Human athletes know that stretching is an invaluable part of any training program to keep muscles elastic, and a tight muscle is more prone to injury. Stretching helps to improve circulation, range of motion, and overall health of your horse’s muscles, while also decreasing muscle soreness and fatigue. As an added benefit, spending a few minutes stretching your horse can help create a stronger bond.

Incentive stretches, one of the three types of stretches described in the following pages, use treats or “incentives” to allow the horse to stretch himself. By elongating the neck, the back will also stretch, and the core will engage to stabilize, making this a full-body exercise.

WHAT

The three main stretches covered in this book—incentive stretches, supported static hold stretches, and dynamic mobilization stretches—are all techniques that pull your horse’s various limbs and muscles into a lengthened state to help increase mobility and flexibility, and release tension. When strengthening muscles, it’s important to also lengthen them to maintain suppleness.

Incentive stretches require the use of a treat or “incentive” to get your horse to stretch into a lengthened state on his own.

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