how much excersize for a 3yr old?

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lynnandbella

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i am breaking an id x zangersheider mare shes lovely!, started taking her out in hand on the roads a few weekends ago, she loves it ! how much should i be doing with her? i started lunging , long reining etc in december shes fab at that too but having another growth spurt as well as teething, so thought circles and her bridle can wait for a while! she lives out on 3 feeds a day. Her long walks are 45mins and short ones 30mins do you think thats enough or can i up the length a bit? i trot with her a little but her strides are huge and its hard to keep up!
 
Horses walk for miles in the wild at all ages. I think you can do lots of walks in hand with no problems at all. I am doing between 30-45 mins walking in hand at the weekend with my rising 3yr old, she could walk for longer but as its a very new relationship I am taking it slowly, plus there is no rush with her as she is young.
I reckon you could walk for longer with no problems at all, I will be going further afield soon, say for 1-1.5hours in hand walking as the days get longer
 
You were lunging her last year, i.e. when she was 2 :eek: :confused:

Walking in hand is fine IMO, and as long as she's happy then you can increase the time - do you have to go on roads as it's not ideal not to have them bridled? I'm sure you know but IDs and WBs are both slow maturing breeds, so the longer you give her to mature the longer her useful working life should be. She sounds lovely :)
 
Walking in-hand shouldn't be a bother to her, would probably say not on the road though but that's my personal choice. If she's three this year she must be a very young if not yet three so ridden might be a little early. Big horses can take longer to grow and you wouldn't want to cause stress to the growing plates.
 
When is she 4? Walking out in hand is absolutely fine and I am sure you will get tired before her! Gentle on the lungeing - why don't you try long reining instead - lots of nice straight lines. Oh and photos please! Have fun ;-)
 
was lungeing huge circles the full size of the school, wanted to loose school but its grass arena so she just wanted to eat it!, mainly walk with a little trot. will pick up long reining when shes not teething again, im not riding her yet, i know shes still growing i see her everyday !! i have leant accross her and done 3 steps and got off! i lead her out with a saddle and headcollar will put her bridle on again when her mouth has settled! will up the length of walks a bit next weekend then maybe an hour thanks xx
 
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