Vikki89
Well-Known Member
I know everyone has different opinions on how much and what a 3 year old should be doing and also differs from horse to horse but what are your opinions?
3 year olds and work
- Thread starter Vikki89
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NELSON11
Well-Known Member
My 3 yo was introduced to long reining wearing full tack, he also did some very light lunging. Once maybe twice a week.
I also taught him to loose jump when he turned 3 as he had to jump for his futurity in the August and he was 3 at the end of May.
So he went out to a few parties and saw a bit of life. Unfortunately he damaged his tendon in the field the week after his futurity so all work ceased until May this year as a 4 year old. In hindsight even if he hadn't hurt his leg I would of left him to 4 before backing as 17.1hh WBXTB so big rangy horse.
Much more mature now.
I also taught him to loose jump when he turned 3 as he had to jump for his futurity in the August and he was 3 at the end of May.
So he went out to a few parties and saw a bit of life. Unfortunately he damaged his tendon in the field the week after his futurity so all work ceased until May this year as a 4 year old. In hindsight even if he hadn't hurt his leg I would of left him to 4 before backing as 17.1hh WBXTB so big rangy horse.
Much more mature now.
scribble
Well-Known Member
I backed my 3 yr old this yr she turned 3 in April and have been riding her since May. firstly she was 16.2 and very mature and chilled for her age and the other thing was she was in danger of injuring herself in the field so we backed her and have been doing little things with her to keep her mind occupied. I also think if i waited till next yr she would be much bigger and stronger and more attitude. she is hopefully going to do BHEY anyway next yr r try to. she gets ridden for 20 mins 3 times a week and two of those is a quiet hack round village and she is doing fine. we take it very slowly at her pace and when she has confidence but every couple of weeks we do something new. IF she starts to not cope we will stop but go for it.
toomanyhorses26
Well-Known Member
I was in a slightly different scenerio as my 3 year old was an ex racer and had been in work for about 15 months when I got him. He was quite an interested active little chap so we hacked out a couple of times a week and played in the school for 10-15 mins on another day and then he was turned out 24/7 to gain some social skills 
Pipkin
Well-Known Member
Ayla turned three June 2009, she was backed in Sept, i havent done loads wit her hacks twice a week up until this spring and then i started to build her fitness up and have now started short schooling sessions