j1ffy
Well-Known Member
So sorry to hear about Moon TM x
Backing 3/4yr olds
- Thread starter TheMule
- Start date
TheMule
Well-Known Member
Thank you all, it's still pretty raw but I know she had a wonderful life and I'm so grateful I've got Nova who is so like her in lots of ways so ? he can step up into her shoes in the future
palo1
Well-Known Member
How sad for you TheMule 
It is awful to lose a dear friend. Lovely to have such a super young horse of your dear mare's making for the future.
It is awful to lose a dear friend. Lovely to have such a super young horse of your dear mare's making for the future.
Palindrome
Well-Known Member
I am sorry the Mule, I lost my mare to colic 2 years ago, she was in foal
TheMule
Well-Known Member
I am sorry the Mule, I lost my mare to colic 2 years ago, she was in foal
I was so grateful yesterday that she didn’t take in foal last season because that must have been doubly tragic for you ?
Northern
Well-Known Member
Oh no TM, so sorry about Moon they leave such big gaps.
they leave such big gaps.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
Have nothing to contribute to the thread but wanted to add condolences TM. We lost our mare to colic a couple of weeks ago and they do leave a big hole.
Asha
Well-Known Member
So sorry TM , that must be very hard for you . Take care of yourself x
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
So sorry TM. X
j1ffy
Well-Known Member
I'm probably the least experienced on this thread with youngsters, but thought I'd reply as no-one else has!
My first horse as an adult was a rising 5yo, but very well-established, and in my innocence I just cracked on with him and didn't overthink at all! Chilli is the first real youngster I have had, and having read a lot about youngsters and what to do and when, I pretty much decided to leave him be as a baby to learn manners from his herd-mates rather than 'fiddle' too much. He was happy to be led, picked up his feet (with a little persuasion as he was always distracted by the idea of food / cuddles!), I walked him on and off the lorry as a rising 3yo and made sure he would move forward / backward / sideways on request. I honestly think that was plenty before he went to be backed.
Others can comment more on the lunging / long-reining / backing process as I took the easy route! But now I'm getting back on him as a 4yo after a six month break and very much focusing on keeping both my and his confidence up so we have a very solid base to build on. Having my other current ride, Danny, on loan has shown me how beneficial this can be as he was a nervous wreck to begin with after being pushed too far too young. Now we have trust and confidence he works his backside off and can cope with just about anything. Chilli's a confident sort and I would hate to knock that out of him. In different hands I'm sure he would be out doing a lot more and a lot quicker, but I'm in no rush and I can't envisage getting a trainer involved for quite some time unless we have a particular problem.
For example, I got on yesterday and had hoped to go around the woods but couldn't rope anyone in to help. Rather than push a 'solo' ride and risk knocking confidence, I did 10 minutes in the school then went to the edge of the woods and back, stopping for a natter on the way. He was worried but overcame it and didn't put a hoof out of line - that's plenty for now.
I think that was a very long way of saying - trust your instincts and experience. Set your boundaries to shape the horse that you want and don't worry too much about what others think you should / shouldn't do!
lannerch
Well-Known Member
The loose jumping was set up in the indoor school, Layla is on a break but we couldn’t resist
ahml100
Well-Known Member
So, Jamie has finished his holiday and come in for what I have dubbed ‘home schooling’. Where, he will his tack, long lining and lunging reintroduced. In around 5 weeks he will head back to my trainer to be rebacked! I ummed and ahhed about getting on him first however, I decided that it worked so well last time, don’t fix what isn’t broken!
TheMule
Well-Known Member
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TheMule
Well-Known Member
It's such a lovely stage- enjoy!
ahml100
Well-Known Member
Thank you! Can’t believe he is now 4...seems only yesterday I bought him as a yearling
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
Although I'd had a quick sit on my boy bareback, I'd set myself the goal of sitting on him in full tack and having a little walk by the end of this week.
So this morning after long reining off we we went to the mounting block. We went through everything we've been practicing and he was just so super chilled that I thought what the heck and just got on him. Mounted and dismounted a few times then gave him a big kiss and a couple of (sugar free) polos which are his favourite thing in the whole world and told him how brilliant he is!
Tomorrow hopefully he'll be taking his first ever steps with a rider!
So this morning after long reining off we we went to the mounting block. We went through everything we've been practicing and he was just so super chilled that I thought what the heck and just got on him. Mounted and dismounted a few times then gave him a big kiss and a couple of (sugar free) polos which are his favourite thing in the whole world and told him how brilliant he is!
Tomorrow hopefully he'll be taking his first ever steps with a rider!
daffy44
Well-Known Member
I did exactly that with my youngster, after swearing I wouldnt, and it went just as perfectly as it did with you, well done, its such a lovely feeling!
tristar
Well-Known Member
might sound daft, but just reading that i`m so excited for you x
hoping to be doing the same soon
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
It really is! I think you just know when they're ready.
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
Aw..thank you! ? I'm so lucky, he is just such an easy going, laid back character.
Can't wait to hear about your first sit on your youngster!
daffy44
Well-Known Member
Totally agree, when you know them, you absolutely just know when they are ready, and then everything goes well, good luck with the next steps, I'm sure it'll be brilliant!
palo1
Well-Known Member
Such exciting times @southerncomfort
I think that first sit on has to be an occasion which has to be intuitive - knowing that the moment is right for both parties is the epitome of horsemanship and I think that is why when it goes right we are so delighted! When we were starting Alw (most recent youngster) I was just pottering around in the yard - everything had been entirely straightforward up to that point, she was wearing her tack very happily and following me about - presumably waiting for me to find something else for her to do. My daughter was with me - I told her I was just going to go and get my hat, when I returned my son had clearly (and very naughtily) caught the same vibe and was volunteering to do the first sit-on!! I told him, laughingly but in no uncertain terms that the mare was mine, this was clearly a moment for 'us' and to step away lol. It was just a lovely, lighthearted, happy morning. Alw loved (and still loves) being the centre of attention and whilst the getting aboard was just a progression of what we had done before, sitting there on top with the mare so calm and interested was just perfectly sweet. It is a different feel with every horse of course but every time it has to be intuitively 'right'.southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
Thank you!
southerncomfort
Well-Known Member
Such exciting times @southerncomfort
I think that's exactly it. I think you have to tune down your excitement and be very matter of fact about it simply being the next step in their training, and they in turn don't see it as anything particularly exciting (hopefully!).
But it's just such a huge exercise in trust that it makes me marvel every time that a young prey animal would trust me enough to put them in such a potentially vulnerable position.
MarvelVillis
Well-Known Member
Looking forward to giving a few more updates on this thread in the next couple of months - my lovely youngster is being sent away to be backed at the beginning of May which I'm very excited about! The past two years have flown by and he's been relatively easy to do up until now so I'm hoping our ridden chapter continues in the same way.... remaining optimistic! What I'm curious to know is how often you hack out your newly backed babies? I'm thinking 3 times a week and then turn away over winter, and then bring back into work next spring and start introducing some school work.
Photo I took of Marvel a couple of weekends ago, making the most of his baby days!
Photo I took of Marvel a couple of weekends ago, making the most of his baby days!
palo1
Well-Known Member
Absolutely - congratulations btw!! It is such an important moment and you will have a lovely time moving on I am sure.
Sorry to be morbid in relation to these lovely happy posts but I have seen it go horribly wrong when things have been pushed or there hasn't been a calm, 'connected' approach. I was at a livery yard many years ago where a couple of young women had acquired a smart young horse. There had been problems all down the line
He had been traumatically weaned the day they bought him and then though they were clearly trying to do what they thought was right, the poor horse was confused and upset all the time. For no discernible reason at the age of 3 on the dot it was suddenly 'backing day'. One of the women used a plastic chair as a mounting block with an already hot and anxious horse who was not at that point relaxed about wearing tack or long reining (or anything really). Chair fell over predictably, horse freaked, predictably, young woman hit metal post (she was ok). This went on with them following some sort of schedule and with things going from bad to worse until one day when they were lunging this lovely horse they pulled him over (because he was being difficult) and he smacked his head and died. Ghastly. I was, however, somewhat relieved tbh - there was no way that partnership was safe for any of the parties involved. It was only a matter of time before I felt one of the women would be badly injured. Tragically, the horse lost his life and that has stayed with me for years. I don't know how those young women moved on from that - I sort of hope it put them off horses..
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
OMG sounds horrific Palo
palo1
Well-Known Member
OMG sounds horrific Palo
Yes, utterly awful from start to finish. Poor, poor horse
I also watched this poor horse nearly kill one of my neighbours; he was so poorly handled and confused/upset about life that he became a very impressive rearer in order to intimidate people. My neighbour was delivering hay and popped into the field for a wee (not normally a problem at all). I watched in absolute horror as this horse came up behind him, stood right up and missed my neighbour's head on the way down by mm. I have never forgotten that either!! I think sometimes when horses are nice enough or you have years behind you (of making mistakes but sort of learning from them hopefully) you forget just how dire and dangerous things can actually get when horses are really badly treated or mis-handled. I am shuddering now, remembering the whole sorry episode. As you were folks!!
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
i think you're right there, definitely. I'm planning to start my 2 tiddlers with loading soon because they really need to move to give the field a rest. I had an anxiety dream about it because really the foal is fairly feral in terms of knowledge, she knows leading and feet and worming and that kind of stuff, but never having been out of her little paddock I am acutely aware of how the next stage is critical to get right to avoid disaster! it's not even like re-starting a bad loader, at least they know not to flip out on the box or jump off the ramp sideways
i am sure it will be OK if we just go slowly and systematically but the responsibility weighs heavy on me, esp as we weren't able to do this while she was still on the mare, because... reasons.palo1
Well-Known Member
i think you're right there, definitely. I'm planning to start my 2 tiddlers with loading soon because they really need to move to give the field a rest. I had an anxiety dream about it because really the foal is fairly feral in terms of knowledge, she knows leading and feet and worming and that kind of stuff, but never having been out of her little paddock I am acutely aware of how the next stage is critical to get right to avoid disaster! it's not even like re-starting a bad loader, at least they know not to flip out on the box or jump off the ramp sideways
Well both you and she have a huge advantage in being able to work together and you have tons of experience and understanding under your belt. It will all be fine!!
I completely get that anxiety though with young horses - you know what they don't know so the responsibility to show them properly is big. But she will get it all sorted and you will be chuffed to bits with her. And her with you.