[Roxy93]

I've heard from many people that stretching your horse's legs before a ride (literally stretching, not U/S) is important. How do you guys stretch yours out?

[jhalton]

To stop the girth pinching, I just pick up the front leg and lift it, bending the knee. Probably a bit higher than the horses belly. You will see the hair/skin of the girth area stretch out. Just one per leg is necessary.

[gallop4life]

yes it is very important to stretch your horses legs.....

So far this has only happened once with me and once with my trainer......
But I never want it to happen again..

The girth was pinching my pony, but you couldn't tell by looking at it...
I put one leg in the stirrub, swung my leg over.........The got bucked off
It was pretty nasty.....I stilll have a scar


So now I always stretch their legs..(especially if it is bigger then 13 hands.. lol)

I put the reins over the head.. then standing to the side facing backward, I pick up the leg and back up...stretching the leg up and foward.

[Canadian Sage]

i actually took a video of me streatching my mare..but deleted it as it was only for one person to see.

next time I go into ride, or if I get a good day out here, I will get a video of how I streatch my mare. I find its easier to see it being done then explain it LOL.

The reason *I* streatch my horses legs is to get them loostened up a bit and let their legs get a bit more free.

I have never actually started streatching any of my horses legs, unless they get an injury or I think they are getting sore somewhere, but I think I am going to start doing streatches and massages on a regular basis (I was also taught how to do massages to relax a horse, ex).

[sladesaddleshop]

yes, you can just lift the front legs higher, but there are some important things to keep in mind. Just stretching one muscle is like you just stretching your hamstring before soccer practice... you use a lot more muscles than that and need to stretch them!

I stretch my horse's front legs by lifting the knee slightly higher than level, hold for 20 seconds (more than 30 seconds actually damages the muscle and less than 15 is ineffective). I then support behind the ball of the heel and ask the horse to stretch forward and out, but lower than the knee stretch. every horse is unique, so how high you can take it will vary. It will also get better as you stretch him more consistently.

Then move to the back legs. Stretch forward by supporting the heel and gently pulling forward and down towards the front foot (without letting him set it down). Stretch across, support the hock and the fetlock and push the hind leg towards the opposite front leg (as if you were doing lateral work). Lastly, stretch him back and up like he would stand for the farrier.

Also don't forget to do the "carrot stretches." Make your horse bend his neck both ways and also down between his knees. This can be hard to force, so using a treat to entice him to stretch for it is usually the best way to get it. Then he gets stretched and only knows he's getting a treat!

Make him stretch his back by taking your finger and scratching the middle of his belly. Make sure to do it hard enough to make him lift his back, but not hard enough to make it uncomfortable.

I know it sounds like a lot, but in the end you'll have a happier horse who is a lot easier to supple, and a lot less likely to injure himself while working.

[jhalton]

Just wondering if the extended stretching would be better to do after the horse has excercised (or at least after warm-up trotting) rather than before? I am only saying this because I am studying massage and to stretch the muscle before it has been warmed up can cause damage. I think that after excercise would be best for the type of stretches just mentioned above - what does everyone else think? Of course, just do the "girth stretch" before mounting but this is not so intense as the one just mentioned - although it sounds great to do afterward.