❄️ Winter Training: Keep Your Horse Moving, Strong & Happy

Winter can be a tricky time for horse owners. Shorter days, cold weather, and muddy arenas can make it harder to maintain a consistent routine — but it’s also the perfect opportunity to focus on safe, structured work that keeps your horse moving every day.

Consistent movement in winter supports not just muscles and joints, but also your horse’s digestive system, circulation, and overall energy levels. Even short, targeted sessions each day can make a huge difference to their physical and mental wellbeing.

🌟 Why daily winter movement matters

When horses aren’t moving enough, they can become stiff, lose fitness, and develop compensatory patterns that affect posture and performance.

Daily, purposeful movement helps:

• Musculoskeletal system: keeps joints mobile, muscles active, and core engaged.

• Digestive system: encourages gut motility and reduces stiffness-related discomfort.

• Circulation: supports blood flow, oxygen delivery, and overall cardiovascular health.

• Energetic system: boosts vitality, lymphatic flow, immunity, and mental wellbeing.

Winter is a perfect time to focus on quality over quantity — short, safe, and consistent sessions that tick all these boxes.

🐴 How to structure winter sessions

1. Warm up carefully

• 5–10 minutes of in-hand walking before riding.

• Gentle mobilising exercises: circles, shoulder-ins, lateral steps.

• Walk over poles in-hand to wake up the body and encourage lift through the back.

2. Core & balance work

• 10–15 minutes of exercises designed to engage the back and core, improving strength, stability, and rhythm.

• Focus on activating the hindquarters and maintaining connection through the body.

3. Add variety and purpose

• Polework: in-hand or ridden, for coordination and muscle development.

• Lunging or long-reining: safe, low-impact fitness work, and beneficial even just in walk.

• In-hand work: develop connection, focus, and balance while increasing daily movement.

The goal is maximum safe movement per day, not just long arena sessions — giving your horse the best chance to stay physically and mentally healthy through winter.

📚 Winter training course options

To make this simple, I’ve structured courses that cover all the key areas:

1. Core Exercises (£9) – foundational programme to build strength and stability, perfect for daily work.
   Start Core Exercises → CLICK HERE

2. Exercise Bundle (£29, 66% off) – Polework Exercises + Lunging Course. The Polework can be done in-hand or ridden, and the lunging can be done even in walk, both ideal for winter strength and variety.
   Explore the Exercise Bundle → CLICK HERE

3. In-Hand Exercises (£49.50, half-price) – full system for teaching lateral work from the ground, building straightness and engagement safely.
   Start In-Hand Exercises → CLICK HERE

✅ Tips for winter consistency

• Short & focused sessions daily keep muscles active and energy flowing.

• Set achievable goals: even 10–15 minutes per session adds up over the week.

• Observe your horse: notice posture, engagement, and how movement affects their energy.

• Mix in groundwork: your horse can get a full-body workout without needing perfect arena conditions.

Winter doesn’t have to mean downtime — by moving your horse every day, you support their body, mind, circulation, and energy, setting them up for a strong, balanced spring.