Your Views On When To Back/Start A Horse?

I think you are going about this in the best way - unfortunately there are people out there, most of which have never had a youngster, that still think 4 = fully backed and able to do all sorts. That just isn't the case!

As I mentioned before mine is only just turning 4 and I doubt we will be doing much of significance before she is 5!

Look forward to reading all your updates :)
 
Am so glad to read that so many agree to wait for the horse,have recently seen a lot of adverts for horses & ponies who are quiet ,good in traffic etc but are only two :eek:. Think putting small children down the coal mines,it's the same thing & nowadays there would be an outcry at this but there are so many horses & ponies doing just this ( well not down the mines but you know what I mean :biggrin: )in effect just because people won't wait.My stance on this remains " if you can't wait don't buy a youngster ".
 
appley was 2 when i got her. we did a lot of inhand walkies (to get her used to traffic and whatnot), bits of groundwork (leading nicely, manners in general), bits of clicker training and eventually longreining (a bit in the school, but a lot of it 'out and about').

i backed her when she was 3 and a half. hacked her out a few times (never for very long, mostly in walk), did basic stop/start/steering, had a little canter on a hack and turned her away a month after first getting on her.

she'll come back into (light!) work when she's 4 in the spring. no rush for me, i dont have any major expectations - all im after is a bombproof, forwardgoing and HAPPY hacking pony :) anything else is a bonus!
 
Truffs was 21 months old when I got him, and had been "broken in" at about 10 months :eek: Basically, he had been squashed against a wall and had a saddle + child strapped on his back, then dragged round by his headcollar :frown:

He has spent his time since May doing not an awful lot but being a pony, he is now rising three and is mouthed and can long rein. He will be backed soon, with a view to riding away over summer and then being turned away over winter to mature. He will then come back in spring/summer 2012 to start a proper ridden career when he is rising 4. My original plan was to leave him until next year to start him as he was so immature and frightened when I got him. However he has really turned around and is a very grown up little pony, and I feel he is ready for some gentle ridden work this summer. I am fully aware of the growth and development process, so he will only be lightly ridden until he is 5.
Some horses benefit being left longer, others are ready for a gentle start at 3. In my opinion nothing should be started before then.
 
Midnight_Ashes said:
Truffs was 21 months old when I got him, and had been "broken in" at about 10 months :eek: Basically, he had been squashed against a wall and had a saddle + child strapped on his back, then dragged round by his headcollar :frown:
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Yep - jazz could lunge and had been backed when i picked him up at 16 month. :banghead:
 
Arabs have a slightly different structure don't they, one extra or is it one less rib?

I've had a thread up months ago about the bone in the poll that allows them to do that rotating thing, but then people said they didn't have an arab and theirs did it, never found any researcch on it.

Does it make a difference to backing if say you have a hackney that steps high, or a cob that seems to know to move like one. How does my youngster know she's not dainty, her tail doesn't shoot up (maybe too much of it) but being low set she can't do it.:unsure:
 
When I do finally back my youngster, not for some time yet as only rising 3, do i need to find a smaller lighter rider (god knows where i would find one??). I am not huge (size 12) but i do feel guilty about riding my mare who will be 9 this year. I worry that my weight on such a youngster would cause damage. Fjords arent huge in height but are good weight carriers but surely not from the outset of their ridden career. Thoughts would be greatly received:unsure:
 
I'm going to start mine off in a treeless which is lighter anyway with a dummy, not sure what other people do.
 
I agree with so much of what has already been said, about the physical concerns of backing early and the pressure owners are put under to "do things" with their youngsters. Not only do I think about the physical issues but I also think about the psychology of it. Personally I feel that young horses should be given plenty of time to BE young - learning to interact with humans and other horses, learning to understand the world, developing their character, expanding their independence - and not have too many work demands put upon them.

I now work on a showjumping and training yard in France and have been initiated into a very different world. What young horses do here is far removed from your average leisure horse's youth. There are currently three 3-year-olds on the yard and all three have not only been backed but are being brought on quite fast in comparison to normal riding horses. Two of them are already schooling over jumps and will start competing this autumn. Here most of the shows have a senior horse division (7yrs and over) and a youngstock division (4 to 6yrs) - and even at amateur level the classes for 4/5/6-year-olds rarely start below 1m. There are very few competition riders in this area who will buy a horse over the age of 6.
 
In my ignorance I assumed horses would be backed when they had completely finished growing. Much like a human child isn't meant to train too hard until they have fully matured.
 
Our equine physio told us that she strongly advises her clients not to use treeless saddles on young horses - apparently they can do more harm than good on an unbalanced horse who hasn't yet learned to carry themselves.
 
newforest said:
Arabs have a slightly different structure don't they, one extra or is it one less rib?

I've had a thread up months ago about the bone in the poll that allows them to do that rotating thing, but then people said they didn't have an arab and theirs did it, never found any researcch on it.

Does it make a difference to backing if say you have a hackney that steps high, or a cob that seems to know to move like one. How does my youngster know she's not dainty, her tail doesn't shoot up (maybe too much of it) but being low set she can't do it.:unsure:
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Yep some Arabs have one less set of ribs and one less vertabrae - these horses would have a naturally slightly elevated tail carriage set even when at rest. All horses can do "tail on a stick" when excited :)

I'm not sure re the backing of the high stepping breeds, I presume this is done at the same stage as others, but a large proportion of these would have driven for a few years first. I don't know of many Hackney owners that don't drive, the Welsh Cobs who are another high stepping breeds are backed at the rising 3/4 stage.
 
bitsnpieces said:
All horses can do "tail on a stick" when excited :)

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She doesn't do excitement, prancing i'm not easy prey then. Not yet. What she can do is shift! My friend and i looked at each other and said did a cob just go past or was it a concorde!:giggle: Jeewizz she's not going to be a plod.
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cassiebird said:
I will use my old Trekker talent treeless when it is time. Im interested in the dummy plan an look forward to hearing more:biggrin:
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I have a Freeform which is exceptionally light, i have taken the stirrups off completely and i have the HAf pad at the moment with no inserts as i will not be getting on. It all comes under the heading friendly game, it is not a sign she is going to be backed much to the confusement of people know as i will bare her bareback anyway.

joosie said:
Our equine physio told us that she strongly advises her clients not to use treeless saddles on young horses - apparently they can do more harm than good on an unbalanced horse who hasn't yet learned to carry themselves.
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My friend is a mctimoney/corley lady and my previous pony wore and jumped in a treeless from about the age of 4 until he died. His back was always checked and i got comments of how good his back was. In his defense he had exceptional stomach muscles, these are the most important and i did lots of exercises on the ground to prepare him to carry me. (He also had an exceptional buck, that part i didn't teach!) At the moment my new lass doesn't know what these are yet.
The rider can do more harm than the saddle, if they ride heavy and do not fit it properly the same as a treed. If my new girl does not suit treeless, she will not have one.
 
joosie said:
Our equine physio told us that she strongly advises her clients not to use treeless saddles on young horses - apparently they can do more harm than good on an unbalanced horse who hasn't yet learned to carry themselves.
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This is interesting as Cassie went away to be backed professionally and they used a Torsion Treeless on her. Whilst there I used the Trekker and she seemed very happy in it. Believe me she is the type to definately know if she is uncomfortable.

Alfie has had the saddle on, no stirrups, just to get used to the feel but when the time eventually comes (got quite a while yet) i will look into it further. Always open to learning:smile:
 
teehee - there are quite a large majority of cobs that are pretty speedy :) I bet she'll go like a dream once you've got her trust! Can't wait to hear all about your progress!
 
cassiebird said:
This is interesting as Cassie went away to be backed professionally and they used a Torsion Treeless on her. Whilst there I used the Trekker and she seemed very happy in it. Believe me she is the type to definately know if she is uncomfortable.

Alfie has had the saddle on, no stirrups, just to get used to the feel but when the time eventually comes (got quite a while yet) i will look into it further. Always open to learning:smile:
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Of course :)

I think people who work in equine physio, osteo etc tend to form their opinions from the cases they encounter. Ours is not a fan of treeless saddles in general because she's seen the harm they can cause from incorrect weight distribution when being used by unbalanced, crooked and/or generally novice riders. For example she has encountered more saddle sores and pressure points from incorrectly fitted treeless saddles than from treed ones. Although obviously this could well be due to people not having the saddles fitted correctly - she says she is shocked by the number of people she encounters who think a treeless can be plonked on any old horse and not have to be right for its back. The issue of weight-distribution with treeless saddles is what makes her worry about them being used on young horses, with their lack of muscle development, strength and balance.

This thread isn't supposed to be a debate on treeless saddles though so I will leave it at that :)
 
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Although the thread is not a treeless verses treed thread, it is still relevant to be included under the backing a young horse though.
If people think treeless fits anything, plonk on the youngster and go then you can cause long term problems i would agree.
Some people use just to introduce the concept of a girth. My treeless may not fit her when i am on board, i could be on the hunt for another.
 
newforest said:
Although the thread is not a treeless verses treed thread, it is still relevant to be included under the backing a young horse though.
If people think treeless fits anything, plonk on the youngster and go then you can cause long term problems i would agree.
Some people use just to introduce the concept of a girth. My treeless may not fit her when i am on board, i could be on the hunt for another.
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I agree NF, and I have been the proud owner of 3 treeless in the quest to find the right one for Cass, trekker, exmoor (or dartmoor can never remember which one i have!) and torsion. :redface:
 
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