How important is the trot !

I doubt a wild horse would NOT run thru a fence if he first warmed up with 10 minutes of trotting. Now I'M confused...

Well I hope that one day you don't get hurt one day from not stretching. From personal experience, I have gotten a pulled muscle from running because I did not properly stretch.
So, it is our own choice to do it to yourself.
However, I do believe the smart thing to do is to stretch. And since horses depend on their muscles so much more than us, I say stretching is a must.

I love trotting, I'd much rather trot then canter. I don't know if it is important so I won't comment on that, maybe the people there just don't know how comfortable sitting the trot can be once you get it down. I admire the riders who trot and the butt barely lifts out of the saddle.

When a horse runs away in the wild, is there always a path?

I've watched my horses chase each other when angry, and they seem to accelerate and turn quickly without trotting first. I've watched them sprint across rocks and between trees in spots I wouldn't try riding them...

Bottom line - if you want to warm up your horse, do so. Based on studies with humans, it doesn't seem likely to help - but that doesn't stop millions of joggers from stretching into positions that would put this aging jogger into a hospital.

I'm just saying because a wild horse doesn't warm up before running from a predator to save his life doesn't mean that it's healthy or good for him. Nor is running thru a fence which I know any horse would do to save his/her life. It doesn't mean we should ignore the basic precautions of warming up.

I have yet to see a horse run a barrel pattern by itself in a pasture.

And how would one KNOW that warming up does squat for a horse?

There have been studies going back at least 30 years showing that jogging without stretching first has no measurable impact on speed or injuries, yet millions swear by it.

And how would trotting warm a horse up for a tight turn around a barrel? Maybe walking him in a tight figure 8 would 'stretch' his muscles more appropriately. Maybe he would need a collected canter in a straight line, or a slow gallop.

At a minimum, I think the evidence from humans suggest that NOT warming-up a horse is not a sign of abuse, gross stupidity or a cause of 70% of all horses being lame.

And how do you know that warming up does NO good for a horse?

I will just stick with my ways and you stick with your's, mkay?

No need to force your opinion on anyone. I was simply stating mine and that is where I will stand. Thank you for the excellent argument.

The proper way to warm up muscles in humans is to run then come back and stretch. That is for people who are going to be doing a sport. Most humans do it backwards. There is no way to tell if its the proper way for horses without doing some research.

BubblesBlue : I don't at all judge all western riders , I am riding western now too , & I've been around plenty of great western riders (including my mom and a lot of my family) . (:
But , BSMS : I must say your point is quite irrelevant . Ie : Physically stretching a horse is different than trotting to stretch their muscles out. Also , I am talking about ATHLETES . Not in any was offensive , but jogging is not a high performance sport. Barrel racing is . You're telling me that a football player is going to suit up , and go straight out and start playing ?? Absolutely not , we all know that a every single player stretches , walks , jogs around , and does 'warm ups' . You said that you JOG , well a horses TROT is like our jog . Would you jog a little before you just started RUNNING ? Yes . So ..do me this : Get out of bed , throw some clothes on , lace up your shoes , walk out of your front door and IMMEDIATELY start RUNNING . & then get back to us and share how your body is feeling... THIS is what these people do to their horses. We are not speaking of jogging , were speaking of a full on RUN.
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