“I have a six year old I’ve owned for less than a year (so I don’t know her fully yet). I know it’s normal, but she has so much energy in the winter it makes it intimidating to ride. Even lunging her, she goes crazy, kicks, rears and gets it all out of her system. It’s kinda intimidating really. Do you have any suggestions for winter riding when they are so spicy and cold? Makes me feel like she’s going to throw me right off. haha. Even hand walking her around she is ready to go (I don’t blame her). Alot has to do with the fact she also has not been ridden as much since the fall (due to weather), so I know that plays a huge part. I think we all envision riding our horses out and throw the the snow…but then they turn into fire breathing dragons full of spice. Thanks!!” – Sarah T 

Hi Sarah, thanks for your question! It can be SO hard managing young horses at the bets of times, let alone in difficult weather situations.

I am going to run you through 5 points

1. It is completely NORMAL for your young horse to be feeling fresh, but they shouldn’t be particularly unmanageable or unsafe.
2. how is your horse currently managed through the winter?
3. how was the horse managed previously throughout the winter
4. managing expectations & setting the horse up successfully
5. practical solutions and exercises

It is completely normal for young horses to have more energy and excitement than older horses, hey, at 15 I had way more energy than I do now at 32, and I know in 10 years, I’ll look back and laugh and think “I thought I was tired then?!?! Just wait till you hit 40, or 50 or 75 Maddy”. My point is, young animal and people have more energy, and it’s not about shutting that energy down, it’s about finding a safe and productive outlet for this energy. This comes in two forms: the first is physical energy which it sounds like you’re well aware of and keen to solve. Not all physical work has to be high intensity, intense cardio work. Stretching and slow work is incredibly important too, and if I only have time to exercise my horse in a single way, I will ALWAYS choose slower stretching, lower intensity work every single time, The second is a mental energy and providing mental stimulation can be just as fatiguing in a positive way as a physical work out. The good news is, that we can combine these two things together often – I’ll give you some solution to this later on.

While we’re chatting about excess energy, have you been able to assess your horse’s current feed? Is she on the same feed she was on in the summer? Perhaps in the summer you were doing lots of physical work and she needed a diet to accommodate and support her body’s needs. However, in the slower, colder months she is doing less, so has her diet been suitably altered for this? We don’t want to cut back on important things like bulk and volume of roughage/fibre, but we certainly want to cut back (or even cut out if you’re open to this) high energy cereal grains and feeds.

This brings me to point 2: How is your horse currently managed throughout the winter? Here in Australia, I’m fortunate not to have snow and my horses live out 24/7 . I understand this isn’t practical nor appropriate for everyone. One of my lovely clients, Kim, sent me the most amazing videos of her horses in snow about 3 weeks ago – all while we were humid and sweaty and hosing horses off and giving electrolytes here in Australia!

How is your horse kept – does she have to be in a stable 24/7 if your winter is harsh? Does she get enough free turnout time? Can she move her body un restricted? Do you have a space (perhaps an indoor arena) where you’re allowed to turn the horses loose for free but supervised movement? The more we restrict our horse’s movement, the more likely they will take any opportunity to display explosive movement – this is not only unsafe and scary for us, but also can lead to sudden injuries and strains on the body. The more turn out you give her, even if it feels scary, the less chance of injury once she is used to it. An example here in Australia that baffles me: often when it is wet and property owners (predominantly in Sydney where space is at a premium, and the paddocks are precious), will keep horses stabled throughout wet and heavy rain events. The reasoning often for this is: “my horse is an idiot in the rain and runs around, I don’t want him tearing the grass up”. So they keep the horse locked up for a day or three or a week even, and then they let their horse back out into the paddock. You can imagine the fireworks the horse displays, and the subsequent trashed paddock. The owners then often say “see I told you so”….. What they haven’t fully understood, that for momentary discomfort of perhaps a few muddier spots, the horses can actually preserve the paddocks long term if left out (with all appropriate rigging, forge, hay etc etc). The more the horses are confined, the more explosive their behaviour when let out again. A an interesting cycle.

My point is, you can’t help your horse learn to be more calm outside and in a paddock if you keep her in a stable for fear of injury, damage to the paddock etc etc etc. Now, I don’t know your situation, so perhaps she is already outside 24/7 so none of that applies to you, but I thought I might point it out, because it could be the missing puzzle piece for someone else reading this too!

Point 3: How was your horse previously managed in the winter? You mentioned you’ve had her less than a year, so this would be your first full winter together. Unfortunately you probably don’t know *exactly* how her previous owners managed her behaviour during this time of year. You also mentioned she’s explosive on the lunge – this may have been the only outlet she was given in her previous home, and she was allowed to become a crazy young horse in this space. So you aren’t just dealing with your horse’s energy, but the management, and sometimes mismanagement of the former owners. But, if you *do* know that they provided adequate turn out, supported her body well during the winter, then you can probably disregard this paragraph, although, again, it’s food for thought for anyone else reading this 🙂

Finally, we need to talk about managing our own expectations in winter. You mentioned that you’d love to ride her through the snow, but my question is: has she experienced that part of the property and that kind of riding without the snow? For example, do you mainly school her in an arena, or only hack her out well off property, but in the wintertime you’d love to take her through the snowy pastures at home? If we don’t actively practice and prepare our young horses, by layering single challenges at a time then they can’t be successful. Indulge me with a seemingly off topic example for a moment: I would like to think that I could bake a cake from scratch, without needing to look at a recipe – the reality is: I have to stand there, lay every single ingredient out before I start to double check I have all the ingredients because I literally have no idea of what is essential in a recipe and what isn’t. I also have to get out the measuring cups and scales and weigh and measure everything like a scene from Breaking Bad, just y’know, with flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract not drugs… Hang on, what does this have to do with young horses? Well, my baking skills are just like our young horse’s riding and life skills. They need every single skill, exercise and movement explained, taught and laid out in front of them, and then they need a recipe or checklist to make sure we aren’t forgetting anything. They need to be allowed to do it themselves, so they can gain experience – but under the careful guidance of a recipe/or a supportive rider/owner.

So with your young horse, has she experienced all these activities you’re asking her to do before the added challenge of the weather, snow etc is added into the mix? We need to understand that our young horses need experiences to become well rounded and adjusted adult horses, but they also need supportive guidance from their owners/riders and they need to be allowed to get things wrong to a certain extent.

So, now that we’ve reflected on our management of our horses, addressed basic needs, and perhaps reined in our own expectations of our young horses, let’s talk about the practical and useful things you can do with your horse.

1. Turn her loose in an appropriate space like an indoor so she can move her body freely. THEN you can work on engaging her mind, work on her leading skills. We want to teach our horses better skills (like leading) when they are in the zone to be receptive to learning. It is difficult to ask an agitated, excitable or anxious horse to learn something new when their bodies are buzzing – we teach it in a low stimulating way first, then layer challenges so that our horses have the skills to be successful before an emergency situation
2. Work on lunging: not for energy out, but for low intensity stretching, postural strength and the Holy Grail of horse training: mental connection and softness. (Confused how to do this? I cover all that in my Library video training which you can checkout here)
3. Groundwork: not for obedience, but for connection and refinement of your communication
4. Hand walk her out. Hand walk her the exact places you want to ride her out. If she can’t keep it together in hand, then she certainly won’t be safe enough to do it under saddle. Gradually build up the distance and duration you hand walk for. Don’t try and hand walk a complete trail circuit if she can barely lead from her stable to the pasture down the laneway…
5. Introduce mentally stimulating challenges like poles at a walk and trot, stepping over different surfaces like tarpaulins, carpet, past umbrellas, balloons etc.
6. Hand walk her out with an older more mature horse to set the pace, energy level and behaviour. She will learn quickly by seeing and doing. you can use this approach with riding too.
7. Set up some traffic cones and work on her changes of direction, bend and following the reins or lead rope. By giving yourself a pattern to follow (e.g. a clover leaf, figure 8, square, triangle, ANYTHING) you give yourself a focused goal, and it can help her see the point of things.
8. Experiment and switch things up – perhaps work on the ground with her without her saddle one day, then add the saddle and gear the next day, but don’t necessarily ride. You want variety to keep her interested but not fearful.
9. Teach her to lower her head for the bridle
10. Teach her to catch you in the pasture (you can watch a free video on this here)
11. Work in the arena mounted or on the ground with a large yoga ball. Have her follow it, have a friend gently roll it around while you work with her
    

Young horses are challenging, but also incredibly rewarding: just like raising well adjusted, young adults, it takes a whole lot of dedication, love and commitment, even on the days it seems to all be going wrong. Taking a slow season in your young horse’s life now does not mean you’re behind. Instead, think of it like a pause of bigger picture training, to zone in on the smaller skills that will set your horse up even better for a more successful summer period. As the seasons change, and as your young horse matures and gains life experience, you won’t need to do so much focused teaching work: you’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the rewards for prioritising taking the time to teach skills instead of emotional goal driven quick fixes.

All the best with your young mare, it is an exciting and rewarding journey of connection, partnership and dedication.

Maddy

I show people my methods for kind, compassionate horsemanship in the subscription training library. Whether you’re looking to solve behavioural issues, starting fresh with a new horse, or you’re fed up with dominance theory or awful methods disguised as ‘horsemanship’ then click the link below to learn how you can start making a positive impact on your horse’s training and emotional state today.

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