If You Can't Be Bothered To Wait For Your Youngster To Mature..

When did it become acceptable for people to admit to backing these youngsters? Is it influence of USA - where their western horses are backed at 2 ...and have navicular at 6 [ and now articles in our mags are showing this is the age to start]. Or racing - where T B 2yr olds are ridden? Europe , where dressage horses are doing high level movements at 4 yrs? Why do these ignorant people think its ok? Would someone who breaks in 2yr olds like to defend this bad practise and give good reasons on this thread? [ I doubt it!]
 
Have not read all the thread, but I agree, if you get a youngster, at least let it be a baby, and have fun, you knew what you were taking on, so allow them to mature.....l

I agree , let the be children and grow up xx
 
Our old boy Jimmy was another from Bodmin moor, we had him for 27 brilliant years. We got him in awful condition when he was just 2. I think because we let him mature and grow up he was never lame until he had lami at the age of 25.
My welsh cob is 4 this month but he is very immature and appart from introducing him to as many different things as i can, wont really be doing much with him.
Its my pet hate, people doing too much to soon.
 
One horse I purchased as an eight year old; it was a first foal and a bit small(er) than the subsequent one so was broken finally at five and left in a field doing nothing other than the odd hack at weekends! Amazingly it developed a bit of a buck and a squeak and started dumping people, so was sold....to ME!:D:D

Life began at eight....said ned SJed out of Fox and evented to intermediate; it was still hunting at the age of 26 and was finally PTS at 29. I never had the vet to him for anything serious.

Another horse I had was backed at four but did nothing other than hack until six.....that became an advanced eventer and is still hunting at 22.

I am off next week to see two horses; they are 5.5 hours away ....the one wasn't broken until five and has done very little for the last two years; the other is four and untouched. Both have been living out 24 hours a day coping with all sorts of terrain and weather. That is how I like my horses!!
 
Drives me nuts I have to say. Worst I have seen myself was a group on Facebook (again!) who had pics of a lad sat on an 8 month old foal. What is wrong with these people???

My youngster was lightly backed at 3un the point where she would walk and trot in a school and also hacked out doing a little bit of cantering in a straight line. She was then turned away for 8 months. Now as an almost 5 year old (next month) she's lightly lunged once a week and lightly ridden in the school with a couple of short hacks each week. She's only recently seen a trotting pole and not yet been asked to jump, although we may try this later in the year. We must be doing something right because despite being very green she's a lovely mare who is a total pleasure to ride, fabulous paces and perfect transitions coming from her natural unhurried and good balance. I plan on keeping her all her life so wouldn't have it any other way. :) x
 
I have just flicked through the awful dragon driving website. There are umpteen adverts showing yearlings being ridden and driven. The travelling community seem to work/break their youngstock very early, I pass a group on my way to work and there is always yearlings tethered with driving harnesss on, awful to see.

A lot of novice owners are just ignorant and with young horses able to be bought for less than £80.00 the problem is only going to get worse. I suppose if the advertising websites/publications prevented adverts being printed that show babies being ridden that would be a step in the right direction, but that is just not going to happen.

The picture below was taken in April, the weanling was 11 months old, to an inexperienced eye she looks ridable, she is deep has a degree of muscle and looks strong. If she was in the travelling community she would be working now. This is the horse the local young farmers, some of them from horsey backgrounds, looked at last weekend and aged at 3 yrs.
Aliceoneyearold003.jpg
 
Nothing worse than what people have mentioned above... I have had several raised eye brows from several 'experienced' horse people because I said I wouldn't even think of starting my WB who will be a good 17hh+ till 4, turn away at 5 and start properly when he's rising 6 or even 6. But then on the other hand after long deliberation with myself, about when to bit him I have decided to bit him now as a 1y/o.. because I would like to show him but get him to a show whilst he's 'small' as I don't want to take a massive excited baby to a show when he is 3 or 4, and with him being so big and gangly I need a little extra something incase he decides to play up, I do think as an owner of
colt like him I need to be responsible to other show goers - hence getting him bitted so early... if that makes any sense?

the thing I see the most on Facebook is people getting on their youngster for the very first time with out a helmet on :o
 
Also agree - I have a rising 3yo sec D. Have lost count of the number of times I have been asked 'am I getting on him yet?' (NO). Or even recommended to get a move on with him as not only is he a youngster, he came to me with a bagful of issues, the 'wisdom' being 'You don't want to be backing him when he's so much bigger and stronger, get on him now.'
No, what I want to be doing with him is to continue working on unpicking his awful issues, continue to treat him like a youngster, continue with groundwork to remind him he needs to have manners, walk in-hand, show him tack, continue to desensitise him to various things.
If anything, given his particular issues, he needs more time and patience not less. Also, to my mind, a young horse that is really still struggling to pick his feet up and hence I pay for sedation for farriery, whilst working on his feet issues, is really not ready to do anything more advanced than the basics we've worked on for nearly a year.
Incidentally, I bought him for a pound and knowing how much hard work and patience he would take, did so mostly because I eventually decided I could give him the committment he needed...(and I actually do like him despite his loony-goatness) and because I shuddered to think of who else might buy him for a £1, think they had something they should get on early and screw him up even further. And by the time he will eventually be rideable I will have more than spent the equivalent amount of money, time and energy on him that I could have done on buying an older rideable horse. There is no such thing as a 'cheap project', IMHE.
Anyway, that's my two pen'north worth on the subject.
Yes, I have just spent a winter of horsecare with nothing to ride, yes I could kill to have something to go out and about on...but the fact is, I don't, I have long-term projects so I just suck it up really.
I had a long break from horses and when starting again with them, have been really quite shocked at some of the things that have become commonplace, that would have been unthinkable years ago..guess that just makes me old! :D
 
Quick question then.. Would the majority agree that you wouldn't lunge as a 3 year old? I ask because when I was younger I always remember being taught how to break in youngsters and before getting on board it's lunging. My boy did all that as a 3 year old. He then had the winter off and we continued with him as a 3 year old. He's now 14, competing at fox and never had a thing wrong with him.

I have a 3 year old chestnut mare, very mature for her age both in mind and body, and I feel she really should be doing something. She is bited and had a light weight close contact saddle on and I've been lunging her maybe twice a week. I'm in no hurry with her and have plenty of others to keep me occupied.

On the other hand I also have a 4 year old gelding that it only just starting now because he was so immature last year, but he too has started with lunging.

I'm just now a bit worried that I could be doing a bit of damage??
 
Lunging properly, ie not galloping full tilt to get their backs down is not going to hurt them done sympathetically. And you also need some muscle built before getting on their backs so it is part and parcel. However, lunging and lunging and lunging is silly. Some other things people keep forgetting in addition to having muscle built is horses that are way too fat. This is more often when you get problems.

Overall their is more to consider than age. Obviously I'm not advocating break as young as you can but really there is more.

Terri
 
We have 2 atm - a ISH HW 2 year old who already stands 16.1 and a 5 yr old welsh D.

The 2 year old will not be backed till 4, but people have said to us as he is so big we better get on him early. Why!?! i don't get it! If they are well handled it won't matter if they are a shire or a shetland! In fast, the bigger they are the more time i think they need. His full brother was backed at 2, but there is no way potter would be mature enough to do anything.

The welsh D has been backed a month. He was taught to lunge at 3 over a couple of weeks, long reined occasionally and left to grow up. He is VERY sensitive and would not have been ready even last year at 4, but he has been a dream to do and has thoroughly enjoyed his work so far.

I work with horses (having time off atm with baby) and TBH am sick to the back teeth of being asked to back immature horses who aren't ready for it. At last place i worked at (well known stud in my area), i was asked to lunge a just turned 3 year old colt who was a bit sharp and sensitive for 1/2 hour a day, in side reins/ harbridge for 3 months. One way to get a bored and damaged horse just because it was objecting to being ridden (surprises there!?) Think thats where the relationship with the boss went down hill slightly, i have no respect for people like that.
 
I've seen it time and time again and it makes my blood boil!! Alot of folk round here have their yearling under saddle or driven - the worst I saw was a yearling pulling a cart with 4 adults in it, out for at least 4 hrs on a very hot summer day at a trot - the poor thing looked ready to drop! His 16 stone owner believes in getting on them when they are small so all the fight has gone out of them before they get big!!!:( I leave mine until they are at least 4 prefereably 5 and sometimes even 6 if they are very immature, I've seen so many people on their youngsters when it is obvious they can't cope simply because they think they LOOK mature or are a big breed which is even worse!!!:( And i certainly don't lunge until 5 or older as their little joints just can't take that sort of wear and tear!

Mind you having said that it annoys me even more when people put their 2/3 yr olds in foal which is the same as carrying a rider 24/7!! I saw one person trying to get a skeletal 2 not quite 3yr old heavy breed filly in foal, you could see every bone and they were so ignorant to the condition of their animal they were happy to put pics on the net!, and they were surprised when it didn't take - thank god - the poor horse!!!:(
 
Have you thought about long-reigning instead? I think the problem with lunging is that you're asking them to work on a relatively small circle (even if you're holding them at the end of the lunge line) and its hard work on their joints, which at their age won't be fully developed. I'm not even that keen on lunging older horses but I think if its kept limited to 15/20 mins max and only occasional then it minimises any risk to leg injuries. Personally with my youngster he will be long-reigned (age 3 1/2 or 4) and will not be lunged until he is much much older (6+).

EDIT: that was supposed to have quoted the poster who was worried about lunging their 3 and 5 yo horses - sorry don't know how to fix it now!
 
With regarding to lunging at 3- I prefer to do as little as possible in order to hack at 4, & school on hacks, before introducing proper schooling at 5. So with ponies or laid back types lunging is no more than a few circles to establish the basics, long lining & ride & lead/ in hand walks before hacking. Something more highly strung you do need better basics before hacking so i'd be more likely to do more at home first. At 3 though I'd definitely be doing it with two reins if it was for longer than a few minutes though so its not confined to a circle.
 
my mare was backed and ridden at two. If I want to compete her thats how it has to be done. End of.

PS, she will be competing in reining classes.
 
none that I know of. Three year old futurity classes are for 3 year olds so it is normal to have them backed and in training when they are 2.
 
yes, it's a personal choice. I know many many Qhorses who were broken at 2 competed at 3 and 10 years later are perfectly sound and still competing.
 
Annie23 said:
Quick question then.. Would the majority agree that you wouldn't lunge as a 3 year old? I ask because when I was younger I always remember being taught how to break in youngsters and before getting on board it's lunging. My boy did all that as a 3 year old. He then had the winter off and we continued with him as a 3 year old. He's now 14, competing at fox and never had a thing wrong with him.
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Mine was lunged briefly at 3yo last autumn. Lightly and only a couple of sessions and mainly to add vocal aids. She now listens well in the field, when first asked to stand would freeze with a leg up if it was mid walk, she loved her games and would try anything for a little treat. I did it with no lunging whip etc so if she hurt or had enough she wasn't moved on. I'm now leaving her to chill for another year after being asked by lots if I will back this year. She is very mature for her age physically and mentally but I don't see the rush. She has bonded incredibly with me while learning tricks and meeting new things and I'd like some time to truly enjoy her.

I'd say it's all dependant on the horse, some are not ready mentally or physically and some are for light work. OH's family had a horse that was 9yo before being mentally mature enough to back and then made a great horse. It's impossible to judge without knowing each horse

Pan
 
PandorasJar said:
I believe you will be needing a brick wall to bang your head against...
;)

Pan
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*like*

Of course, cause they couldn't possibly wait a year or so. Makes you wonder why we ever stopped putting children up chimneys, after all they don't NEED a childhood!
 
the 4yo I mention was broken and ridden at 2 - hacking out for 2 hours + and at 4 he is pretty much trashed, back is bad and is lame...you will not convince me that riding a horse so young is a good idea.
 
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