It's spring, and the temptation on these first really gorgeous days is to overdo the workout, for both you and your horse. Those sunny trails beckon, after all, and the mud is drying up, so it's easy to go out and cruise, only to find yourself in agony for the next few days.

Your horse is going to experience the same muscle-soreness if you overwork him, too. Since it's no fun to spend your lovely, sunny afternoons limping around together because you both hurt too much to hit the trails, let's talk about some strategies to gradually work your way up to the hours of saddle time you look forward to enjoying.

Just like when you're exercising for the first time in a long time, you'll want to begin your workout slowly, to give both you and your horse a chance to warm up muscles that may be weak or soft from a winter of little-or-no real work. If you're on the trail or in the arena, this holds true. So start at a walk. You can vary the length and speed of your horse's stride, with your seat and leg—this is also a terrific chance to refresh yourselves on basic leg-yielding, shoulder-ins, half-halts, and collected departs. Your skills are apt to be a bit rusty, not just your muscles—and so are his. So give yourselves time to reacquaint each other with the basics. You'll both have a happier ride for it.

That first time out, especially, don't forget to stop while you're both feeling great. You won't want to, of course. That first sunny, splendid ride of the season feels awfully good, and the temptation is always to overdo it. But it's important to stop a bit before you feel like you really need to. Not only will it help you both to look forward to your next ride, it's good basic horse-management to create good associations with work. Usually, fifteen to twenty minutes of trot-work will be more than enough, then more walking/cooling down.

Your grooming routine can be a terrific way to enjoy each other, and give you both something to look forward to, as well, while you're taking it easy this first couple of weeks back to work. Take the time to add those special touches to your grooming routine: clip his bridle-path, pull his mane, clean up those shaggy areas on his fetlocks (which will help with the remaining spring mud, too) and spend plenty of time currying out that remaining winter coat.

If you do overdo things, try not to take too much time off. Even if you're both stiff and sore, as long as neither of you is actually injured, the best thing both of you can do for those stiff muscles is use them again, lightly, every day for the next few days. Even if it simply means hand-walking your horse, sitting around won't help either of you get through the over-use pain that results from a too-enthusiastic first work-out.

Have fun, enjoy each other, and see you on the trails!