Backing 3/4yr olds

I stole a friend to take Bella on her first accompanied mini hack up the road the other day. First time getting on without lunging and she was really polite, striding out and enjoying herself. Good girl! She played with a fence last weekend :rolleyes: so will have this week off for some (really) superficial swelling to resolve.

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I will soon be joining this thread. Thursday! Yikes! The anticipatory anxiety is getting me. That's a thing I have with any major change. I am sure it will be okay when the little PRE arrives. But I'm so stressed about her not settling and causing headaches for me and barn staff. Which is silly, because horses of all ages can lose the plot after a move. I mean, Gypsum had perfected this into bloody performance art by the time she was in her mid/late 20s. And babies are usually more pliable, at least in my experience. And you guys told me in my other thread that horses from this stud tend to be fine. And my last baby, who was the same age as the PRE when I bought him, had no trouble, and he was a PMU foal so his breeding was random QH/TB with random draft.
 
A LOT of sass today. Didn’t really fancy leaving the gate. Going to step it back a bit for her as I think that’s what we need as a partnership. As much as I try I’m not a pro! It’s such a hard balance between she’s over confident/dominant and testing vs v young and insecure.
 
Caol Ila said:
I will soon be joining this thread. Thursday! Yikes! The anticipatory anxiety is getting me. That's a thing I have with any major change. I am sure it will be okay when the little PRE arrives. But I'm so stressed about her not settling and causing headaches for me and barn staff. Which is silly, because horses of all ages can lose the plot after a move. I mean, Gypsum had perfected this into bloody performance art by the time she was in her mid/late 20s. And babies are usually more pliable, at least in my experience. And you guys told me in my other thread that horses from this stud tend to be fine. And my last baby, who was the same age as the PRE when I bought him, had no trouble, and he was a PMU foal so his breeding was random QH/TB with random draft.
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All will be well and you will deal with issues as they arise. So exciting to have all the joy of a young horse!! I hope you are able to relax and enjoy once she settles in :)
 
I can't quite believe that my young horse will soon be out of this age group! She will be 5 at the end of April. I will try to post a picture of her before she leaves the thread lol. So enjoying her and looking forward to doing a bit more this summer :) Well done everyone with their baby horses; some gorgeous and super smart horses on here!!
 
palo1 said:
I can't quite believe that my young horse will soon be out of this age group! She will be 5 at the end of April. I will try to post a picture of her before she leaves the thread lol. So enjoying her and looking forward to doing a bit more this summer :) Well done everyone with their baby horses; some gorgeous and super smart horses on here!!
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I think you still need to sneak in the odd update ?
 
I'm excited about joining this thread. I have a rising 3 yo and I plan to do some groundwork this year with him and maybe have a quick sit on at the end of the year depending on how it goes. I have never had a youngster before so I'm hoping I don't **** it up!! I have had him since he was 6 mo so I know him pretty well and he is generally good to lead, move his hindquarters etc. This week I have been doing some more desensitisation with him. My main issue is usually trying to stop him eating everything!


 
Only just joining this thread and won't be here for long as my lovely Fell pony gelding will be 5 in June!

We were going great guns before the snow hit in January, not mention the gales through most February! So progress has been very stop start.

I started to introduce him to long reining a couple of weeks ago. Pulled him out of the field today thinking I'd need to go back a couple of steps, but he remembered everything and we made good progress.

We finish every session standing at the mounting block where lean across him and scratch his other side.

He is the nicest youngster I've ever worked with. He's got a good brain on him and a real willingness to learn. He's very trusting too, having had a fantastic upbringing. He thinks humans are pretty cool.

He's had a saddle on his back but I'm unwilling to do any more until the fitter has been next week. Slightly worried as the 15.5" saddle I popped on him looked too long!

Sunday mornings we go out for a nice long walk with OH leading daughter's pony which we all enjoy very much.

Genuinely excited about his future and how much fun we are going to have. ?
 
I wasn’t going to post until my rising 4yo had been away to ‘school’ in the spring, but I might have accidentally backed her already ? in my defence she just made it too easy (famous last words!)
This was her first week under saddle as she’s taken everything in her stride so far. Couldn’t be prouder of her ?
 
Thanks rara007, I thought you mentioned it, but I wasnt sure. I have a friend who had two Valido ponies, and yours is so similar, its amazing! Her two are absolutely stunning ponies in every way, I'm sure yours will go on to be equally wonderful.
 
ITPersonnage said:
Lovely video thanks for sharing, love him and your way of training :)
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Thank you - I love him too (at the moment, pre any kevin behaviour kicking in :p)

I had to laugh at him this morning - after our very quick session in the school, I was untacking, and he immediately bent round and started scratching his ear with his hind hoof. That's the kind of suppleness I'd like to maintain!!
 
RachelFerd said:
Joining this thread for the first time - little video of my rising 4yo, back in some light work this month after a few months turned away! Baby steps, but it is all so exciting at this stage!

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He's looking super, well done. Nice way to documents his journey too.
I’m filming mine once a week just to track progress, but it's not as snazzy as yours!
 
RachelFerd said:
Thank you - I love him too (at the moment, pre any kevin behaviour kicking in :p)

I had to laugh at him this morning - after our very quick session in the school, I was untacking, and he immediately bent round and started scratching his ear with his hind hoof. That's the kind of suppleness I'd like to maintain!!
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One of mine has done that to me when I was on top. He was 12 at the time and stayed completely balanced the whole time, while I sat as still as possible hoping we didn’t both end up on the floor ?. He’s a compact and very balanced PRE but I had no idea he was so flexible..!

I also enjoyed the video, it’s given me a few ideas of groundwork to do before getting back on my rising 4yo next month.
 
RachelFerd said:
Thank you - I love him too (at the moment, pre any kevin behaviour kicking in :p)

I had to laugh at him this morning - after our very quick session in the school, I was untacking, and he immediately bent round and started scratching his ear with his hind hoof. That's the kind of suppleness I'd like to maintain!!
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Dont worry, my 18hh 13yr old GP horse still does this all the time!! You can keep your boy this supple no problem.
 
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