Bringing on a young horse....

D

Dyllymoo

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 November 2013
Messages
1,512
Visit site
I’ve never had to bring on a young horse as much as I will need to with J.

I know that all horses are different and the best laid plans can sometimes not work i.e. time frames change if a horse takes a bit longer to settle to hacking etc but I just wondered, those that have bought young horses on, what are the initial things you do and make sure they have (under saddle mainly) first and foremost and then what is the general plan you follow i.e. do you just hack for a few months until they are walk, trot and cantering, or do you do x work in the school along side.

I know this will be very individual to each person (and each horse) but I am just looking for ideas really.

I’m in no rush with J and want him to enjoy his work, and just trying to put some form of “plan” (loosely termed) together to make sure we do things right. I don’t want to overface him with anything but at the same time I want to make sure he is getting the most out of what we end up doing, and progressing happily into a fab all-rounder.
 
Very loosely (subject to individual horse hiccups)

- Breaking. Not something I do that much of, but my expectation is the horse has basic groundwork, lunge, long line. Is happy, relaxed and confident being mounted/dismounted, this includes in the arena and outside of it. Ridden work initially inside the confines of arena, 15-20 mins max. Halt, Walk, Trot. They understand the basics of the leg aid and the hand aid.

Thats where I have usually taken over.
I then introduce hacking pretty early on. Short loops with a nanny, initially nanny in front but progressing to horse taking lead. Gradually exposing to traffic.

I don’t only hack. Probably 50/50 hack/arena. I prefer to introduce canter out of the arena, up hill and generally let them run/dribble into it behind another horse to start with.

I’d introduce the use of poles in the arena as soon as I introduced hacking really.

The first 3-4 months are just exposing them to life skills and getting them confident. Then I’d introduce life skills away from home - arena hire / RC clinics / working in at competition but not competing etc
 
Thank you. I have had my instructor (new to me but really recommended) sit on him twice. He was a bit nervy but ok once he realised she was a nice person. he has been in another home so has had others ride him.

I'm struggling to find someone to hack out with (plus the weather is atrocious so it leaves 50mph roads to hack on - he is super in traffic but still!). Maybe come the better weather we will be able to get out more.
 
If you don’t have another horse to hack out with do you have someone who can join on foot? I don’t have anyone nearby to ride out with regularly but when taking babies out initially someone comes on foot with me.
 
I generally do a mix of school and hacking because I find it useful to teach/reinforce training in a relatively controlled environment. I never seem to have any hacking help, so need the buttons to be fairly predictable :p

I take them out when I think they're ready and when time allows. Some are quite unsettled by going out and about so I like to make sure I have a run of a few weeks where I can take them out a couple of times a week if necessary to help them get used to it.

Hacking I just crack on. If it gets hairy then I just get off and lead, but tbf that doesn't happen very often.

Good luck - enjoy him
 
I hack them loads when just broken. For a start its easier to teach them forwards and there is a purpose to their work rather than going round in mindless circuits. Pretty much every single one will end up at the two schooling whips stage hacking because they need to walk with purpose and think forwards and two schooling whips are much nicer than me PC kicking the whole way round. It usually takes about 2 weeks to get them forward and marching. Once they are forwards i can start thinking about contact and just look for softening of the jaw. I always teach them to stop for traffic and wait. Firstly its good for them and secondly its safer. Often they are so busy looking at hedges and you have no control of their bodies so can put you in a compromised situation. Also teaching them to stop adds an additional safety button to them which is when worried they will stop instead of running off. Its a very useful button to install and one I spend a lot of time putting in out hacking.

The other thing I do is teach them mental toughness from early days being ridden. They tend to get mentally fatigued more than physically so when they are sending out the tired signals I will make them do something extra. It cannot be something they will find hard or could get really cross about but I just push them for an extra minute or so. So in an arena it will be that they are tired and drop off the leg. I would make them walk for an extra minute or so and march and make sure they do it properly, or after hacking I might to 2 mins of groundwork to make them work mentally and still keep their concentration. If you are jumping them and they start to get tired, i would stop jumping but insist they trot round on the flat for a few more minutes correctly and do a few circles etc. I want them to learn to deal with tiredness and not just switch off. Mentally horses will fatigue and shut off before they will physically. Its such an easy thing to start adding at a young age and wont damage them physically or mentally. It just requires a bit of discipline from the rider. Its a bit like going to the gym for us. If I go by myself I might only do 5 reps and think I cannot do more. If you have a trainer there you might manage 8 reps.
 
On top of the usual walk/trot/stop, I taught my horse to give a few steps of legyield when working on foot. I found that helped him be more balanced when he got the added weight of the rider and it can be useful out hacking. Once we could do all 3 gaits in the school and go over poles, we went out walking in hand, then hacking out with company and after a few hacks we went solo.
 
As a 3yo mine had been lunged and long reined lightly in tack and as he wasn’t reactive I hopped on in late autumn and got walk and stop. I also took him out in hand on the roads.
I made sure I could steer and stop before I hacked out with a friend or a foot soldier a few times then turned him away.
We then did max x2 in the school each week 15mins as a 4yo and more hacking and he did a teeny cross pole, logs and his first intro test.
Winter 4yo year he had off (got fat and laminitis!) then only came back into work autumn 5yo year.
He’s my first youngster. I did all the backing myself. Sometimes wish I sent him away but I didn’t so feel we are playing catch up compared to others. However, I’m glad he’s had time spent on the basics rather than rushed. He’s now a sane and easy 6yo generally but is green in the school.

Best advice, be patient and be prepared to stop/start and give breaks as needed. Each horse is different. Best of luck x
 
Thanks all. I probably should have said he is 5 so not a baby baby, but he is an Irish coblet who was broken over there and I feel he has been very "rushed". He is extremely green in the school, and just doesn't understand. He hacks well with another horse but does have baby wobbles. He was sold to be as a "confidence giving hack"... but bless him, he isn't. He doesn't do anything nasty but he needs me to give him the confidence. I've gone back a few steps and taken him out in hand over the past week and he is better and less worried then when I am on him, so I am hoping he will start to feel a bit more confident.

When we get some daylight at the end of the day I will be able to walk out with my OH on foot, and try and do some longer routes with him on his bike (push bike, not his motorbike... that would be interesting!). We go in the school a couple of times a week (no more than 30 mins at a time as I fit it in before work), just walking and trotting, getting him forward, working on balancing around corners as much as possible and going as straight as we can, but he doesn't enjoy it, even when we bring poles in he just looks at them like they are hard work.

I was thinking if I can get him hacking (especially solo) we can build up his fitness and he may enjoy arena work more.

Some fab ideas though, thank you. Wish this weather would sort itself out as well! 30mph winds is not helping!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top