3 year old

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KINGLIAM

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hi guys,my fllly is comeing up to 3 years old in may,i have lunged her and done lots of road work with her for the past year,also sat on her how do i know if she is ready for me to start to ride her,i walk her around the village she is pretty bomb profe in all kind of traffic i dont want to give her a bad start i have had her for 2 years and she is like a little puppyy,she is about 15h and a sec d
please advice thank you
 
How can I put this gently? It's simple, how will you know when she's ready to be ridden? Her age. She's far too young. Reading back over your previous posts you've done everything you could have done with a youngster so far and done it well apart from the lunging....please don't, it's bad for their joints, try long lining instead? I imagine it's hard to be patient when you've got a nice sec. D youngster that looks and acts mature enough to be backed, but you know that if you wait until next year you can do it without feeling guilty about causing her any damage.

In the meantime do some more imaginative groundwork stuff with her...walking over tarps, underneath a frame with balloons and flags, you could have a look at the horse agility website for some more ideas. Have fun!!
 
Sorry but unless she is really immature i would say get on her and ride her. I have just got on mine and she has doen similar. she is very mature for her age and she gets 10 mins long lining and then 10 mins walk out either on grass or down a track nearby. research has shown it is better to give them a little stress every now and then rather than leave them late. mine is only worked every other day for 20 mins. her legs are fully wrapped and she is done very slowly. 4 yr olds compete at BYEH etc
 
I am all for backing her then turning away over winter. I know people say leave them but bolshy 4/5 year old is horrible. Back her, riding nicely, though nothing difficult or that is hard work and then turn her away over winter, bring her back next spring. If she is more TB she will more mature, WB/ID/bigger breeds take longer.
 
Hi I backed mine last year when he was 3. Everyone has their own views on backing and breaking and what age it should be done, but there is no set rule in which it should be done! She is your horse and you know her the best. But I do find that some people back at 4 and you see this all the time they back them and they are jumping in matter of weeks! Which has to be more stressful than starting off slowly as a 3 year old and turning away over winter and bringing them back in the spring. good luck with your baby! x
 
I would make sure you can long line her before you ride her. That way she will be used to pressure on her mouth and have basic stopping and steering commands ready, otherwise you'll get on and she wont have a clue what your hands mean as she's used to you leading her.

If she's 3 in May and quite mature I would say (in my limited experience) you're best bet would be to start riding her and do the basics towards the mid - end of summer. That way you can turn her away over winter when it's cold, dark and bad weather and there is less chance to ride and then bring her back into work in the spring next year as a rising 4 year old to do more with. Depends on the horse of course but on paper that's how I would approach it.
 
Most of ours are homebred so they are pretty well established through handling etc. We find the 2 year olds get bored and don't know what to do with themselves as they spend part of the day in so we get them used to wearing tack going for walks, a little long reining. My daughter who is a lightweight sits up on them and we have a little walk down the lane with me leading them maybe two or three times, then they are left until their 3rd year (autumn) and started properly then. Works for us
 
Having seen how much my wee filly grew between 3 and 4 there's no way I'd back earlier than that. If she is bored there is endless ground working techniques you could be doing with her to exercise her brain and not her still maturing body.
 
My welshie is 3 in may, she worn tack, been sat on and is currently being long reined. I plan to get a small rider towards the end of summer to ride her (very lightly) for a little while then turn her away till spring.
 
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