How would you like a horse to grow up ideally??

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MarinaBay

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My filly is 8 months old, adorable and everything I could have asked for :p.

I want her to be a horse, obviously have human contact but I want her to play and be a baby before she spends the rest of her life hopefully do what I would like!!

So my question is what do you / would you do with a youngster? So many people have different opinions on this. Routine, no routine? 24/7 turnout vs in at night. Ideally how would you like your weanling / yearling to grow up?
 
24/7 grazing with a short period each day to bring in and do all those normal things they will have to do when older. Brushing, picking up feet, walk out round the lanes a few times a week etc with maybe an hour stable time with a feed and haynet. But mostly just out playing with buddies :-)
 
This is my feeling too out with other babies. But at what age should they start being in the routine that they will be in once ridden etc? 3?
 
Up until their fourth year they should be kept as Rhino says; in company of their own type and age so that they learn herd dynamics.
Apart from coming in for the farrier this is all mine do but they were all well handled from birth, taught to lead, do their feet, be brushed, held for farrier and so on. They never forget those first lessons so as long as they were taught well that's all they need until they are ready to be broken.
Those three baby years are short enough, except for injury/illness it is usually the only time they have to be 'free' so don't cut it short for them too early.
 
Maesfen said:
Those three baby years are short enough, except for injury/illness it is usually the only time they have to be 'free' so don't cut it short for them too early.
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Nitty obviously didn't like living rough as she has spent two of her baby years constantly breaking and coming in for box rest :(

Agree with the others, out with young company as much as possible.
 
Ideally in a field with a motorway one side, a train track the other side, and on a farm where the kids ride their motorbikes/quad bikes round the fields, and tractors, scarecrows etc are in constant use. Oh and said field is quite lumpy/bumpy and has a pond/stream too.

In the real world somewhere not TOO isolated from the real world so they learn to relax and ignore a bit of noise and activity.
 
I like them to live out 24/7 in a mixed herd including older horses and some youngsters their own ago. Then they can play AND learn manners. Daily handling (tying up, feet picked up, grooming) but nothing excessive.
 
i got my little one Jasper when he was 6months old. He was in at night for the first winter (we got him november and was what he was used too) and has lived out since the following spring bar a few nights here and there where he's been stabled. He came in a few times a week for a fuss/ little lessons in handling and started the odd walk out in hand in his 2yo summer. we bitted him as a 3yo and he was sat on at the end of that summer and now he's rising 4 we'll be cracking on with backing and get him hacking out before turning away again over the winter.

The only thing i'd of changed was having another youngster to turn him out with. he's always had company of varing ages but never anyone his own age. That said he's turned out to be a sensible well rounded chap who's not bothered by anything weve done with him
 
Well I got my current youngster at 2 and a half, in November last year. She will be 3 in May. I don't have the option of turning her away with other youngsters, so she is out with the other mares who vary in age. She goes out with a 4 year old TB, an 8 year old arab, my 10 year old TB and a 21 year old cob. She seems happy with this arrangement seeing as where I got her from she was turned out on her own. She is quite dominant and the other mares seem to put up with her antics, although I'm sure if she pushes her boundaries too far they'll put her in her place. She comes in at night, is quite happy in her stable and she can see my other mare through the bars. As a result she is handled daily, goes out for walks and long-reins. She will live out 24/7 over summer and then be broken in next year. I am hoping that because I am doing so much handling with her now it will be easier in the long term.
 
Somewhere on a hillside in Ireland with other youngstock, different terrain with hills/bogs/stony ground/gorse etc. They can learn how to balance themselves, to cope with different types of ground and learn to think for themselves!
 
Some great responses.

My filly will be weaned soon and will hopefully be turned out with her half sister who is a month older and probably a broodmare or two. Will see how she goes come winter and leave her out as much as possible. Although this winter she has spent 3 months on box rest with mum - hence why I am weaning late.

I hope to take her to a couple of shows this year, I really want her to be confident and used to environments other then her field and stable.
 
I do think it's important to have a mixture of the freedom to be a horse and the routine of daily handling...

Ideally babies should be turned out in large pastures with varying terrain and a mixed herd of babies and older horses so they can learn about herd dynamic.

I also think it's important to give them an insight into what might be expected of them when they grow up so a few trips out to local shows will educate them about traveling and how to behave in public! I don't like to over do this though as it can become boring!

I don't think theres any harm in stabling them over night in winter, however a good day out in the field is necessary so no 24 hour stabling!! I also prefer to leave mine until about December before I bring them in and then turn out in about February so they only have 3 months of coming in..I rug later in the year than most too and as a concequence my horse is quite tough and even when clipped this year as a 4 year old, required no more than a medium weight in the depths of winter.
 
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