The Importance of Walk Breaks In Your Workout.

Recovery for body and mind .

Catching my breath, letting my horse catch its breath? Is that all?

Walk breaks are an import part of a training session to keep horses motivated and sound. After a well planed walk break, which should be viewed from the horse as a reward, most of the time they come back more willing to work for us again. That does not mean we let them fall apart and drag their feet through the dirt. A degree of positive body tension should be maintained even on a long rein. It gives the rider a chance to listen to the horse. Notice when breathing returns to normal and relaxation comes back.

Schooling and Exercising

When exercising, heart rate and respiratory rate have to go up to supply the muscles with oxygen and therefore energy. 

A tired or overused muscle starts cramping. Blood circulation in the muscles is reduced. Therefore blood supply to tendons and ligaments is limited and the danger of injury is greatly heightened. 

Especially when working in the anaerobic range where the muscle produces energy without adequate oxygen supply. This happens in most horses when the heart rate rises above 150 to 170 beats per minute. Young untrained horses reach that threshold much faster than well-schooled and trained horse athletes. Horses should not stay in this state for very long. The build up of lactic acid in the muscle and muscle cramps can lead to injury, resistance to perform and overall reduced performance. 

In this case the walk break helps to flush lactic acid out of the system. Muscles, ligaments and tendons are again supplied with oxygen and the horse can recover. 

Building Muscle and Strength

To build muscle and improve strength in tendons and ligaments we need to stress and work these parts through exercise. In this process micro injuries happen in the muscle on a cellular level. This is necessary to make them grow and get stronger. But we have to give the body time to repair through walk breaks in a training session and between trainings days. Otherwise we destroy muscle instead of building muscle, and weaken tendons and ligaments instead of strengthening them. 

When There Is A Disagreement

When there is a disagreement between horse and rider the old way of thinking was to push through and make him or her do it. Now the wisdom is to let horse and rider reset through a short walk break. Let the horse’s brain calm down from ‘fight and flight’ where learning is not possible, into a calmer mode where learning is possible for the horse. Also, much better for the rider to relax and make good decisions.