5 Simple Pre-Ride Core Activations
🐴 What to Do Before You Ride: 5 Simple Pre-Ride Core Activations
You wouldn’t head into a gym session without warming up your core — so why should your horse?
Yet for many riders, the pre-ride routine goes something like this: tack up, mount, and head straight into walk or trot. No prep, no activation, no intention. But here’s the thing…
Most horses aren’t naturally engaging their deep postural muscles when they start moving. Without support from the core, the horse tends to brace, overuse the wrong muscles, or fall into crooked patterns — especially if they’re coming back from time off, injury, or dealing with weakness from compensation.
Just a few minutes of targeted activation before you ride can make a huge difference to how your horse moves, balances, and builds strength in work.
🔑 Why Core Activation Matters
The core isn’t just about abdominals — it’s the whole system of deep stabilising muscles that support the spine, pelvis, and ribcage. When these muscles are asleep or underused, horses compensate with tension, bracing, and unevenness.
Activating these key muscles before you ride helps:
Wake up postural awareness
Improve spinal alignment and balance
Increase mobility through the back and pelvis
Encourage better use of the hindquarters
Reduce the risk of re-injury or strain
It’s especially important for rehab horses or those with a history of kissing spine, but every horse can benefit.
🧡 5 Pre-Ride Core Activations to Try
These are simple, effective exercises you can do in just a few minutes — no special equipment needed.
1. Backward Weight Shift
Stand at your horse’s side and gently place your hand on the sternum area, at the bony point of the chest.
Apply light, steady pressure to cue a subtle shift of weight back onto the hindquarters. You’re not asking for a full step back — just a gentle rock of weight that activates the thoracic sling and postural chain.
This helps engage the core, mobilise the shoulder area, and reconnect front-to-back awareness. Repeat 2–3 times, allowing your horse to reset between each.
2. Wither Rocks
Place your hands either side of the withers and apply a gentle side-to-side pressure to encourage movement through the ribcage and spine.
Great for loosening the thoracic area and reconnecting the forehand to the core system.
3. Belly Lifts
Use gentle pressure along the midline of your horse’s belly (with your fingertips or a soft edge of your hand) to encourage them to lift through the back.
This activates the deep abdominals and stretches the top line. Do 2–3 reps.
4. Backing Up (5–10 Strides)
Ask your horse to take 5–10 slow, purposeful steps backwards. Watch that they stay straight and step back from the hindquarters rather than dragging or hollowing.
This is a fantastic way to activate the abdominal muscles, flex the lumbosacral area, and bring awareness to the hind end.
Keep it relaxed and rhythmical — quality over quantity.
5. Walk with Intention
Before you mount, walk your horse in-hand for 3–5 minutes with focus on active, swinging steps.
Look for forward motion, relaxed breathing, and rhythm. Ground poles or gentle turns can help engage the hindquarters too.
✨ Make It a Habit
You don’t need to do all five every single time. Start with two or three that suit your horse and routine. The key is consistency. Over time, these micro-movements create macro changes — helping your horse move better, feel stronger, and stay sounder.
And if you're ready to go deeper and build a real foundation of core strength and postural stability, I’ve created a step-by-step online course just for you.
👉 Explore My Core Exercises for Your Horse Online Course
This course gives you a full toolkit of proven exercises (stable based core activation and mobilisation exxercises) to help your horse:
Build postural strength
Improve balance and straightness
Recover from injury or compensate less
Move with more ease and softness
Work over the back and build core and back strength
Whether you're supporting rehab, improving performance, or just want to help your horse feel better in their body — this course is a brilliant next step.
