05/06/2025
I really like this
LACK OF FITNESS CAN FEEL ...
Anything. Not being fit, will process out differently for different horses. Just like people.
Some horses are absolutely miserable unless they are at a high level of athletic fitness at all times. Something about the hormonal cocktail released into the blood stream by the exercise, and the post exercise recovery relief, helps a horse regulate their emotions, their nervous system, which would otherwise be in total chaos without it.
Some horses will be absolutely miserable if held to that standard. And I have seen it, athletic addicts keeping a horse to a high degree of fitness and a horse who absolutely does not consent to being that fit. I have seen those horses feel a lot better with a moderate level of fitness and activity.
And there are many in-between states for horses too.
I have also seen horses be spectacularly happy, thrilled, over the moon, about their burgeoning hay belly, and lax muscle tone. Thrilled. Content. Complete. Happy. Nothing to see here.
Something I have seen too, is super unfit horses, being ridden, and exercised, and feeling absolutely miserable about it. Because they were not properly prepared, thoroughly and gradually to tolerate that level of activity. Then, rushed to action on bodies that cannot do that without the activity breaking them down.
Done right, fitness work, applied appropriately for that individual horse, is a huge aspect of their wellness and welfare.
But fitness work will not work out well, if it is an abstract concept we decide upon on paper, and bypass the signs and signals from the horse telling us what they like or not.
We cannot, ever, bypass listening to the horse. Not even with the intention to "make them happier by making them fitter". Because that may or may not be true for that horse.
How will you know? Don't ask me. Ask your horse. Are they happy in their body? Are they well rested, bright eyed, responsive, engaging? Are they manic, fixated, pushing, pulling, restless? Being over or under aroused is a sign of a horse who is physiologically out of balance.
Making a manic horse "run their energy out" is likely to make their body stronger and their mind weaker. It is dangerous.
Pushing a sluggish horse to "raise their energy" is like asking a car to drive with an empty gas tank. You gotta fill up their energy before they can use it. They need a curious combination of high quality rest, diet, care (all horses do), and then progressive training that builds them up slowly.
We used to think that animals need to basically feel safe and secure.
We are now learning horses also need to feel successful. Because what good is all this safety if your horse has nothing in their life that helps them feel successful?
And yes, done right, riding can build their body up. Not break it down. Not build it up for us to use better. Build it up for them to use better.
