Apprehensive to back the youngster...

GrassChop

GrassChop

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I'm not apprehensive in a bad way, I'm really looking forward to my youngster getting going this year and I'm in the process of getting it all booked in... until it dawned on me that I will have two in work.

I work from 9am-6pm and a half an hour commute. In winter, I wouldn't have time to ride before work and get in on time so I only ride on the weekend, usually just the once depending on the weather, sometimes both days. I have no facilities or flood lit school.

My plan was to essentially semi-retire the older mare (20 this year) who's actually not that old in mental and physical terms and is still very much enjoying blasting around the forest. She is fine being ridden once a week so this could stay the same by the time summer comes. I do feel guilty spending both weekend days riding though so I try to ride and do my bits on just one day so it frees up the other but that could be quite hard going when I have the two to ride.

I am not in the position to move yards with two ponies and I can't have a sharer as there isn't enough space on the small shared private yard that I'm on.

The question is, how many times realistically will the youngster need to be ridden/worked each week? Does anyone have any brilliant ideas on a weekly routine please? Thank you!
 
I rode Faran twice a week and still did long lining and in hand work in the beginning after backing him. Over spring and the beginning of summer I upped it until I had my accident and couldn’t walk so he then got from June essentially to the following spring off bar some in hand work round about this time of year when I could walk again and do small things with him.

His 5th year we upped the hacking and went to pole clinics and did small jumps occasionally then he got Lami so got 6months off and came back into work spring of his 6th year and now does as much as I can fit in round a 7.30-4.30 job 5dsys a week.

So go as slow as you like, the long breaks haven’t done him any harm, he has been chilled and my usual dependable boy, he’s taken to the training to help me keep riding and to help me get on and off and other things when my body isn’t obeying me like a duck to water and I do believe it’s because he hasn’t been rushed and has had plenty of time to process 😃
 
I think it depends what your plans are for the horses.

I'm similar in work hours and work commute, as well as having one I'm backing this year and another in ridden work. I've created a sort of ambitious plan for when the clocks change of:

Older horse, ridden in AM Monday, Weds, Fri, lunged Sat.

Younger horse, ridden/lunged/long reined in PM Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun.


Sleep is for the weak and all that 😱
 
It wouldn't hurt to give the youngsters the winter off or only ride once a week if out 24/7 over winter.
I do little with mine in winter as I am in the same position as you. I think it benefits them to have some down time.
 
My experience is that if a youngster has been sent away to back, usually in 6 or so weeks (which may be very old fashioned of me but I think think horses are being backed far too quickly these days, we always did ours over a period of months!) then they do well in consistent work but short bursts e.g. 15-20mins a day for around 5 days a week and that this should be varied such as a walk up the lane under saddle, some long reining, some poles etc. This doesn't have to be you sitting up top but some form of work is vital. If you are only able to work a freshly backed horse on weekends then I expect you would run into trouble.

If I were you I would push back your horse being backed until just before the clocks change so that you can ensure they can be worked regularly. Being ridden in a field however, is an excellent education for a youngster so don't worry too much about not having facilities - arenas can make younguns sour anyway!

Apologies if this is teaching to suck eggs but if you do need to give youngster an extended break due to life commitments, it is prudent to treat coming back into work as if you are rebacking
 
A long time ago (2003), I backed my 4 year old in January and also had a jumping pony in full work, and was working 8.45-5.15pm as an office junior. Honestly, for the first couple of months, the youngster just worked Saturdays and Sundays and then had the week off. I picked him up more once the clocks changed in the March. He was absolutely fine.
 
I had the brilliant plan of getting a 2 yr old and my older mare could retire or slow down once he was started 🙄

I now have a 4yr old who's bored and needs work in addition to a 23 yr old mare who's decided she needs to be ridden at least 3 times a week.

My plan is to back and get youngster going this spring and he'll get winter off. (Depending how it goes he may get time off sooner to let him process. Either way, it will be hacking and mainly walking with some trot. He'll do some pole work in arena in hand).

Older mare I can't plan as she decides what she needs and wants. - she bullies the other horses when she's bored and needs more work. The last couple winters she was happy being off work but not this year. Each hack she is bouncing just now and eager to go (she chooses routes on way home to stay out slightly longer).

You may just need to see how you get on and adjust as you go. I would wait until clocks change to back youngster.
 
The hard part isn't backing the youngster. Greenbroke horses don't need tons of work. You don't ride them for very long and generally not every day. No, the hard part is when the youngster is broke enough to be in full time work, but your older horse is also ridden regularly. I don't remember the first six month/year of Hermosa's ridden life being particularly difficult. But after that....

I basically can't keep two horses at their fittest, so it's Fin (he's around 15 this year) who gets the lighter workload. He cares less, and he doesn't hack alone, which is a big deal because hacking buddies can be scarce, especially in winter when lots of people have 9-5 jobs. I do feel bad because he used to do a lot of our long rides, but he's always hard work on them because he's a lot spookier, and if he takes a big fright, you can be a long way from home on a sharp, upset pony. When we were doing long rides last year, we took Hermosa because it's easier.

I guess I can't keep two horses fit enough for 4+ hour rides.
 
Same here, except I have TWO of them turning 4 this year!

My adult horse is currently ridden 5-6 times a week and the world revolves around him.

My plan is to keep his routine the same, one baby to be ridden each morning before work and I can ride and lead one of them each time I hack adult horse.

I am.musing about finding someone to share adult horse, however I only really want someone to hack him, preferably to nanny me on a baby horse.
He is incredibly easy to ride and safe so doesn't need an expert on board for hacking.
I don't want any money for it but not sure how many people will want to steadily hack about twice a week?
 
Michen said:
You need to ride and lead. The only way I did it was to ride and lead plus take dog so all three got worked at the same time for 3/4 days of the week.
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My mare is evil, it wouldn't end well I don't think! She's also competitive and can be spooky so not a good nanny horse.
 
I couldn't ride and lead either as my older horse isn't 100% in traffic. He's ok if you look after him but I couldn't safely cope with him having a wobble and hold onto an anxious baby at the same time.

My rising 5 year old was backed nearly a year ago and I coped in summer, riding him for short periods a few times a week before work and riding the older one as normal. But it did get more demanding, he needed more work and I lost the light in the mornings as winter approached.

I've ended up practically retiring the older horse (19). I do the odd bit of groundwork (poles mainly in an effort to keep his muscle tone) and will reassess in spring/summer when the days are longer.

It's really hard. I always thought I'd like a few horses, but I can't even cope with 2.
 
What do you mean there isn't enough space for a sharer? What space will they be taking up? Surely all of your horse's stuff is there already so they just turn up with their hat to ride?
 
IrishMilo said:
What do you mean there isn't enough space for a sharer? What space will they be taking up? Surely all of your horse's stuff is there already so they just turn up with their hat to ride?
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We are limited to parking so there wouldn't be enough room if we were all there at once, especially in the winter as the parking bit is on grass. It's also not my place and I don't pay to use it as it's my friend's so I don't want to take the mick and wouldn't want to ask. It just worked out well as the fields I rent from someone else are connected to the yard but the only way to access mine is through there as the other access is being used by the field owner and her horses, you wouldn't be able to get through without crossing her fields and navigating around her horses and lines of electric fencing. My stuff doesn't stay at the yard either so I'd have to arrange to leave it somewhere the night before.
 
GrassChop said:
My mare is evil, it wouldn't end well I don't think! She's also competitive and can be spooky so not a good nanny horse.
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I tried to ride and lead my youngster when I had my old cob. It didn't end well. Old cob was a gent and really patient. Youngster wanted to climb on board with me the whole time. I walked a really long way that day with a bouncy baby in one hand an a very understanding but slightly peeved cob in the other. My friend and I tried all sorts of things to stop him trying to climb on poor old B. flat out trot was the only thing that stopped him, but the minute you slow or stop he'd launch himself over the saddle in front of me. We didn't try again - it was to stressful. Good job he was only little!
 
Those of you who struggle to ride and lead, try swapping the horses over.
I've had great success riding the young one and leading the experienced horse.
Easier to get your leg on and guide the wobbly one and dominant older horses tend to be more placid when led- you can also tell them off from the side!
 
millitiger said:
Those of you who struggle to ride and lead, try swapping the horses over.
I've had great success riding the young one and leading the experienced horse.
Easier to get your leg on and guide the wobbly one and dominant older horses tend to be more placid when led- you can also tell them off from the side!
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He was 11hh and 18 months old at the time :eek: 🤣
 
Back the youngster when the days are longer, ride before (or after) work. Young ones take daily work at first but it’s short in duration, and then can usually drop to every other day for the first year. You could give the winter off (Nov-Mar) to help also.
 
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millitiger said:
Those of you who struggle to ride and lead, try swapping the horses over.
I've had great success riding the young one and leading the experienced horse.
Easier to get your leg on and guide the wobbly one and dominant older horses tend to be more placid when led- you can also tell them off from the side!
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😂 I ride and lead, riding my 18yr old and leading a variety of other horses. One day I decided to change it up as the other horse was slowwww so figured sitting on him would be better to encourage him forward rather than drag him ...well! Never have I ever seen my very forward going 18yr old slam on the breaks in trot quite so fast. I was nearly pulled straight off backwards 😂😂😂
 
I'm looking at this for 2026; I think I'll plan to have two in work over the summer but then give the youngster the winter off and pick up again the following year; then, all being well after that, I'd probably give the older horse, the easier winters. But that is very much plan A, who knows what will actually happen.
 
Alibear said:
I'm looking at this for 2026; I think I'll plan to have two in work over the summer but then give the youngster the winter off and pick up again the following year; then, all being well after that, I'd probably give the older horse, the easier winters. But that is very much plan A, who knows what will actually happen.
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That's not a bad idea!
 
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