Asking too much of a three year old?

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milo'n'molly

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Can you sensible people please help me? There is a girl that liveries on a yard down the road from me who has bought a sweet 3yr old gelding that she is playing around with through the summer and I've been helping her out. I don't think she is asking very much from him at all, just the basics like standing still next to the mounting block, people jumping up next to him, loading on and off the trailer, a walk around the village and a visit to a local show.
She is now walking him further afield to see new places and last week when the sun was out they ventured to the stream which is a 45/50 min walk from us and he had a splash and they walked back so away from the yard 2hrs tops.
This is where the women on her yard have started to be mean and told her she is ruining him and asking too much as youngsters shouldn't ever be worked for more than 15/20 mins at a time. Well to me walking down lanes and bridle ways isn't "work" it's not mentally taxing and she's not riding him and surely it makes sense to have the horse in a better physical shape before he is expected to work, give his legs and muscles chance to get conditioned before he is expected to carry a rider.
One of the women complaining also has a 3yr old and yes she only works him for short sessions but he is already backed and is stabled 18/24 hrs a day. I am sure I have read studies done that moderated, non weight bearing exercise at a young age produces sounder horses but I can't find it so I'm opening it up to your opinions please.
My friends horse is out at grass 24/7/365 in a large field so is well used walking around anyway.
 
I bet I can guess which of the 2 horses is the happiest!

Sounds to me like your friend is doing a sterling job of providing a well rounded education for her youngster. I think she should ignore the yard 'experts' and carry on doing it her way.
 
I would tell you friend to carry on with what she is doing and to ignore the other woman. As long as when she is leading him out on public highways she is in control of him I cannot see how she is doing any harm.

I kept my youngsters in a long thin 22 acre field and they covered a huge mileage in a day. They are now aged between 10 and 14 and do not have any lameness issues.

On the other hand I have found that some youngsters are born spooky and will always have that tendency and others aren't spooky and it doesn't really matter what they are exposed to as youngsters. Your friend will be building a good bond with her youngster and as long as she doesn't faff around him should have a lovely youngster to bring on.
 
ide say your friend sounds like shes doing the right and best thing for her horse, if it was ridden then yes absolutely that would be to much but since it was all inhand shes on the right track to acheiving a strong bond and producing a well rounded, happy horse :) my jst turned 2yr old spends hours and hours everyday charging around like a loon and playing with others in the field, shes probobly doing more damage to herself doing that than she does when she long reined/walked out inhand/taken to shows but she lives out and i cant stop a baby acting like baby lol
 
Generally as long as the horse is out as much as possible, and the work/activity the owner is asking the horse to do is enjoyable for the horse then I cant see any issues. I'm 100% certain your friends horse who spends most of his time in the field will be far happier than a youngster cooped up 24/7!

Every horse is different, and 15/20 mins for one youngster might be spot on, for another it might be too much, for another it might not be enough....my very wise trainer always says to judge the horse's mood/attitude on the day. Some days they may be really up for doing lots of stuff, other days they may want to be left alone - providing you and your friend and listening to the horse's moods and stopping when its clear the horse has had enough....then these so called yard 'experts' have no right to comment.

There will always be someone criticising your way of doing things, and just because this person has a 3 year old clearly they have decided that gives them the right to comment on everyone else's 3 year old. In general most experienced horse people will say leaving your youngster to be a youngster is a good thing, over-handling can cause issues, and the more time out in the field the better. That is how I approach my 2 year old, he lives out at night and only comes in for a few hours to escape the flies. I dont do a fat lot else with him, he's been in the school a couple of times to look at it and walk over some poles (because he showed an interest in them, rather than me having that intention), and we've had a little in hand play about when my trainer came to visit. But over-handling can mean many things to different people, so always best for the owner to use their own judgement as ultimately they know their own horse best.

When they get to 3 they can start doing a bit more, you need to prepare them for backing whenever that may be so getting all the basics established ahead of backing is no bad thing. Keep doing whatever the horse seems to enjoy, the more time your friend spends with the horse the more she'll understand when is time to stop and when he is game to do a bit more.

And ignore the busy-bodies comments, they clearly have nothing better to do!
 
I too think she should just ignore the busy bodies.

It sounds like her youngster is getting a nice rounded education and provided he is happy to do what she is asking then she can't go too far wrong. I would far prefer to belong her and have a nice life still being a horse and living out than worked in endless circles in tack and shut in most of the time.

Horses for courses as they say, every horse is different and provided they are happy and that people are sensible I see no problems with doing bits and pieces like that occasionally.
 
I am another who thinks your friend should ignore the comments, sounds like a lovely introduction to the world for her youngster :)
 
It just depends on the horse and whether they mean mentally of physically. Some 3 years olds are still very babyish and 2 hours of new experiences might just blow their minds. Same as taking them to a show for an entire day rather than just 1 class. Being out in the field is completely different mentally than being walked out and experiencing the world. The herd in the field is safe and he can just follow the other horses whereas being outside he has to think for himself. On the other hand, some are just so laid back about everything/independent and 2 hours off the yard is nothing.

Physically, unless it is lots of hills and she is dragging him along, it probably equates to being in the field for about double that time if he just sort of grazes and plods about most of the time. They don't usually walk round fields 24/7 (at least my potatoes don't - they are grazers and only walk as far as the next bit of nice grass or water trough).

If she is confident that she is not overdoing it mentally and physically then she should just ignore everyone else. I think it is great that her horse is getting a good positive education early on; I never understand how people expect horses to "grow up" when they turn 4 having spent the previous 4 years sat in a field?
 
Your friend sounds like she is doing it all absolutely right...

I'm willing to bet those critical women are too lazy to take their own horses on long walks and are using the criticism to cover their lazy asses!
 
this is how I start my youngsters, and I can`t imagine a better way.

the time spent now with the horse will set it up for life, I would just point out to people who criticize your approach their own shortcomings, and tell them their time would be better spent with their own horse instead of delaying you from what you are about to do, don`t let them take up your time or energy.
 
I knew I would get sensible answers from you guys will pass it on. She Is hoping to keep him barefoot too so I've told her it's good to get his feet used to walking out too.
Thanks
 
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