Bringing up a youngster for the first time

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jessikaGinger

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Sorry this will be long..

Basically I have been looking for a new horse since Christmas and as of yet I haven't found 'the one'. It was suggested I look at buying a 2yro and bringing it on myself and then pay someone to back it when the time comes, however, my experience aroun horses is good but my riding experience lacks due to my current pony being lame most of the time! I have just started having lessons again so hopefully it will improve and I have a very good instructor on hand to help.. So does this sound a good idea? How did you get experience bringing up a baby?

Thanks
 
Lots of time, patience, money and like you said, a great instructor. I've had my girlie since she was 8 months old and it's been a roller coaster but I now have a wonderful mare! I know all of her issues, history and we know each other inside out. Next week we will do our first intro dressage test and I can't wait!
I did pay a professional to reback and school her on and while expensive, it was money well spent.
Good luck!
 
Hi I bought my now 4yr old when she was 10mths, I had been out of riding for about 10yrs and never had a youngster! I read lots of books and asked lots of advice and at the appropriate times employed an instructor to teach me aswell as my filly! Now I have a very well balanced mare, almost boombproof because of the amount of groundwork and desensitising I did. She is a pleasure to own I know all her history and know if she is scared or trying it on! Its been a long haul but a fantastic learning experience, and what a thrill to be the first person on her. You'll need lots of patience but if you have that and the time to spend playing I would say go for it :)
 
With your lack of riding experience, OP, I would stear clear.

There are plenty of really nice horses out there for sale - keep looking would be my advice.
 
So are you going to keep on having lessons as it grows up ?

I've got a youngster (just turned 2) but I also have a loan horse over the summer to keep me going realisticly you are 2 years off being able to get out and about riding as I believe it should take time plus its going to be even harder to know if a horse is The One if you can't get on it and try it out. I bred mine so I have an idea of what to expect from him, it's not very involved either I check him over maybe do inhand work once every 3 weeks. In the winter it will all just be thankless slavery

however I've never been that picky - growing up I always had loan ponies and cast offs so I'm happy with anything I can stay on (my the one - is a death trap field ornament lol)

thats right 3 horses ... oops
 
To do it properly, unless you have lots of experience, you need a lot of support, and instruction, and so I would say it would be cheaper in the long run to get something at least backed (esp in the current buyers market).

I did it, and have a great pony as a result, but it wasnt a cheap experience, it would have been much cheaper to have bought something broken in.

Also it takes a lot of time to do it right.
 
I will still be riding my current mare as she is never going to be sold as riding at a riding school once a week and riding friends horses at every opportunity.. So in 2years I'd like to think ill have improved.
I have read a fair bit already and very much into doing a lot of ground work and taking things slow
There's no rush as I'm only 21 I have years in me yet
 
I have a four year old that I bred for the purposes of racing, however she's not made the grade and I've decided to keep her as a riding horse.

As a foal we all handled her (and the others) a lot, had them halter-broken by a couple of months old. As a yearling I would catch her in the field and brush her every couple of days, just generally handled her loads.

She was broken to race at 2 but I got to work with the trainer so was there for the whole process. The fact that she'd been handled made her exceptionally easy to break in, she was used to having all parts of her body touched and her feet picked up etc. My dad's friend broke her in to ride and just covered the basics but it was enough for me to ride her last summer just gentle hacking.

This summer she's been ridden by her trainer and I've been having lessons to get my confidence back and get to grips with the basics (my style had adapted to my first loony mare so wasn't the best for getting on a relative novice!). I'm a bit nervous because she's kind of a new horse in the sense that I haven't ridden her a lot but I know what she's been through from the day she was born up until now. All the handling from a young age, the disciplining, being there for all the 'firsts' (first time in a horse box and lorry, first time being shod, first time being mouthed etc) have ensured that she's always had someone about that she trusts and has accepted everything with little or no fuss.

My advice would be plenty of hands-on time to get the horse to trust you. I found everything after that to be a lot easier because my girl knew nothing I was going to do would hurt her. Fingers crossed now we 'click' when I get back in the saddle! Best of luck to you too :)
 
hi there
first of all id like to start off by saying to you 'dont let anyone ever tell you, you cant do it'
i bought a mare that was already in foal and my intention was to sell the foal and keep the mare but when it came to it, i just got this special feeling about the foal...i felt like he was destined for greatness!! i got a lot of criticism from everyone on my yard saying that i had no idea what i was doing, i havent got the knowledge to bring up a youngster, they kept saying after a few months that he was turning wild and that i was ruining him. 18 months later, my youngster is amazing, he leads perfectly, great with the farrier, loads and travels perfectly, great to catch, his manners are a lot better....all in all i feel for someone who hadnt a clue, i feel i have done incredible with him....ive even done little bits with him where he has like a tarporlin sheet over his head and back and that doesnt bother him!! i did all this by myself and by alot of online searching. its great if you can find someone to help you but unfortunately i didnt have that. the 2 key pointers are...patience and calmness....and dont be disheartened if one week he/she is perfect and the next week he/she is a nightmare....the amount of times i have gone backwards and forwards is unreal but you'll get there in the end!! good luck hunny...i think it sounds like a great idea and the best part about having a youngster is that they are basically a 'blank canvas' so you can mould them and shape them into whatever you want xx
 
I'm with Chels90 here. I have been riding for 28 years (god, I feel old!!) and 2 years ago i bought a 15mth old as I was looking for something to bring on when I decided to retire my riding horse - he's 21 this year. I was looking for somethig 3 upwards but the reality was i didn't have the money to buy something of that age.

I saw an ad for this gelding, thought he looked nice but didn't do anything furthe as felt he was too young and I had never had a youngster. Well, nothing unbroken under 4yo anyway. However, the ad cropped up a while later so I thought no harm in looking.

2 years on, he's now 3 and I sat on him for the first time last week! he couldn't have cared less. Ok so we need to now do a lot more but quite frankly i think all it takes is confidence, common sense and the knowledge that you have someone experienced on hand should you need their help. I have had some ground work lessons to teach him the basics and I have taken him to a few in hand shows. I am not going to send him away for backing as i would rather do it myself and not then end up blaming someone else if it goes wrong! He knows and trusts me so i feel it's onl right I'm the one to bring him on. I don't think is actually rocket science to be honest, they are only horses at the end of the day - if they trust and respect you and vice versa there's no reason why you can't do it yourself.
 
if everybody had the attitude 'leave well alone, go for a schoolmaster' then all youngsters wouldnt stand a chance.
go for a youngster hun and whilst your bringing him on and preparing him to be backed and broken, get ya self some riding lessons and then you'll both be ready for each other around the same time :)
 
Go for it :)

If whoever had invented the wheel said "Oooooooh, I don't know, I've never done this before, maybe I'll forget about it" where would we be? ;)

Half the mothers in the world don't have experience with new born babies but they go ahead and have them anyway, no-one tells them "Oh wait until you are experienced!"

Right then, at my barn there is a family with a blind daughter, she has never had a youngster, her homebred colt is three months old now. Yesterday I watched her with him, he walked by her side, stopping when she did, standing when she dropped his leadline, backed up at a word, picks his feet up - I had to rasp a chip away the other day and he was as good as gold.

This family have never bred a foal before, they have never had any expperience with foals and the progress they have made with this colt (Quarter Horse) is impressive. It has been, and will be a continual learning curve for them but they aren't doing so bad.

So, what I am saying is - if you want to do something badly enough - get out there and do it. Never be afraid to ask for help or advice.

Good Luck. :)

Oh, and how do you get experience?
You go out and do it!
You read, you ask questions, you take lessons, you go to demos, you visit studs etc, you read more, and you ask more.
Experience is an ongoing thing.
 
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Thanks for sharing your experiences :) my mate had a suprise foal last year and I did everything myself with her and although it was tough it was very rewarding.. Which is kind of spurring me on to buying another. I am thinking of getting a Connie or Connie X so nothing too big or feisty
 
TBH it really comes down to your confidence and riding ability. If you're confident and a reasonable rider then you'll do it with a bit of help, if you are a nervous rider or your balance is poor, then get something established and tolerant not something totally green.

I don't feel happy telling you "yeah go for it" or "don't do it" based on what you've said.
 
To start a youngster takes two people at certain stages. When you are inexperienced at starting youngsters you need someone who is experienced as the other person. It may help you decide if you think through who you would get to assess how things are going before you start the backing process who will be there to help with lunging or long reining and then to back and then to have lots of lessons and probably do some of the initial riding.

You get some horses that are really easy to start and some that are not. It is really easy to ruin a young horse.

I do not think that young horses should only be owned by people who are experienced at starting them but for the sake of the horse they should only be owned by someone with access to someone who is experienced at starting them.

A youngster is rewarding but only if you can do it right and often that means having the funds to bring in professional help to assess progress and prevent problems before they start. Youngsters also need the company of others their own age. Will a new youngster have that with you?
 
O/P I broke and rode away my youngster at the age of 20 :eek: shock horror, everything went well and he is a well rounded excellent horse!!! I had help from my y/o at the start and now have weekly lessons. If you have the support and the know how then go for it!!!!
Rising 4

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Rising 5

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It is so rewarding :)
 
I wouldnt say do or dont go for it either because is all down to what you want from your relationship with your horse, the only thing i would maybe suggest is see if you can get some experience of working with youngsters first, I was lucky enough to be offered a 4 year old only be sat on twice youngster to bring on a couple of years ago and it gave me the vital experience both good and bad that i needed to make the decision when it came to getting my own. So when it came to me been in a position of buying my own horse last year i took the brave decision to buy a untouched 3 year old and have done everything myself, what i will say is i have some very experienced friends who ive been in touch with on a weekly basis during the whole process.

dont let anyone tell you, you cant do it, everyone can do it its about being realistic from your expectations of yourself and your horse and having the necessary backup from someone experienced.

my advice would be go help out on a schooling yard and get a better insight to the pros and cons then make your decision, good luck with whatever you choose. :)
 
Hi there.

I similarly have just got an unbacked 3 year old. I am experienced in riding however have not had a youngster previously.

I have been looking into using Caroline Phillips @ Stud Uk Euro to back my youngster however am very cautious and want to know if anyone has previously had their horses backed there?

I very much like being in control and know everything about what is happening so i need good references to let my boy go!! xx
 
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