For those who DON'T turn away 3yr olds.......

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BUCKandREAR

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Please can you tell me your routine throughout the winter with your 3yr olds.......does it differ from the summer? how long has your 3yr old been backed, what do you do with them? reasons for NOT turning away? etc

Thanks, am doing some research :)
 
Shall follow this as I have a 3 year old - was 3 in march this year.
He is backed and going nicely, walk trot canter and poles in the school and short hacks in company (max 30mins riding time)
He lunges over small jumps - this is his favourite thing to do :)

I am going to try and keep him pottering along over the winter but my school regularly floods and i cant hack during the week as i work full time.
I'm planning to ride him once a week at least, on the weekend or try and rent an indoor school to get him used to going to new places.
Here's hoping we get to fulfill the plans but Scottish winters are sent to try us!!
 
I didn't back any 3 year olds this year as I didn't feel any of them were ready so I'll leave them till next spring. I have backed lots of 3 year olds in other years though and what I usually do is to keep them quietly ticking over during the winter. Walking rides out on the bridleways, the occasional trot but barely any more than that. I don't work my 3 year olds in the school over winter as I prefer them to gain more life experience out on hacks. Hacks are kept relatively short, usually between half an hour to an hour. Walking slows you down a lot so half an hour of riding doesn't get you very far and if I want them to get to see more rides then one hour hacks are necessary. I ride them about once maybe twice a week so no set routine.

I've never seen the point in turning away. My philosophy is if the horse is not mature enough to continue on its gentle learning curve then it isn't mature enough to be started in the first place.
 
My boy turned 3 in Jan this year. Beginning of May I began desensitization and starting him. He was taken out on the roads inhand in a halter to get him used to cars, buses, lorries, diggers, bikes, footballs, lawn mowers, road markings (trust me he found this one the scariest), little old ladies popping up on the other side of their hedges doing their gardening, bin bags flapping in the wind attached to public waste bins, dogs barking, grids, puddles......you name it we have confronted it lol.
He was then long-reined and then backed. He was ridden for a few weeks but I no longer ride him but I will be doing more ground work with him over winter eg walking and trotting over poles, maybe popping over small cross poles, more long-reining on road and in school, more desensitization like going through small gaps/walking past balloons etc
I will then get back in the saddle spring next year x
 
I hack gently and do a very little schooling. I don't believe in three year olds going round and round in circles.
 
3yo backed lightly just before Xmas last year (yes I know he was two then, he's an American quarter horse!)
He has been quietly ridden through this year, a bit in the school or round pen (30mins max) lots more out in the fields and on quiet lanes.
Shown in hand and since June, ridden around at shows. Has started hacking out in company, riding in larger groups in the school.
He did have a longer-than-planned break in the summer as he got a bug from a visiting horse, but is now back in work and will tick over through the winter. A big project is pole work and desensitising with tarpaulins etc as my OH wants to compete in trail next year. He'll also do some more groundwork. We also want to hack further afield and do more on his own. He'll go on a few outings to hired schools with another horse for company too.
We don't turn our youngsters away in the winter preferring them to have a good break at the end of the show season while the weather is good, especially this year. We like them to have down time and winter is not too full on, but it's a useful learning time.
 
mine was 3 last year - was 16.2 then tb x oldenburg and she was hacked sat and sunday for 1/2 hr nd lunged on a wed for 20 mins. she did end up having a month off due to snow but apart from that was kept in work. She was a real handfull when not in work and got bored as very bright.
 
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