Intro to long reining for a yearling shire

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House of Stewart

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My baby shire is a year old this week and I want to introduce her to long reining. Being a shire, she is big for her age and strong. Should I introduce a bit and bridle as part of this process or just use a soft leather lunging cavasson?
 
Would be interested to hear from those more experienced with heavies whether a yearling would be mentally, never mind physically, mature enough to cope with this.
My gut instinct for other breeds would be no and a horse is a horse is a horse..... And any other breed I'd say, turn it out with other babies to be a horse for at least two more years.
But I do hear you on the argument with size and have no knowledge of heavy horses.
 
There is not a chance in hell I would ever contemplate long reining a yearling, there is simply no need. If they must be bitted (IE for showing) then there is no way you should be contemplating adding a contact (as long reining would require), and long reining off a headcollar is a very blunt tool IMO, plus not something I'd want to do on immature structures. Just no!
 
Another who would never long rein a yearling 🤷‍♀️

As a 2 yo I practised looping a soft training rope around my horse’s bum and getting him to turn. I also did a couple of less than 5 min sessions with two training ropes. Always just off headcollar; no roller at this point as their backs are still poorly developed/immature.

This year as a 3 yo I have introduced a roller (I use a Fairfax gulleted roller as the research into spinal pressure from rollers is eye opening). I have done a couple of short sessions in the school to establish turning signals, and we’ve been out round the woods twice.

He has worn a bit a couple of times, separate to this. I do not lunge until they’re 4 and have reasonable baseline fitness, but he halts/walks from a verbal cue very reliably.

There are plenty of basic handling and leading skills to work on first. Get these 100% now and everything else will come easily, in the right time.
 
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No way would I ever long rein a yearling, regardless of breed. At that age they should be out playing with other babies, and then introduced to a mixed age herd. Yes we do short (very) handling sessions with 2 yo's including picking up feet, meet the farrier etc then upped once 3 to include a few in hand shows, loading, walking out in hand in a rope halter to see the world. Can only bit once a 4 yo and teeth have settled down, then short lunge sessions which eventually turn into long reining.
 
Given the appaling conformation most shires have, I wouldnt be doing anything at all till 4, and then I'd be spending months building them up. They arent designed to be ridden and they are enormous. A terrible combo. And given how many young horses that seem to be getting ruined by people buying them who dont know what they are doing and over handling the hell out of them and the fact you already describe them as strong, this just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
 
House of Stewart said:
My baby shire is a year old this week and I want to introduce her to long reining. Being a shire, she is big for her age and strong. Should I introduce a bit and bridle as part of this process or just use a soft leather lunging cavasson?
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Please dont.

As a yearning she just needs to be able to stand for farrier, be brushed, and lead up in hand in walk with a short trot if you are planning on the odd show outing.

I went and worked with a friends yearling yesterday, she walked a couple of circuits of grass paddock on each rein, had 2 short trots (never trotted till then) and stood relaxed for 10 minutes whilst we chatted, total time 15 mins including the standing, she was mentally tired when we had finished. All supervised by her little field chum who I had in my hand.
She's learned about stables in the worst of winter and had only been led to and from paddock to stable (20 ft) till yesterday.

Shires generally wouldn't be long reined till this time next year and then only lightly for v short sessions.
 
Everyone's progression to will vary slightly but I'm another that wouldn't ever advise long raining a yearling.

They might look outwardly strong, there is an awful lot of maturing of the bones and muscles that need to happen before they are actually are big and strong as they might look 😊

Taking your time now should pay dividends in the long run.
 
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‘Big’ and ‘strong’ aren’t the same thing. A shire is obviously going to be bigger than other yearlings, but doesn’t make them any more ready I wouldn’t have thought….potentially less so.
 
I've had quite a few foals over the years, and the thought of long reining a yearling has never even entered my head. All I want from a yearling is to be able to catch them easily, put a headcollar on and they lead politely (in walk), stand quietly when asked while being held, pick up their feet and be good for the farrier, allow hands all over their bodies, and thats it. I dont care how big and strong they may look, they are still babies with squidgy bones, and this time of year, probably not even quite a year old yet.
 
I have a young cob, who is 16.2 at rising 3, so I don’t think a shire youngster is dramatically different. There’s no way I would have long reined him at 1. We practiced leading, standing for the farrier and being brushed. I don’t think he would have gained anything by longreining. I don’t think he needed the pressure of being driven forwards. He was also all leggy and gangly at that age so wouldn’t have been strong enough to do anything remotely resembling work.

He’s still not done any long reining. We are going to start this spring/summer. He’s a proper shape now (although bum high at times)and is mature enough to be expected to think about what he does and what I am asking of him.

I’d wait until at least 2, especially given the conformational issues a lot of shires have. I don’t see the need to do anything with a yearling other than basic manners.
 
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