Opinions and views on this please .....

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Missy is now 2 years and 7 mths , Shes been stabled in for the past 2 weeks due to the flooding , Yesterday I put her out and will be letting her stay out for a little while, shes been long reined and for most of you that know her , shes as laid back as they come .

Im thinking of having just a wee sit on her before she goes out into the field for a month or 2 .
What would your views on this be ? Mentally I think shes ready . Shes a smart cookie for her age . Mind now , it is only a little sit before she gets chucked out into the field and a break over the winter .

Col x

 

[flowerlady]

Personally I think she's too young!

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Not talking riding her mind

Just a wee sit on her back and then off again .

??

 

[_Libby_]

i think if you think shes ready then it would be fine

 

[Skhosu]

Too young I think. What's the need?

 

[The Original Kao]

i'm sure i said before, i think she should be fine. she's quite a mature girly anyway and a sit shouldn't break her

she's your horse and i'm sure you know what she can handle

 

[Fiona]

Don't see it as a problem if your groundwork/prep work up to this stage has been done confidently. You're not going to ride her as such (round in circles or hack her out or anything right??). Just a sit on, and maybe led round the school.

Fiona

 

[Smash]

What's the point?
I wouldn't, personally.

 

[Syrah]

Personally, I would wait another year then back and turn away for winter for her 'learning' to start at 4 years old.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

As above...........no point IMO.

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Well basically the need is that shes done everything up to now , at HER pace, shes been handled from an early age , Sitting on her would just be that , nothing else, then chucked out into the field and let her be a horse for a few months until shes 3 and bring her back into long rein and then start to back her . My thinking is that when I sit on her now it wont be such a shock next year .

She is physically mature enough .
She long reins 110% and is very confident and not in the slightest bit worried . I've done everything with her that I can possibly do with her , I do everything at missys Pace, she controls the speed at which we do things

Hope this makes sense .

 

[tikino]

i would just leave her the coupe of months and bring her in and back her when she is a 3 yr old as she might mentaly not be fazed but she wont be physicaly ready at her age

 

[_Libby_]

what you say makes sense i dont see the problem

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Tikino

Thats the thing though , when I do bring her in as a 3 year old I wont be doing it quickly , it will be as slow as possible . I more than likely wont be riding her even at a walk until this time next year . Thats what Im trying to say

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Tikino
Also she is I think personally mature for her age , physically

Heres a pic of her

Shes by no means a weedy 2 year old .

 

[_Libby_]

how can you say for sure a horse at 2.6 years old is any less physically ready than a 3 yr old?

 

[Syrah]

As you know, it's entirely up to you and it does sound as though you've made your mind up.

One thing I would be very wary of though is if she isn't mentally ready, will it leave a lasting memory if it all goes very wrong and make the backing process much, much harder than it would have been if you're not planning on doing any ridden work until next year anyway.

 

[Fiona]

Gasps at second pic. She is DEFINITELY not a weedy 2yo. Looks very mature. Would be seriously tempted to have a sit on her before you turn her out again. I know you'll be starting again with her next summer, but she will prob be bigger and stronger again.

I'm sure in Pippa Funnells book she established a lot of stuff with her 2yo's especially the big/forward ones.

Go for it.

Fiona

 

[tikino]

[ QUOTE ]
Tikino

Thats the thing though , when I do bring her in as a 3 year old I wont be doing it quickly , it will be as slow as possible . I more than likely wont be riding her even at a walk until this time next year . Thats what Im trying to say

[/ QUOTE ]

i have to say i totaly read your post wrong i thought you where going to completly back her and ride her away and have to say she is lovely and def not a weedy 2.7yr old and very well built for her age

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Mollywops on the contrary , Hence why I have posted this

Not made my mind up at all , just putting my points across and likewise want points of view from good folk like yourself

Mentally wise shes a very smart girl who has a fantastic laidback attitude, , first time I put a saddle on her back, she had a face on her that said ... " Do I look Like I give a fig "
As a yearling she walked through a very VERY busy balmoral crowd , even before that as a foal she walked through a very busy RDS in dublin .
I couldnt ask for a more laid back youngster , who I think , well infact I know trusts me 100% and Im very proud of that fact and if I thought it would jeopardize that I wouldnt be thinking about it .

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

[ QUOTE ]
Gasps at second pic. She is DEFINITELY not a weedy 2yo. Looks very mature. Would be seriously tempted to have a sit on her before you turn her out again. I know you'll be starting again with her next summer, but she will prob be bigger and stronger again.

I'm sure in Pippa Funnells book she established a lot of stuff with her 2yo's especially the big/forward ones.

Go for it.

Fiona

[/ QUOTE ]

Now your getting my point

 

[GreenGrass]

What are going to achieve, trainng wise, but just quickly sitting on her?

Sounds more that you are excited about getting on with it Which is no bad thing...but I think you should be patient, turn her out and wait a while longer, when you can do it all properly

 

[siennamum]

your scenario is similar to mine with Sienna. It's great when you have the opportunity like this to play with a young horse rather than having a timeframe within whichyou are going to break them in.
By the time I 'broke her in' as a four year old, she had been to shows, been shod, lunged, long reined, tacked up and sat on. In fact I never really broke her in - having done things gradually over the years, she just prgressed naturally.
She would have liked to start work much sooner but I had a young family.
In your place I wouldn't have any hesitation in laying across her and hopping on board a couple of times. I always do this withyoung horses by standing on a chair or similar so I am above them, a few times first so they aren't worried by suddenly seeing me in an unexpected place.
the only note of caution would be to still take all the precautions & do the preparation you would to prepare for the worst possible scanario, better to be safe than sorry.

She is turning into the most lovely horse, bet you can't wait to be out and about with her.

 

[viola]

I personally see no problem, if it's literally just to sit on her it can't do her much harm. Providing it goes smoothly, it should make the whole backing later a nicer experience as it spreads the whole preparation in time.
The only thing would be - if it does not go well, do you proceed further so she doesn't go out thinking she can walk over you or do you turn her out...
When I worked at a stud we often sat on 2.5yrs olds as a prep before full backing a year later. We would literally just sit on them, were led in-hand in walk around the round lungeing pen for a couple of minutes and that's it. We didn't trot or canter.

 

[only_me]

I think you should give it a go - if shes anything like merlin ( and she does have his huge shoulder

) then you will be fine.

she certinanley looks strong enough!! i think you should sit on her and have a lead around the school.

hey to everyone who thinks 2 years is too young - what age do you think race-horses are broken? Missy is a part TB...

 

[Haniki]

I don't think it will do any harm either - you know your horse.

 

[AmyMay]

She's a big girl already. Won't do any harm to sit on her now then turn away until next spring to repeat the exercise.

 

[Foxfolly]

We backed our 2yo, he was huge and it never did him any harm. He was actually only just 2 and we did a very small amount on him just in walk, then the following year he was ridden a bit more but steadily as he was 17hh and only 3, now as a 4yo at over 17hh he is doing some proper work and it certainly hasn't had any harm at all!

In fact here is the post that this was discussed in...

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3434058/an/0/page/1#3434058

 

[Jennypenny]

i thing she will be fine just to sit on, it will do no harm. You know your horse the best go with what you think.

 

[mintaka04]

I wouldn't have a problem with starting this horse off at this age.
What you suggest sounds very sensible to me and I'm sure the horse will just accept it as part of "the norm"
She looks a fine big horse.

There is a school of thought that says that some mild stress and weight bearing on the bones helps them to become stronger, improves blood supply.
I think mentally as well, it lets the horse know what is expected of it.
Good luck, hope all goes well.