Here is a shocking revelation.
A horse’s mind is not a muscle. It does not need warming up.
I once ran my horse training business from a busy boarding facility. One boarder rode her horse almost every day of the week. But before each ride, she would lunge her horse in the round yard. She would walk, trot, and canter her horse in one direction. She set her watch for 10mins. When the alarm went off she stopped her horse, changed direction, and repeated the work in the opposite direction for 10mins.
One day I asked her why she lunged her horse so religiously before each ride. I was told that if she didn’t do it her horse was unmanageable because of all of his excess energy. The lunging tired him enough to make him focus on the work during her ride.
I have heard similar stories from other people. It seems horses that live in stalls or yards for most of the day often suffer from excess energy syndrome. And let’s not forget that mares in season and horses grazing on spring grass can also suffer from excess energy syndrome. If you think about it there seems to be a myriad of factors that cause excess energy syndrome. Active horses with busy feet are a common problem in the horse world through the syndrome known as excess energy.
Nevertheless, I don’t believe excess energy is a real thing. Yes, horses can display uncontrolled energy under many conditions. It can be a challenge to work with a horse that suffers in this way. But let me be clear that the behaviour of an overly energetic horse is not due to excess energy. It’s not the intake of calories that requires a horse to be lunged for 20 minutes before riding to make it safe.
Busy feet are the result of a busy mind.
Working with a horse whose mind is not focused and does not allow us to softly direct its thoughts is what causes the excess energy syndrome. Behaviour that is derived from so-called excess energy is largely a mental problem, not a physical problem. The scattered energy we see in a horse is a function of a scattered mind.
When we have to lunge our horse for 20 minutes before riding we are using the routine and dullness of continuous circling to quiet its mind. We are admitting that our horse is not interested in a back-and-forth conversation with us.
I think the belief of using exercise to be able to tap into a horse’s mind is deeply flawed. The feet do not direct the mind. The reality is that the mind directs the feet. When our horse is exhibiting excess exuberance it is because its mind is focused elsewhere and we are competing with everything else in the world for its attention and concentration. And we are losing.
If we rely on burning calories to ensure our horse is safe before riding, we will always have to resort to this pattern before the real work begins. The mental connection we want with our horse will constantly elude us because we are relying on moving the feet rather than engaging the mind. A horse’s mind is not a muscle. It does not need warming up.
Beware of the gremlins when lush spring grass is available.