I arrived home yesterday from a 7-week stay in the US and a 2-week stay in Germany, where I taught horsemanship. It was a great trip and I want to thank everybody, especially the hosts, for their hospitality, kindness, and support.
At one of the clinics, a participant told me they had to run their horse for several minutes in the arena to get the “freshness out before riding. I watched as the rider removed the halter and then allowed the horse to gallop around the large arena. She even drove the horse to run during moments when the horse decided to walk. Several times, the horse checked in with its owner but was not allowed to approach because the owner was wary that her horse had not run enough to be safe to ride.
In another example of getting the “freshness out of their horse”, I knew a rider who, before every ride, would let her horse loose in a round yard and cantered it for ten minutes in each direction. She estimated that after 20 minutes of cantering in a round yard enough of the “freshness” was gone and her horse would be quiet enough to focus on the real work of being a dressage champion.
Some people believe that to make a horse safe to ride, they need to get the “freshness” out through exercise. This is not true. So-called “freshness” is the result of a lack of focus and anxiety. A horse that bubbles inside with energy and a busy mind is a horse whose mind is not on the job. Physical exercise can make them tired and quieter. However, that is simply addressing the symptoms and not the problem of a distracted mind. Getting your horse ready and safe to ride should not rely on getting them tired.
At the recent clinic, where the owner encouraged her horse to run in the arena at liberty before riding, we addressed the issue of a lack of focus. I showed her an approach of using basic groundwork to engage her horse’s mind. Instead of the groundwork being directed at moving the feet to physically tire the horse, I showed her ways to use the groundwork to engage with her horse’s mind. Her horse began to not only listen, but also started to ask questions of its handler. Questions like: What do you want? When do you want it? How fast do you want it? What do you want next?
In this way, the horse and the owner began to engage in a conversation with each other. Instead of the horse physically and mentally leaving to solve its problem of being anxious, it was engaging with its owner to seek solutions.
Throughout the clinic, the change in the horse was dramatic. It stopped needing to be run off its feet to eradicate the “freshness”. The conversation between them began from the moment the owner approached the horse to catch it and continued to the end of the ride, when it was returned to its yard.
“Freshness” is a mental/emotional state, not a physical one. I have heard over the years people blame a lack of work or high-energy feeds or mares in season, etc, for the “freshness” of their horses. I don’t doubt that sometimes these factors trigger unwanted behaviours. Horses can be affected by outside influences like spring grass and oestrous cycles. But exercising them into states of tiredness by running in a round yard or lunging for 20 minutes is not the solution. Those methods just deal with the symptoms of your horse being spooky or full of energy.
“Freshness” is best dealt with and solved by slowing a horse’s mind through focus and clarity. When their thoughts become soft, the feet become quiet, and you have a rideable horse.
Six and I are in a conversation before riding.