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WARMING UP              Last weekend I had the pleasure of being a spectator at Dressage at Devon for two days. The weather was perfect, clear fall days without wind or rain. The horses and riders were some of the best and a joy to watch.             I went with the hope of seeing how different riders at those levels handled the warm-up to have the horse loose and ready but not too tired to show some brilliance. I went looking for a magic formula that would make my warm-ups easy and successful.             What I found was no surprise. There were as many warm-up strategies as horse and riders. Many of the Fourth Level and Prix. St. George riders used portions of the test or in many cases the whole test in their warm-ups. There was no concern about the horses knowing or anticipating the movements. By the time the horses qualify to ride at Devon they have already competed with those tests for an entire season. These riders were concentrating on perfecting the series of movements one last time and most had a ground person giving feedback on the balance and correctness of the movements.             Many others concentrated on getting the gait quality up. There was stretching but nothing exaggerated or too deep. Many of the Fourth Level horses spent time going in and out of passage to help get loft and cadence in the collected trot. Definitely a case for schooling a level or two above the competition level, an idea we all read about but that doesn’t always fit in with the reality for most of us. In the non-CDI classes a few trainers got on their students horses and got the passage and lift. It is amazing to see how a rider can change the look of a horse in a second or two.             The Grand Prix’s were later in the day and into the evening. All the Grand Prix horses came out at some point during the day for loosening ride. Most of them went around the ring like old pros. It was as if they knew that it was not yet show time- no braids, no top hat and tails. Most of them were out for 30-45 minutes just walk, trot and cantering with a little passage here and there and very few of the movements. Then in the evening before their ride time most took about 30-40 minutes including a long walk to start. At this level most seemed to spend the serious work time in piaffe and passage and then some canter work with a few pirouettes before entering. It was definitely not a taxing warm-up and it was easy to see why when seeing how much energy it takes for a good GP test.             So I had a fun and motivating weekend watching some wonderful rides, but I came home with the knowledge that there is no sure formula for a warm-up at any level and the responsibility lies with the rider to know their horse and the situation on any given day.