Are youngsters best left until 4 to back?

Spyda

Spyda

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I've left my filly and don't plan to back her until next Spring (when she'll turn 4 in May). I've normally backed my youngsters at 3 and had them going nicely by 4.

She'll happily wear a bridle and saddle but hasn't been 'laid over' or sat on. She's just spent the past 3.5 years bumming about with other youngsters at grass.

Now I am mildly wondering if she'll be disadvantaged at not being worked a bit more as a 3 year old?

What's everyone's opinion?
 
I'm leaving mine until she is 4 too, much the same as yours has had tack, walks, long reined etc. So will follow this with interest.
 
generally i would say depends on the horse when making a decision whether to start at 3 or not- some aren't physically/mentally mature enough to deal with it. but i don't think you'd have a problem waiting til she was 4- my horse wasn't backed until his 4th year and he's fine. he was an idiot to back but i think he would have been anyway (he's cold backed) and it was nothing to do with his age. he's now BEing as a 5 year old....
 
I have Katie who will be 4 in May and Oz who will be 4 in July. They both wear tack and have been lightly lunged, and leant over. I won't be backing them until the spring though, partly because I'm short on facilities, but partly because there's a few schools of thought out there to say that they're better able to physically take a rider at 4, and I'm in no rush.
 
I think the reason Obie wasn't backed until he was 4.5 years was because of how immature physcially he is. He's a big big lad, but when I got him he looked like a big 2 year old! However, Obie is probably the most laid back 4 year old in the entire world, and he is amazing already as mentally he's very mature and will take everything in his stride that I throw at him.
I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe lean over her etc., sit on her etc. take her out on the roads in hand, turn her away for a few months to let her think about it and then start properly?
 
mine was backed at 4 and is a complete donkey.

she is 4 now and due to me not pushing her shes not done that much but i do want to eventually affiliate her BD (i think!)... next year and she has the potential as shes very mature and takes everythinbg in her stride! :)
 
It would only be a disadvantage if you were planning to sell him at auction or something like that! Frodo only started wearing tack as a 4yo and it definitely hasn't done him any harm, he is now 5 and competing in young horse classes, and has started half passes, flying changes, half-steps like any other 5 yo.
He did look a little less developed/established compared to other horses when he first started competing and the marks reflected this at the very beginning but as he was/is not for sale this does not bother me as I knew it was just a question of time.
 
Briefly, on the subject of physical maturity.....all horses, whatever their breed, mature physically at the same rate. Thats to say the growth plates don't fully close until the horse is 6, and the last growth plates to close are in the horse's spine.
 
I think every horse is different.
I backed mine at 3 this year as mentally he is very mature. He really enjoyed having a little more to think about etc. He was only ridden for 2 months on and off and walk, Trot and cantered. He is now turned away till march next year.
Another reason un lightly backing him is that um hoping to do young dressage horse classes with him next year and this way it gives us a little head start.
However, if I could go back, I don't think I would have ridden him quite so much but over a longer period e.g only hacking twice a week until Sept as he is getting so fed up and messing around and being naughty now lol.
I have a 2 year old.exmoor I bought this year and she was wild up until 8 weeks ago. Therefore I am taking it very slow with her. The plan is to not back her till mid/ late summer as a 3 year old very lightly if she is ready.
I think some people worry that if they leave them till 4, especially the very big ones, then it will b mire difficult or they will b harder to handle etc. Also, a lot of people back early so their horse s ready for competing as a 4 year old. I don't agree with people backing at early 3 and not giving them time off at all till they are 4 as I think this is too much.
 
gala said:
Briefly, on the subject of physical maturity.....all horses, whatever their breed, mature physically at the same rate. Thats to say the growth plates don't fully close until the horse is 6, and the last growth plates to close are in the horse's spine.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. Some horses mature faster, some later.
Obie is an IDXTB and he looked like a 2 year old. All leg, no substance!
He's maturing a lot now and is beginning to look like a real horse now :lol:
My friend has a horse who is just turned 3 and she is way more developed than my boy.
All horses are different.
 
we always break at 3, ride around the farm for a week or two then turn right away till 4 when they go over as much of the breaking as they need again for a week or two then come back to work, slowly.
 
*Spider* said:
Not necessarily true. Some horses mature faster, some later.
Obie is an IDXTB and he looked like a 2 year old. All leg, no substance!
He's maturing a lot now and is beginning to look like a real horse now :lol:
My friend has a horse who is just turned 3 and she is way more developed than my boy.
All horses are different.
Click to expand...

Spider I think Gala was talking about the internal skeleton not how they appear externally. The growth plates fuse when they have completely finished growing (just like in people) and this happens at a more or less set rate. So no matter how physically or mental mature they "seem" their skeletons may not reflect this. Hence the idea of leaving them later to back to allow their frame to be mature enough to take the weight of a rider.

I have a 2yo who looks very immature but is very tall, his half brother is only 6 months older but is a smaller more compact build. He looks much much more mature but his skeleton is only those few months ahead internally.
 
I'm liking this dilemma.

Mine is 2.5yrs old and already to go as he's an ex-racehorse as of August this year. I intend re-starting him in the Spring, doing plenty of groundwork to build his muscle (hideous ewe neck from racing) and catching a bit of the end of Summer on him, but literally just the odd hack out as he's a very energetic young man and will probably be bored to tears this time next year by just going out and coming back in. Then he can have the Winter off and prep for show season in 2012. That's sort of the intention, but may not pan out like that.

At the moment though, he's growing like a weed. Got him in September at 15.3hh and he's now 16.1hh. Aaaaargh!!!!!
 
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Mine looks good to break, she was three in June, a typical native stocky sort. I was going to send her for backing and selling last month, but as the market is so quiet, I've decided to delay until the spring. My thought is that a rising four year old can go to ridden shows, camp etc, whereas a three year old can't, hence she may be more sellable in the spring.
 
misst said:
Spider I think Gala was talking about the internal skeleton not how they appear externally. The growth plates fuse when they have completely finished growing (just like in people) and this happens at a more or less set rate. So no matter how physically or mental mature they "seem" their skeletons may not reflect this. Hence the idea of leaving them later to back to allow their frame to be mature enough to take the weight of a rider.
.
Click to expand...

Thanks misst, you get what I was trying to say! And you put it better than me.
 
I am most paranoid about this. My Boy is 4 1/2 and is a big chap. Heavy end of MW. I weigh 14 stone and I've had so many conflicting bits of advice about how much to do with him. For example - how long should he hack out for ? how often should I ride him and will school work be detrimental. At the moment we do 45 mins in the school twice a week mostly walk and trot. Tiny bit of canter. Hacking out I've not been for more than an hour, he's in hoof boots as I want to put off shoes for as long as possible.
I'm not intending to start jumps until next spring/summer. We run over cavaletties with him in hand at the mo though!
 
Skeletally, all breeds mature at the same rate (see the Ranger article linked above). I just don't see any point in backing them younger than 4 (and have agreed to disagree with one of my trainers over this).
 
We have a dealer near me who has quite a few 2yr 8 month youngsters who are broken and doing light work and some jumping 1.10 loose. Disgusting I think
 
It's fairly commonplace to back much younger in the States - we've always backed ours at around 2 and a half, kept it nice and light, and it's always worked well for us.
 
colts - lightly backed in thier 3rd autumn.
Fillies - not so bothered if they wait till 4.
geldings- 4

but the ages are more about mental maturatiy than work load or training and if a horse is not ready physicaly or mentaly we delay.

all are loose jumped once or twice at 2 but again nothing serious. all of ours are led out in hand and swum occasionaly from weaning onwards. work for young horses is only detrimental if it is dne wrong or nutritional requirements are not met, a little gently we find has a positive effect on a horses soundness later on.
 
Started to back one mare at 2 and a half (well, leaned and sat on bareback a few times)- welsh cob and very mature for her age, turned her out at 2 and she was just doing nothing and hated being out with other youngsters as she was always stabled on her own as a baby (not with us, with breeder) and she was just waiting and wanting to learn. She lovedddd itttt :D She was so calm and i genuinely felt safer on her than i have on any other horse in my life the first time i sat up on her. Was gonna carry on with her and then turn her out again with a few other friends youngsters when she was about 3 for a while and see if she started acting like a normal horse.. (she wasnt mine, but she was my project) but then her owner couldnt afford to keep her, she has 12 other horses shes had for longer and most of them she bred herself, and they are her priority, so filly was sold for a good price to a lovely lady and now are happy :)

Another mare, a lovely gorgeous arab mare, we were keeping for in-hand really, but she did so wel and has AMAZINGGG breeding we thought it would be a shame not to have a go at ridden at some point, so at about 12 we started backing her, and shes now 15 and still not ready for the show ring, so unless a miracle happens i think were keeping with inhand, but shes a lovely ride, just not ready for the ring, so hacking to keep her in good showing shape :) its been slow, but weve taken it slow on purpose because shes sooo clever we dont her getting sour with it :)

Shows you can still have fun with your horse whatever age he/she is broken in :) wish you all the best in the future :)
 
My youngster was a later born foal (she was 3 in july). I am planning to spend next summer introducing tack, going for walks a little lungeing to get used to voice commands and then begin the leaning over leading onto backing process at the end of summer, when she will have turned 4.
 
enfys- the clues in the title, 'potential problems' . If you do it wrong you can mess up a horse for life, but i have seen far more 4 , 5 and older horses who have done nothing break down after beeing started late, than 3 year olds produced carefully into thire 5th year. not to say that all horses started lated do have problems. people do tend to work young horses far to much in thire first year undersaddle, its circles that are the killer i belive.
i do think 2 1/2 is a bit young for riding horses, knowing how racehorses are broken and then trained its not the same as when us fatties do it, though its clear even then breaking so young is not good.
 
sorry enfys , i phrazed that a bit harsh, it is a good article! :o

though i'm not sure which horses the writer owns with a rest pulse of 25bpm as standard ! i'd like to know where she gets them from lol!!
 
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As with most things to do with horses, each to their own.
Some horses benefit from being backed at 2, turned away and brought back at 3.
But most, later.
Perfect age for me is 3, then you get a nice 4 year old. But, if said 3 year old is extremely immature, then just leave it another year.
I think it's wrong to have a set age for every horse, unless you work in a specific breed or something.
 
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