BD Young horse classes

mat

mat

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What are peoples thoughts on the way 4 and 5 y/o horses are expected to work to win the young horse classes?

Does anyone else think that the advanced outline they are expected to be in at such a young age has a negitive effect on their training to progress to top level?

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Have often thought this - not just with dressage but with all spheres - i love young horse classes and think they are brilliant BUT i think that there is too much expected of horses so young. At 4yo they're expected to perform to such a high level meaning that at 3yrs old when they are still mentally and physically developing they are pushed too hard too fast.
But then again im a great believer in not rushing young horses and letting them develop at their own speeds.
 
Having watched a four year old qualifier at Oldencraig I was pleasantly suprised by the level and would happily compete however watching the professional riders you could see a massive difference in the way the horses are pushed, I wonder how many will be competing to a ripe old age. I did see Lizzy Murray riding her test though and even though her baby had a whoopee she laughed and continued riding a lovely relaxed test so there are exceptions. My trainers likens the youngsters that are over worked to Poinsetias which are 'force grown' and stunning for Christmas but then decline very quickly, how true!
 
I don't know about the negative effect, by no stretch of the imagination do I know anything about dressage, but I do think people are asking far too much far too early of young horses these days. They need to grow naturally at their own time and trying to force them into un natural outlines too early can surely only mean problems later on with their skeleton; perhaps even by shortening the working life, which is unacceptable to me. Racehorses are another matter entirely; everything is prepared from birth for an earlier career, they are far better prepared than the usual youngsters and great care is taken of them. They are usually far smaller and lighter than your normal dressage horse and not asked to carry more than 9 stone, so not inclined to half as much damage to limbs and joints than something repeating non-stop circles at that age.
I'm not against breaking and backing at two , particularly a big strong horse before its' mind is made up that it wants to make life difficult for everyone, then turning away until late third year or fourth but by that I mean literally, just doing enough that you can sit on it and ride straight lines at walk and trot without problems, nothing more.
 
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Does anyone else think that the advanced outline they are expected to be in at such a young age has a negitive effect on their training to progress to top level?

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No, I do not think that it does. 90% of the time the young horses are worked in a more "babyish" outline and are usually just "picked up" for short spells - At the YH classes many of the horses are only picked up 5 or 10 mins before their test - that is not really that demanding on them. It is not like they work how you see them in the arena all the time at home .
The movements they are expected to do are all easy and what I would expect of horses this age. There is nothing difficult about shoulder in, trot leg yield, medium trot and canter and simple changes (5 year olds) etc.
 
my horse, who is a TB, did very little work until he was 5 as he was so big - and with his rider competed in the 6 year old classes - national and international - last year, and qualified for both finals. He definitely wasnt pushed to do anything he wasnt physically ready for at that age - but no way would he have been ready to do a 4 year old or even 5 year old class as he was too weak at that stage. But then he is a big horse and still maturing - I know some breeds are more mature than others, so probably depends a lot on that
 
Some horses cope better with them than others. I personally wouldnt compete in them as I like to take my time and allow youngsters to grow and develop. They have plenty of time later on in life to compete and work hard.
I have noticed that a lot of horses (not all) who compete in these classes dont make it to the top. A friend of mine is a proffesional rider who got sent problem horses. He found that owners wanted their horses out competing before they were ready, the majority of horses suffered later in life.
 
I think there is a danger with any 4/5 year classes for riders to push less talented horses that aren't going to make the big time so that they do well in these classes, then sell them for lots. I don't think the classes themselves necessarily do any harm, but they do need to be judged very carefully so that true stars in possibly very baby outlines are always placed above over schooled youngsters who won't go much further and that is always going to be very subjective.
 
As the post above, nothing wrong with the principle of the classes, or the content. The key issue is to ensure that you present under the correct judges, those that have experience of bringing on young horses &amp; know what they are loking at - then overproduced &amp; wooden will not be placed above green but talented - remembering that submission is a key quality in a dressage horse.

If you did not have young horse qualifiers, then young horses would be asked to do more, as normal classes require more outings than these direct qualifiers
 
I think young dressage horses would be made to work this way regardless of whether or not they were competing in these classes. So many times at the dressage yard i work at i've asked how old an established looking horse is only to be told its 4 or 5, or 3 on a couple of occasions! these horses (or at least the talented ones) are doing flying changes etc etc and a lot of collected work at a young age.
I think the problem is that owners want to see their horses out competing and doing well, especially if they've sent them to a top rider x
 
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