm-up: smart preparation usually means about 10 to 15 minutes of easy trot work, but some of my horses get really excited during warm-up because they can see the other horses galloping around the course and warming up.
In that case, I try to find a quiet space for flatwork.
If they get a little quick and break into canter while trotting, I just calmly let them settle into canter if that makes them more relaxed, because you do not want them to become too tense before heading out on course.
My goal in flatwork is to help the horses relax and, hopefully, take a little of the edge off before they start over the warm-up jumps.
Then, in canter, I make a few adjustments to the gears to make sure I can get a big, open canter and then easily collect it again, because unlike in other phases, in cross country you really have to open up and be able to move back and forth between different levels.
If you watch good cross country rounds, you will see that it is about going fast, but not in a crazy gallop like racehorses on a track.
That kind of speed makes it very hard to slow down and turn quickly.
It is more about maintaining the same canter tempo and opening it up to cover more ground, while still having enough control to easily adjust the horse’s stride.
I also use flatwork in the warm-up to make sure my horse maintains his own balance and does not lean on me or get on the forehand.
In many ways, it all comes back to dressage work; even in cross country and show jumping.
It is all connected.
When I canter fast to a fence, I want the horses to be balanced as they approach the fence and to look where they are going.
I do not want them moving with their chin glued to their chest and their eyes fixed on the ground.
So I work with them on the flat to make sure the horses are connected and really responsive to my aids.
For cross-country, it is very important that you can easily adjust your gears up and down so that on course you can increase the speed and reduce it whenever necessary.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Then I do a few canter jumps over a small fence.
This is good for my position, because you never know when your horse will leave the ground in canter, and at the same time I think it gives the horses good preparation too.
This exercise strengthens their sense of self-preservation and their jumping intelligence, because on the competition course you never know when you may face a bad distance and have a few canter strides inside or outside the ideal distance.
Next, I gradually increase the size of our warm-up fences.
At many competitions, they provide riders with beautiful cross-country fences for practice, as well as show-jumping fences.
I like to make sure my horses know which phase is coming next, so usually I only jump cross-country fences.
If they touch a fence a little in the warm-up, their jumping becomes sharper.
So when you come at speed to the first big square fence, you hope that they will have a clean and safe jump.
I also make sure to jump a few fences from an angle and in both directions.
Most courses have angled fences on both sides, so I think preparing for them is sensible, because horses have to pick up their inside leg much more quickly for these fences.
It is also good practice to make sure they jump safely and are attentive.
When Alliston gallops at speed toward a fence, he wants his horses to be balanced as they approach the fence and to look where they are going; that is why he uses the warm-up to make sure they stay balanced and do not fall onto the forehand.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Near the end of the warm-up, I jump one or two fences in canter so that we can find our stride and get the distances right at speed.
This helps the horses get used to approaching quickly and then slowing down automatically whenever necessary.
Usually after the warm-up jumps, the horses relax a little, so this is where you can shift the gears a bit more in canter.
Another important part of my warm-up routine, especially for a four- or five-star competition with a very long and demanding cross-country course, is that I always finish at least 10 minutes before I am due to leave the start box.
I mount about 40 minutes before my start time so that we can do the warm-up, and then I give my horse a proper break so it can catch its breath before we begin.
I have seen this make a huge difference.
I find a cool spot where my horse can rest and its heart rate and breathing can return to resting levels.
You should never start a long course with a horse whose breathing or heart rate is above normal, because it will tire him out very quickly.
If they are overly excited right from the start, getting through the course becomes much more difficult for them.
An example of cooling down after cross-country: in the past, when cross-country was over, you would immediately dismount and walk the horse to cool it down.
But a few years ago I saw Michael Jung, Germany’s top event rider, after finishing cross-country, calmly work his horse for one or two circles in trot and then for several more circles in a light trot.
It has been shown that gradually reducing the effort is better for the horses’ muscles than suddenly going from full gallop to walk.
I also took my cue from Michael’s routine, meaning a little gallop and light trot after cross-country, unless my horse is truly exhausted.
In that case, we usually only trot a little and then walk out.
Trot before walk also gives you a chance to check the horse’s soundness and ensure it is not lame.
When coming down from gallop to trot, I focus on whether the transitions feel smooth and easy, or whether the horse is putting a little strain on its body in an irregular trot.
Kira Niyogi, the groom of HMR Roland, leads the gelding to the cooling box to cool down after Alliston’s cross-country round at the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4-S 2026.
©Alana Harrison Alliston gives Roland a “good boy” pat in the vet box while the team is busy removing equipment and cooling him down.
©Alana Harrison After that, I usually dismount, loosen the girth, quickly take off the saddle, and keep walking while my friends and grooms arrive with cold water.
Traditionally, we used to pour cold water over horses and then scrape it off, but the science behind the best cooling methods is constantly evolving.
Now the idea is to pour as much cold water as possible over the large muscle groups and leave it there so the body temperature can come down.
Then we want to remove the horse’s boots to help cool the tendons, but I do not like walking him without boots if he has large studs in his shoes.
If he spooks for any reason, he could accidentally cut himself.
Once he has settled down and cooled a little, so I can safely remove the studs, we take off the boots as well so the tendons can cool.
To bring the horse’s body temperature down as quickly as possible, Alliston and his team pour cold water over the large muscle groups without scraping it off.
©Alana Harrison How long you cool your horse depends on your level, the temperature, and your horse’s fitness; but after a big five-star competition, especially in hot weather, we spend a lot of time cooling down.
At FEI competitions, cooling takes place in the vet box, so veterinarians are there to take the horses’ temperatures and check them to make sure they are not sent back to the stables too soon.
We like their body temperature to come down noticeably so the horse is comfortable before returning to the stables.
But in many cases, once their body temperature comes down, the horses are more comfortable settling back down in the stable too; because with all the coming and going and the commotion from the start and finish of the cross-country rounds, they are usually still lively and excited in the cooling area.
I hope these tips help you, Lexy, so you can have a proper warm-up and cool-down plan for your horse for your next competition!
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About James Alliston James Alliston, who grew up in England, has made a name for himself with numerous top international results, completing CCI5 competitions, and representing several U.S. Nations Cup teams.
He made his first senior Nations Cup team appearance in 2022 at Boekelo CCIO4*-NC-L in the Netherlands, with Nemesis.
In 2024, James and Karma helped the U.S. eventing team finish second at CHIO Aachen in Germany, and with a ninth-place finish, they were the highest-placed American combination in the competition.
Source: Practical Horseman – Training