Bringing on 3 year olds.

Thanks FfionWinnie
http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en-GB&client=mv-rim&v=DM6-aNu1GEU
This is my section D mare, she's a fiesty wee madame and sadly my ass is way too fat to ride her. Until I can, I entrust her to my daughter and I love watching the two of them.

Thanks be positive for your feedback. We are moving to London in 5 weeks, horses are gonna be near Woking. I'm hoping to find a good instructor for spring :D
 
I've watched the video - your daughter's a lovely, light rider - she's ten so not overly effective but that isn't an insult, she's not fussy or unbalanced and certainly isn't doing that pony any harm!

What I would say, though, is that she's not asking for a consistent contact down the rein, her reins are very long, which is fine when you're letting a baby get its balance and teaching it to move forward, but if you want to take the next step, tell her to shorten her reins a little, more bend in her elbow and try to keep her contact with his mouth the same all the time. She should be able to feel his mouth, but not be pulling.

Forget about where his head is, for now.

Welshie Squisher said:
I'd obviously like to encourage his head down so he'll work through his back better.
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It really does work the other way around ;)
 
Thank you Munchkin.
I am hoping they grow together and I'd like her to have the opportunity to do it herself, she deserves that for her efforts I think. It helps that he is a genuinely nice horse, and she's having lots of fun.
About the head/back...obvious I'm a happy hacker? :D

FfionWinnie - don't get me going about Welshies, I'm just mad on them. I'd have nothing else. Lily is my baby, I've had her since she was 9 months old and she was an utter cow bag for a year but I'll never love another horse like her. Well maybe another Welshie :D
They are just so much fun aren't they? I owe my love of horses to a stunning black section D mare I rode across the black mountains 21 years ago, it blew my brain and planted a seed in my brain and I knew one day I'd have my own :)
 
The section d should have fairly natural haed carriage, so easier, tbxcob cross could possibly take alot longer, If it was me, i'd still turn away, let him/her mature and ask again next sping, and then expect alot more at that stage, but at 3, i'd say forget it!!!Some do, some dont!!!
Dont fight with him/her, it just causes too much hasle, depending on your patience levels, but if you have the patience, it will come. x
 
Popeyesno1fan - they'll both be turned away this winter. I think it will do them both good, be nice to see them as babies again.
End Feb/beg March and we'll get them hacking for a month again then start to ask for some work. Maybe some walk trot tests, a few clear rounds. Just fun stuff, but fun stuff that will continue their education :D
 
Well, welshie squisher, I'm no expert, but do believe in turning away after breaking, which is not done alot here in ireland. You will be doing the right thing for your horses. I'm "a freak" here as my 5 yr old has only started jumping now. I really think the fact that i broke him at 3, then let him off, brought him in as a 4 yr old, did about 6 weeks with him, then left him off, now have him in, and holiday camp is over, he will be worked now, and is being worked 4 days a week, he is now jumping 60/70 cms. well capable of more but until after xmas will jump 60/70 cms. But I think he is mature enough that he likes what he is doing now. Wish ye were here to see what he's like!!! Hope you get on vey well with your horse|!!! xxx
 
I have just watched both videos :).
Welshie Squisher, your daughter is a lovely little rider !
I like the way she sits quietly and doesn't take a strong contact on your ponies.
Both ponies are going forward confidently, and are not being restricted in any way. You want to keep this. Both will start to work in a rounder outline as they mature, Too much schooling too soon could restrict their "forwardness".
I'd be inclined to stick to what both ponies are doing now, some quiet hacking and any schooling being done in a large open area, like your field in the vids. :)
I wouldn't be tempted, at the moment, to use any kind of schooling aid on either of them. You already have good foundations there for both ponies to come rounder and start working on the bit naturally. Too many people, IMHO, want this too quickly and use gadgets to get a quick result before the horse/pony is mature enough. Your daughter won't have enough strength in her (short) legs yet to ride the ponies forward into a (restricted) contact with the use of any "gadgets". You might get their heads down, but could lose the forwardness that they both have now.

They are both reasonably well balanced and happy in their work for their age.
If they were mine, I'd keep hacking out for now until the daylight closes in and winter is upon us. THEN, I'd turn them away.
Pick up their work again in early spring, fitten them up with lots of hacking before starting to school them.
Lots of transitions, halt-walk-halt, walk-trot-walk interspersed with keeping them going forwards will help greatly towards a rounder outline...WHEN they are ready. Once they are working well in this way, you can start to introduce "baby" lateral movements. A few steps of leg yield, turn on the forehand, loops off the track etc will encourage the inside hind to step under and roundness will follow.
You, and your daughter, are doing a great job. Keep going the way you already are ! :D
 
Thanks LittleWildOne, your response really warmed my heart :D
Oh and I now know who LWO is ;)

Sometimes it's hard as a mother to see what is really going on because you are naturally biased but I really am so proud of my daughter.
She is courageous, gutsy and determined that it will be her that makes her horse whatever he becomes.
I only wish she had the same enthusiasm for school work :(

Well we head to London in 5 weeks, a good time to turn away so I can sort the house, do boring things like find a job :(
But I am really excited about spring, I think both of them will mature into fantastic horses, but of course they already are in my biased eyes :D
 
My three year old is a step behind yours- he's still working in walk/trot and with a poky nose... We're hacking for about 45 mins 2-3 times a week across varying terrain (he's just had front shoes fitted) and stopping halfway at mums house to have a break and for me to get off for ten mins- he's still tired when we get back to the yard- mentally, not physically- but the important thing for him at the moment (as he is going to be a single driving trials horse) is just to go on by himself and tackle everything we meet head on. There's some scary obstacles in the marathon at HDT and as long as he learns to 'go!!' when told to, that's fine. He's mainly worked from voice due to this, and will happily go up and down from walk to trot to halt, go back and back to trot including trot to halt and vice versa. I haven't introduced canter as he will be broken to drive late autumn and will be doing mainly walk/trot dressage and carriage driving next year before reintroducing him to the show ground as a ridden and driven five year old.

I find it really hard not to rush him, as he's a dream to work with and sooooo addictive! I bred him myself so have been about as patient as I'm able- here he is out last week.
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This shows his 'normal' head position at the moment!

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Littlelegs if you rode in drawreins correctly your not yanking the head down! When riding in them your only picking up a slight contact in them! A bungy would pull there head down as they're isn't as much give with them although they're elastic!
 
Deseado said:
I think you may be missing my point: NO ten year old child has the necessary experience to school a horse/pony due to the pure lack of time and experience. Yoyr daughter is doubtless enjoying and having a good time riding your young pony, but is she capable of really schooling it? OLD horses for young riders: OLD riders for young horses (there are small, old riders).
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I'd like to point you in the direction of Skye...
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Sorry OP, I don't have any useful advice!
 
I think your daughter is a nice little rider but at the same time, if she had the experience of teaching the horse the basics of the outline or even the preparation for it then you would not be on here asking how to do it. I am not having a go at you or her, everybody has to learn I just think that asking on here is maybe not the best option. You have put the vid up but is it really enough for anyone to assess the horse or rider? If we give advice then how will we know if it is working or if the advice is being followed in the way we intended.

If I were you then I would invest in a few lessons with a good instructor just to improve a little over the next couple of months and then turn away for winter
 
A friend of mine had a problem with a pony that she bought to bring on - lovely outline, had been used to show and do dressage when he was little, but it turned out that he had had his head forced into vertical and he ended up holding it even further behind vertical even whe he was in the field! It took her months of schoolwork with and without instructors to pop his head back up and then for the next few months he went like a giraffe! But then after some working he started to round out properly through his back and he looked much better. Funnily enough putting him over a few small jumps really helped him relax his head out of its forced roundness...eventually about a year and a half later he was all sorted and sold on to a little girl in Devon. So please don't use bungies or draw reins for immediate results, you could end up with some problems later on, just keep working on getting him using his back end and roundening up will come from that when you bring them back next year...
 
Deseado said:
I think you may be missing my point: NO ten year old child has the necessary experience to school a horse/pony due to the pure lack of time and experience. Yoyr daughter is doubtless enjoying and having a good time riding your young pony, but is she capable of really schooling it? OLD horses for young riders: OLD riders for young horses (there are small, old riders).
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Well my 3 yr old has been backed by my 11 yr old......
I think YOU are missing the point that the kids in question are clearly supervised whilst doing so, and given the guidance needed to do a first rate job!
FWIW mine was backed, and is now back out in the field growing up!
 
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