Let's Talk... Leg Work: Checking Range of Motion vs. Stretching for Improved Performance

Let's Talk... Leg Work: Checking Range of Motion vs. Stretching for Improved Performance
These stretches are simple stretches that I teach all of my owners when they pick their horses up from our facility. They are easy to do and very beneficial. In this video, I demonstrate the difference in using these stretches to check natural range of motion and stretching warm muscle before competing.
Cold Muscle: Cold muscle will never stretch as well as warm muscle, so I use the stretches to assess range of motion and give myself a base point to compare to. I don't ask the horse to stretch past the first point the I feel resistance.
Warm Muscle: Now I can ask for a bit more stretch past the point of comfort. I never force the stretch, I just ask gently for the horse to sink farther into the stretch and hold a bit longer.
Things to remember: Horses that are frequently stretched will have more flexibility even when their muscles aren't warmed up and will naturally be able to stretch farther. Horses that are new to stretching may not have a huge extension in the beginning, even with warmed up muscles because they simply aren't as relaxed and flexible. So don't expect your horse to always look like the ones you see in videos. They will get better the more you stretch them.
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