I don’t have a problem with letting them run amok BUT I set my clock. If horsie can’t get the jeebies out in 10 minutes of doing whatever he wants, then it’s a training issue. Sometimes though, a 4 year old isn’t going to be “trained” to do something until he gets his stupid out. Better to knock the edge off (not exhaust him, but get to the point where he’s capable of learning something/anything), then give it a go.
An OTTB is likely to have a tremendous amount of stamina, and 10 minutes of anything barring a dead-out gallop is really just scratching the surface.
Again, we aren’t trying to exhaust the horse prior to the training session. We are getting that “extra stupid” cap off of a 4 year old before attempting anything meaningful. A 4 year old likely doesn’t know enough to treat the session the way I would a more educated 6-7 year old, where I 100% agree with you that I would set the expectation that I can/will ride you through your start-of-ride silliness. A 4 year old just doesn’t have the miles to “get it” and get their brain occupied enough that there isn’t a high chance of a poor decision to hooligan around.
