When to start a horse...

L

Levigal

New Member
Dec 30, 2005
76
0
0
northern Nevada
Okay, I'm quite confused about this. We just purchased a three year old (will be three in April) and the owner/trainer we purchased him from has just put 30 days on him of riding. We will get him in one week when that 30 days is over.

I've read in other postings that three is too young to start a horse. Now I'm concerned! The breeder we bought this horse from is quite reputable and I don't believe he intends to push or damage his horses. We don't plan to push this horse or compete with him. We do plan to continue the riding and ground work, however, throughout the coming months with the help of a local trainer.

Are we asking too much of our horse at this age?
 
the thing to remember is all horses mature at different rates!3 is quite a young age the reason people tend to back horses in later is because they are still growing and developing like a baby!so you dont want to be putting to much unessecery pressure or strain on any joints as this may come to be a problem in later life!

though i would say if they have backed this horse i would turn it away until it reaches four and then start the work!

let them live a little !:)
 
I work for a horse trainer, and we start our horses between two and four years of age, depending on when we get them and how they mature and how quickly they advance on the ground work. After two, most are matured enough for basic flat work with an average or lighter weight rider.

This is a good time for teaching basic aids and such- large circles and figure eights, change of gait, etc. If he picks up this stuff really really quickly, you can also introduce your horse to things he may encounter later- anything you might find on the trail, walking over cavaletti, working with another horse in the arena, etc. Your horse might not be physically mature enough for a very very long time, but that's too your advantage- the longer you spend the basics, the better he'll be once you move on to more advanced training.

Don't jump your horse until the vet okays it. And then another six months. One of the best horses I've ever ridden was a four year old QH hunter who loved to jump, and loved to go. He did anything you asked, anything at all- I loved that horse. I trained on him for about six months until one day, out of the blue, he went insane and flipped out- when I asked my trainer what was wrong with him, she told me that his pain killers were up and that he needed a few more doses, but that I should keep working him. It turned out that his owners had started jumping him as soon as he turned two, and jumped him at two feet. He had been diagnosed with arthritis at three, and despite the vet's warnings, they hired me to train him to higher levels so that he could win a lot of blue ribbons for their little girl. They had lied to me about his previous training and his health- I was furious and quit. Those people continued to jump him, and I recently heard through my boss (a clinician) that they can't even talk anyone into looking at the horse (much less buy him) because he's in such miserable condition. All because they worked him too hard too soon.

Don't make that mistake. Be patient with your horse, give him time. You can start working him, but keep it at the walk for a long time, until he's used to balancing himself *and* a rider. Don't do more than a trot for a long time. Be sure to check with your vet before introducing more strenuous work.
 
You can't undo the 30 days of riding whatever you decide to do in future, but you can plan what you will continue doing with him from now on. You'll need to reach a decision though on what you are comfortable with.
There are big differences in standard practice between the UK and America - it's quite common for you guys to start horses young, sometimes even at 18 months, whereas over here it is more likely to be between the ages of 3 1/2 or 4, and the answers you get will reflect this.
My personal preference would be to leave off the riding and continue with groundwork, games, leading over poles, taking on short in-hand trail rides, getting him used to walking through puddles and past flapping bags and so on - short, fun learning experiences that will be of benefit under saddle later on. Then to re-introduce tack and a rider in 6-12 months. And for 6 or so months after that, I'd keep to light work - short ridden trail rides, easy schooling exercises, trotting poles etc.
Lots of people ride their horses younger than that, and many of them will get away with it. But increasingly, people are coming to see that it can cause serious damage to their horse, even doing light work, and that it's not a chance they want to take.
Good luck with your youngster by the way - are you going to post some piccies for us to admire when he's all yours? :)
 
I have a coming four year old that I bought late last summer.

When I bought him he had a month's very basic training on him.

I left him alone (just working on manners etc) until about a month ago. Now my coach is teaching me the fine points of long lining and he is doing wonderfully well. I will be getting on him for very short periods of time soon, but will continue the long lining for a while.

I am not a fan of sitting on a horse too early, especially when there are alternatives. My older gelding (now coming 10) was also started late and has had no soundness issues whatsoever.

It also depends on the breed - anything with draft or warmblood tends to mature more slowly. As a general rule, I would say that if the withers and croup keep switching positions, your horse is still growing.
 
I have a young horse who will be three in the end of May. As of now, he has only been sat on(not by me, but by the past owners.) He went and spent six weeks with the Mennonites(sp?) when he was 18 months I think, where they taught him the basics of driving and rode him around a little. Since I've purchased him in the middle of December, the only thing I've done with him is Parelli groundwork, and a lot of just spending time with him. He won't mature until he is seven or seven and a half. No matter what breed you have, they all mature at the same rate. There are no slow maturers or fast maturers. Mentally, yes, but physically, no. After he turns three, I will start driving him, and maybe sitting on him for about ten minutes a month. Once he turns four, I will do maybe twenty minutes of riding once or twice a week. Until he turns seven and a half(or the vets says all his joints are fused) he will do no hard work at all. I would rather wait a few years now to ride, than cut his life short later on by riding him when he is young. The best thing you can do with any horse is build trust. If you wait now and just do groundwork with him, and build a relationship, when you go to riding him, you will have a fantastic connection with him.
 
I too am looking at a youngster. He was backed last august (he turns 3 this coming May), and then turned out and only ridden again when I went to see him last week. (Just for the added note, the woman who backed him, weighs a mere 100 lbs (7 stone), and is a great and very light rider.)

He was a VERY SWEET horse, and remembered everything he had learned. He even tolerated people besides him giving "leg ups" and fiddling with the stirrups. If I do buy him, I do not plan on riding him much until he is at least 3 1/2 - 4. He is still growing, and high at the croup and I do not want to risk hurting him at all. I will definately be working on ground exercises with him, as well as long reining and maybe SHORT bursts of lunging.

Sitting on him and walking will only be done once he does turn 3, in may, and even then it will be only 5 or 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week.
 
I bought my horse at age 3. She was completely trained when I got her. Driving, riding, long lining all that stuff and in the 22 years I had her she had no soundness issues. I guess it all depends on the horse.
 
It depends on the horse, but right now we are trainin a 2 1/2 year old and entering him in the futurity next year! He is doing great, and WANTS to work so bad. We don't push it though, riding only 1-3x weekly and basics, not past the trot in the round pen, and the walk in the arena.
 
out of the blue said:
the thing to remember is all horses mature at different rates!
Click to expand...

Slightly different rates, yes, but one breed doesn't mature any faster or slower than any other. Some breeds may look more mature at an earlier age but physically the maturation rate is about the same.

I wouldn't be riding him till he was about 4. As Est says you can't undo what has already been done but you can be sensible about what you do with him at this stage. There's nothing wrong with long reining and groundwork as long as you listen to him and don't push him too far or too hard.

It depends on the horse, but right now we are trainin a 2 1/2 year old and entering him in the futurity next year! He is doing great, and WANTS to work so bad. We don't push it though, riding only 1-3x weekly and basics,
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but IMO this is too early to be riding up to three times a week (too early to be riding at all in my book). Horses don't tend to WANT to work or to compete. They may enjoy larking around in the field, they may enjoy being long reined BUT they would be quite happy to mooch around in the field with their mates. It is *us* humans that puts these emotions onto them to make ourselves feel better!

The problem with working a horse so early is that you don't see the damage that has been done until later in life. Just because some beat the statistics and don't have any problems doesn't mean that the practise is either safe or advisable. It's a bit like the lottery, your horse may be the lucky one and not have any problems BUT the odds are most definitely stacked against you.
 
3 is the normal age to start a horse over here, but probably many people wait until 4.
what we do is look at them at this time of year as they are nearly 3, and decide then. for instance, this year's three year old started work this month - she has been on walks inhand, long reined and lunged round the outside track of the school at walk. she won't lunge on a smaller circle or in trot, but she is trotting in the long reins out on the roads and tracks. she is well built and fairly mature looking. she will pootle around and play this summer, but definitely won't be sat on until autumn at least - and if at any point she has a growth spurt we will stop. if we do sit on her in autumn, she'll do about a month's work and thenturn away for the winter, and then next spring she will start again, a bit faster, and be backed properly.

the last one i did, i looked at her at the same time and age and said no way - she still looked very babyish. looked at her again at christmas, so she was coming up 4 (birthday in april), and thought yes, so she was backed over christmas, and carried on slowly from there - she had done light longreining and some lungeing in the autumn but hadn't looked ready to sit on. she worked steadily from then, only about once a week, and had a lameness in the autumn of her fourth year that put her off work for 2 months, so that was her turning away period.

what i don't like is intensive and consistent work in the third year - i think very few horses are mature enough to be up to doing proper schooling work before they are 4, both for the sake of their sanity and their future health. in my experience, probably about 60% of horses are ready to do *some* work at three, and about 40% really could do with waiting until the spring of their fourth year. i have known a few who we've left until the spring of their fifth year too.

when i have been doing novice riddens on one or another of ours, there have always been a few four year olds in them who have been schooled to within an inch of their lives and working like an adult established pony - very very few of them have still been competing at ten. of course i don't know why, but i've seen several of them about on the circuit with splints, windgalls and puffy legs a few years on.
 
Our Holteiner x Arabian filly was started over Christmas. She Had turned 3 in August so she was almost 3 1/2 years old. She has pretty much stopped growing in height but she is definetly needs to mature bone and muscle wise and she won't be fully mature until she is 6-8 years old. She is currently being ridden 1-2 times each week for 30-45 minutes and if I don't get time to work her I will simply brush and fuss over her so she's not sitting in the paddock with our only contact being when I feed her in the afternoon. I avoid working on the arena and instead take her for hacks (only in walk and trot) around our farm, on the estuary and in the bush. She is going for her first lesson with one of my instructors on Sunday and the lesson will only go for 45 minutes. She will not be jumping or competing this year simply going to gymkhanas and pony club to become relaxed with the atmosphere and unfamiliar horses.
In relation to riding I would leave your three-year old alone for most of the year, but definetly do alot of groundwork.
 
Thanks for that link - I am going to print it out and share with my best friend.

Our youngsters are both the same age and have excellent ground manners, can be driven, lunged, etc. Yet we are always having to answer people who ask "Why aren't you riding them yet?"!!!!
 
good on you mate just tell them its your horse and you have made an informed decision

Liesl
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back