How to start off a youngster's education?

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KimberleyH

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My youngster is turning three this summer. I'm hoping to start doing a bit more with him this summer and start some of his ridden education. What would you recommend starting off with? There seem to be mixed views about lungeing vs. long reining? As far as tack goes, he has a little saddle that he happily wears with a girth done up, and he wears a caveson.

Thanks for any comments, anecdotes or advice! :-D If you have any recommendations for books or videos, please let me know.
 
I also have a youngster that's just turned 3 so know how you feel - you want to do more with them but then dont want to do too much and overload them either!

Lunging there really is no need for it until you are thinking about sitting on him, I've read loads of books now and it seems most pro's tend to lunge them maybe 3-5 times (more if the horse isnt getting it) before they get on and ride for the first time - so unless you are planning on breaking him pretty soon I wouldnt bother with lunging. The circles put undue pressure on their still growing joints & bones, and you're more likely to end up with a horse prone to injuries later in life. Lunging is good if they are a hot youngster and you need to make sure it is safe before you get on; but beyond that it wont really add much to his education and the risk doesnt outweigh the benefits.

Long reining seems to be the consensus as the 'best' thing to do with a youngster, however caveat that with only to be done by someone experienced at long reining and knows what they are doing. I have never long reined before, hence dont long rein my youngster - just out of caution, I dont want to make any mistakes and get things wrong as I'm not experienced in that area. But if you know what you are doing and have long reined before then definitely worth doing - first in the school to get them used to it, then you can build up to short trips away from the yard if the hacking in the area allows for it (i.e. safe enough quiet lanes/bridleways etc) which is brilliant for a young horse's education.

What I've just started doing with mine last week is once a week in-hand work in the school, but that is purely because of his personality rather than because I just want to find something to do with him. Over the last 6 months he is getting a bit too comfortable in his own little world, he is very inattentive to me and has the attention span of a gnat in general. He is fine leading to and from the field most of the time, but on occasion has done a few silly things purely because he isnt listening to me and more interested in peeing off to be with his friends (must say that was a one off, but once was enough for me!). If I dont have his respect and attention on the ground, then its likely he wont listen when I ride him either and will be too busy nosying at the rest of the world (which is his normal plan - he's not spooky, just likes to look at everything he can find and nosey at it).

So we are doing some work on leading, mainly with the purpose of getting him to walk a few steps behind me rather than on my shoulder, and to stop when I stop, leaving me plenty of space. Again because of his lack of attention sometimes he's too busy looking elsewhere to notice when I stop, so we're working on that. He is very good at stepping under with his hind legs so we do a bit of that, and I use my hand to touch where my leg will be when I ride to get him used to the idea that he has to move away from my 'leg' when its applied. I found this article really helpful about getting the basics established and this is my 'plan' if you can call it that for the next few weeks/months before I think he's ready to be backed http://straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training/groundwork/

You can do loads of polework and exercises in hand too, I bought this book which has some good ones in it https://www.amazon.co.uk/Groundwork...5993425&sr=8-1&keywords=groundwork+for+horses

He turned 3 in May and I only started the in-hand stuff last week, he is a big WB so I havent wanted to rush him as he's still got a lot of growing to do and is bum high - dont feel that just because yours is nearly 3 you must do something, it should be down to your horse's character and how he is maturing both mentally and physically. Too many people start horses too young, there is no rush to be doing 'something' as the best thing for them at this age is still to be in the field, eating, playing and ideally being told off by an older mare just to keep them in their place! Most of the skills your youngster needs will be taught in the field, and if you have the basics done like picking up feet, leading, loading....etc then you are already in a good place.

I was originally thinking to back mine this summer but he has a massive wolf tooth that needs to come out before the bridle goes anywhere near him, so by the time I've sorted that and given him time to heal the summer is likely to be more or less over. Hacking is the best thing for a newly backed youngster and the winter months are not ideal for that, so I'm now reconsidering and perhaps may wait until the clocks go forward again next March before I start him under saddle.

If you are wanting to start the ridden part pretty quickly there's loads of books to help with backing youngsters that are worth a read - I've got the version of this from 2014 or 2013 I think, this cover looks different but the title is the same https://www.amazon.co.uk/Basic-Trai...&qid=1465994123&sr=1-1&keywords=ingrid+klimke

Are you planning on doing the backing yourself or getting someone else involved?
 
kc100 - out of interest, why do you want your youngster to walk a few steps behind you?

Are you not concerned that if something spooks him, that you will not get flattened if he jumps forward, or if he pulls away backwards or sideways, that he will dislocate your shoulder pulling you round to him?

I can understand you don't want him to walk with his shoulder touching yours, but surely a couple of feet to the right of you would be safer?
 
spacefaer said:
kc100 - out of interest, why do you want your youngster to walk a few steps behind you?

Are you not concerned that if something spooks him, that you will not get flattened if he jumps forward, or if he pulls away backwards or sideways, that he will dislocate your shoulder pulling you round to him?

I can understand you don't want him to walk with his shoulder touching yours, but surely a couple of feet to the right of you would be safer?
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I think if a horse spooks when being led, and he does it with enough force, regardless of where he is in comparison to your position you'll get flattened/injured/a dislocated shoulder etc. I dont really think its safer either way to be honest, if they spook and run towards you regardless of how far away they are from you that is never going to be ideal and you'll get squashed! Equally if they decided to turn sideways or move backwards that will put your arm in an uncomfortable position risking injury, whether they are 2 steps from your shoulder or 10 steps away.

Ultimately I dont think there is a true 'safe' position with a youngster (or any horse for that matter), as they are unpredictable hence can go in any direction without much warning! I have so far (touch wood) never had more than a bit of rope burn from him and a lump on my ankle (long story, not his fault!), my main concerns safety wise with young horses are to always wear gloves (learnt my lesson from the rope burn), wear a hat and have a long lead rope/lunge line so if they do ****** off somewhere you can let them go away from you (not into you) but still have hold of them. Being too close in my personal space is far more of a concern from a safety point of view than having him further away from me.

From my reading I like the logic of this article http://straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training/groundwork/ (the leading part) - that the horse needs to follow you as its leader, not side by side as your equal. With my youngster he is fairly unique so as I mentioned in my post, I think you need to treat each youngster as an individual based on their physical and mental maturity - mine will be totally different from the OP's so not saying my approach is right for everyone. But because he is inattentive he often wanders past me when I stop in the school, he is too busy looking elsewhere to realise I have stopped! Hence having him a bit behind me when leading in the ground work exercises helps keep me in front as the leader, and easier for him to see me hence keep more attention on me. If we are side by side and he is looking right and I'm on his right, I stand no chance of him listening or paying attention to me. Whereas if he is a few steps behind me, regardless of where he is looking I'm still in his line of vision (somewhere!).

Just to clarify though I only lead like this in the school when doing the ground work exercises, if leading out to the field its a different story - his walk is so big when he knows he is going out there would be no hope of me remaining in front of him down to the field unless I was Usain Bolt! So the main leading & stopping work is done in the school, purely for the purposes of teaching him to be more focused on the person leading him not his environment. Hopefully this work will pay off and start to slow him down a tad when going out the field, thankfully he doesnt jog to the field but being a big WB he has a big walk and I'm a little shorty with tiny legs!

Hope that all makes sense!
 
Honestly, I think if you're not really confident in what you plan to do and how you plan to do it, it is worth bringing in some help, at least to start and to assess through the process. They are the most important few months of any horses life and can make the difference between a safe, sane and sensible horse and one that holds anxiety/fear/confusion etc. We've all got to start somewhere, but I've seen some really lovely horses messed up by very experienced riders who just didn't have the right kind of experience to know when to push on or take a step back.

If you do go it alone. Remember when teaching a horse a language that it doesn't understand and knowing that we know very little of their language as well, that the best tool you can have in your training kit is consistency. Make every lesson black and white. Never punish if they don't understand. Just stop, repeat and give them the time to figure out the right answer...reward when they give it to you. If you want them to always stand when you ask for a halt on the lunge or under saddle, don't ever let them get away with turning in and walking to you, no matter how cute it might be or if you're feeling inclined to be nice...it's not nice. It's confusing.

Consistency is God when it comes to training and it's something greatly lacking unfortunately.

Best of luck to you KimberleyH and kc100. It's very exciting time :)
 
There are many different ways, not necessarily wrong or right, but you need to find a way that suits you.
I personally start mine off another horse- ride and lead hacking, getting them used to me being up above them, patting the saddle from up there etc. I then do a few days of jumping up and down, leaning over and eventually get on and go straight out on a hack. They start forwards and confidently like that and I hack for a few weeks before turning away.
 
TheMule said:
There are many different ways, not necessarily wrong or right, but you need to find a way that suits you.
I personally start mine off another horse- ride and lead hacking, getting them used to me being up above them, patting the saddle from up there etc. I then do a few days of jumping up and down, leaning over and eventually get on and go straight out on a hack. They start forwards and confidently like that and I hack for a few weeks before turning away.
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Straightforward and no drama...love it. I used to be very much into loads of prep work, but age and experience has taught me to credit horses with the ability to not be stupid if we do nothing to make them stupid.
 
Totally agree with GG, keep everything short and simple, make sure you set yourself up to achieve something positive with each session. Two years ago when my baby was 3 we did loads of bonding both in the stable and in hand. We'd go for walks which taught him to lead and trust me, introduce him to stuff around the yard, hop on the mounting block, groom him from a step so he could see me up above him, all the while giving him lots of praise. Id take him in the school when someone was schooling so he could get used to horses going around him, introduced him to longreins quietly (youtube was a great tool for this) then did lots of stuff on longreins in the school, over poles etc to teach him turning and stopping then...out onto the lane. Once this was established I started longreining him alongside a ridden companion. We did months of this and even though he was my first complete blank canvas he was a joy to back and ride away. I like to think those first months of gaining his trust in me have stood us both in good stead. Good luck! Take it slowly and hopefully you'll be rewarded.
 
Starting with gentle long reining can build trust and basics without stressing young joints. Lungeing later. Explore "101 Horsemanship Exercises" for structured guidance.
 
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