Developing balance in a young horse

[chrisaubrey]

I have a 4-y-o IDx who is currently 17.2hh. He was only backed in August last year, and has not got his balance sorted out yet. I am not experienced in bringing on young horses. He's a real gem of a horse - hacks out alone or in company, nothing seems to worry him, very willing to learn, and will do anything I ask of him if he understands what I want! I want to do the best I can for him, so any hints or tips on how to help him to learn to balance would be gratefully received!

[cvb]

chris

we have a four year old Eriskay pony, and a similar challenge - tho different scale, she's 12.2ish !

My plan is to do ground work with her, especially with raised poles to get her to think and lift each foot and balance. We'll also do fore and hid quarter yields from the ground.

Then we'll probably back this up under saddle. Plus using gentle slopes to help as well.

The ridden work is pretty basic at the mo so focus is on forward - but then we'll end gentle curves, transitions and so on.

Ground work will include real basics like lifting her foot for me, and not needing to put it straight down or she falls over ! :p

[vmdawe]

if he has only just been backed in august (IMO) the best thing you can probably do is to turn him away for at least 6 months so he can "get his head round things". when you do bring him back into work there are plenty of exercies you can do with him, but it will take a LONG time for him to become more balanced, also the fact that you admit to having limited klnowledge with youngsters suggests it might be a good plan to get a more experienced person to help. the formative years of a horses education are vital and can be the building ground for your perfect horse, or your worst nightmare, dont be stubborn, get some help and have a horse to be proud of!:)

[Mehitabel]

i also like to turn horses away after a basic gorunding - but it does depend on how fsat they have been brought on from the initial backing. the last one i did was only ridden a couple of times a qeek, so she didn't need turning away as she had had ample time between rides to let things sink in, but most people do it more intensively, working daily or twice daily - and in these cases i definitely think the vast majority of horses benefit fro mthe winter off after being backed in the summer.
they have often just finished upwards growing at this stage, so are still coming to terms with their new size and where their legs go, and mentally it is a lot to take in. a few months playing in the field builds coordination and balance like nothing else.

slightly longer term, i'd keep hacking out and don't ask too much of him - once mine are backed and i know i can stop and steer, i hack out and they don;t set foot in a school again iuntil they are walking, trotting, cantering, popping over sticks on the floor, and can do a reasonable transition between trot and canter. they see life, learn to cope with different ground surfaces and build their muscle and balance without having to also worry about corners and the confines of a school. especially at his size, a long side will only be a few strides long, so he will be constantly having to corner and rebalance, which makes everything harder.
when he has come on a lot out hacking, and can carry himself and so on, then go back to the school and start working on shapes and bending and so on, as then he can concentrate on that and not have to worry about where his legs are going.

[teabiscuit]

had the same problem with my 17hh 3/4 tb x shire, he is massive and it took him ages to learn how to cope with a rider on board, it upset his whole balance and it was hard work for him learning how to carry a rider, so hacks were kept short and increased gradually, serious schooling started about 18 months after backing and hacking, generally gave him lots of time to adjust.as he didn't find it easy, and put knee boots on him as he had a tendency to "run" downhill and fall over himself.ie he just kept walking faster and faster as gravity pulled him down the hill until he couldn't keep up bless him.
he's fine now. some horses just take longer to establish the new balance needed to carry a rider
edited to say it took so long because i have limited riding time in winter.

[chrisaubrey]

Thanks for the advice - it sort of backs up what I'm doing. I got him in September & have concentrated on nice easy hacking at weekends. I have a half hour lesson in the school on a Wednesday with a brilliant instructor - sometimes I'm riding him, other times it's loose work. Other than that I haven't been schooling him apart from occasionally 20 mins on a Friday doing absolute basics. The rest of the time (other than at night when he's in the stable) he's out on the fields with his mates enjoying life:-) When I do go to ride him he really concentrates well, and seems to thoroughly enjoy it - he's coming on in leaps and bounds.