How Much Are You Doing With Your 4 Yr Olds?

[UnaB]

Well, i keep getting told that I am not working my 4 year old enough so thought i'd ask what other people are doing with theirs.

I broke her at the beginning of the year and a couple of people have said that i should keep her in regular work to keep her progressing forwards and not going backwards. I have never broken a horse before so i dont know if this is true or not. My mare gets ridden once or twice a week at the moment (though hasnt been ridden for the last couple of weeks as i've been busy getting house ready to sell!!) and we just have about 1hr hack each ride. Im not doing any schooling with her other than asking her to go in a nice outline during most of the hack, and we're practicing our transitions along the bridlepaths I also had a go at loose jumping her about a week ago (she was fab!!) but only cos she happened to jump the fence when i was loose schooling her lol.

I hope to continue riding her through the summer at the same sort of level. If i can get her to any local shows, or maybe even fun rides or something (never done one of those lol) then i will try to as it will be good to get her out with lots of other horses as she hasnt been to anything like that for a couple of years. But, I am not planning to compete her or anything this year so didnt see the point of really working her to get her going "properly".

Anyway, im rambling on. Do you think that is an acceptable amount of work to keep her mind on track, or should i be increasing it or changing what im doing with her? I will mention that i have not had a single issue with her behaviour when ridden at all, she is a complete angel at all times (so far!) so i am not concerned about that. One of the comments i had was that not working her regularly will encourage napping and stuff on hacks, but i've hacked her after not sitting on her for a month and she has been absolutely fine so i dont want to overdo her workload just because of that as i dont think that will be a huge issue with her.

Thanks for any input anyway!

 

[lillith]

I don't really see how working once a week will encourage napping?

I think you could probably work her harder without any problems but if you are enjoying yourselves then I don't see you you would have to. She is learning to go forwards in a straight line (harder than it sounds) learning her gaits and basic commands well and learning to deal with everything you might meet out hacking, sounds good to me.

 

[tasel]

I don't think you should be listening too much to other people. You can back her at age 10 if you wanted to!!!

Anyway my rising 5 hasn't been doing much due to injury and has been doing nothing much since she was 4. Only now starting... they do say little but often works best, but really if you have other priorities right now, people should understand.

 

[UnaB]

I don't really see how working once a week will encourage napping?

That was what i thought as well. I guess maybe they were trying to say that if she is not kept going daily she may be more prone to tantrums as she might forget what she learned previously? I dont know, i couldnt see the logic in it myself lol

She is going really well, will do walk, trot and canter (which is an accomplishment in itself for a friesian!!!), is very responsive to hand and leg aides, has the softest mouth I only need to touch the reins and she comes back and she has proven to be completely bombproof in all the traffic we have encountered (from heavy farm machinery to a busy main road!!) so i thought we were actually progressing well. But obviously i have nothing to compare it to.

I do wonder if people are just saying it so that i THINK we are not doing as well as we are just to be nasty... I am an experienced rider, and have schooled horses for eventing and showjumping in the past, but thats a whole different thing to actually starting one from scratch which is why im happy for any help and advice as to what i might be doing wrong. Hence me posting this thread to double check what i have been told.

 

[fourpawswhite]

I think your right about people interfering, and I think your progressing very well. Mine is 4, 5 in June. Basics were done last year (simaler level to as you are doing) then was turned away October until last weekend. I chose to turn him away as I felt we had hit a wall and he had stopped learning. Started last weekeknd just grooming and this weekend leaning over, sitting on and a short walk. He was good as gold, laid back and relaxed. I intend to spend this year simaler to last, building up on hacking and light schooling on hacks. Like you say, maybe the odd funride.
I think you should progress at your own speed and as your horse tells you is right. It was certainly right for mine to be turned away, although thats not the same for others. I got a huge amount of criticism for that from certain people! They also made me terrified of getting back on him as they had me convinced he had been off so long he would have forgotten everything. They were wrong!!!!

Good Luck, sounds to me like your doing a fab job

 

[UnaB]

I think your right about people interfering, and I think your progressing very well. Mine is 4, 5 in June. Basics were done last year (simaler level to as you are doing) then was turned away October until last weekend. I chose to turn him away as I felt we had hit a wall and he had stopped learning. Started last weekeknd just grooming and this weekend leaning over, sitting on and a short walk. He was good as gold, laid back and relaxed. I intend to spend this year simaler to last, building up on hacking and light schooling on hacks. Like you say, maybe the odd funride.
I think you should progress at your own speed and as your horse tells you is right. It was certainly right for mine to be turned away, although thats not the same for others. I got a huge amount of criticism for that from certain people! They also made me terrified of getting back on him as they had me convinced he had been off so long he would have forgotten everything. They were wrong!!!!

Good Luck, sounds to me like your doing a fab job

Thanks for that, you have definately reassured me! I am constantly worrying about doing something wrong with her as she is the most trusting horse I have ever known, but i think you are right and she will tell me what she is comfortable doing

 

[Walrus]

Sounds like you're progressing really well, your horse sounds a star. My boy is technically 5 (well, he's 5 in July this year) but he was only backed about a month ago. I'm not doing anything fancy, hoping to spend most of the summer hacking so that he'll go forwards more. I'd say take it at your own pace but if you are planning on doing things like fun rides bare in mind the level of fitness required and whether riding once / twice a week will get the level of fitness required to do the things you want to do when you do ride (if that makes sense!). My boy is being worked 6 days a week, admittendly only for half an hour max at the moment and mostly in walk but it's the start of a summer fitness campaign as he's a fell and a bit of a chubber so needs to keep the weight down!!

 

[UnaB]

Sounds like you're progressing really well, your horse sounds a star. My boy is technically 5 (well, he's 5 in July this year) but he was only backed about a month ago. I'm not doing anything fancy, hoping to spend most of the summer hacking so that he'll go forwards more. I'd say take it at your own pace but if you are planning on doing things like fun rides bare in mind the level of fitness required and whether riding once / twice a week will get the level of fitness required to do the things you want to do when you do ride (if that makes sense!). My boy is being worked 6 days a week, admittendly only for half an hour max at the moment and mostly in walk but it's the start of a summer fitness campaign as he's a fell and a bit of a chubber so needs to keep the weight down!!

I've never done a fun ride so im not sure exactly what the level of fitness is that would be required? Someone just mentioned it might be a good idea for getting my mare out in a less stressful atmosphere than a show to meet other horses and stuff.

My girl is a star, completely the sweetest horse i've ever know and so far has proven completely unflappable (even with a car crash feet behind us!!) so im very happy to just take everything really slowly as i dont want to risk ruining her lovely attitude

 

[Maiko]

What's the rush? Particularly with a Friesian. If you give them time, they mature in to sane, sensible, happy horses who will, importantly, stay SOUND for a long time. They grow slowly, so if you push them too hard too early there is a higher risk of them being prone to soundness problems later, as with any young horse, but more so with a slow growing breed.

I do something nearly every day with my just turned 5 year old Friesian. That might be 40 mins in the school followed by a wander round our grounds, or it might be 10 mins on the lunge in the Pessoa, or it might be 20 minutes of groundwork in the school, or it might be hacking down the lane for half an hour. His routine is varied as he enjoys new things, but I don't over do any of it, and he will get a couple of days off a week. He is very sharp and an anxious sort, hence why I try to do SOMETHING with him most days in order to give him something to think about. He enjoys his work, but I am in absolutely no rush at all to get him out there competing.

Don't be pressured by anyone else to do more with your horse than you want to. When all is said and done, she is YOUR horse and you can take it as fast or as slow as YOU feel happy with. The horse will let you know if it's too much.