Pros and Cons of turning away after backing

epeters91

epeters91

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I have had my youngster from 10 months old and she's always been handled alot, she's very trusting and one of the most laid back horses I know.

This year I've backed her at 3.5 years old after getting agreement from my vet that she was physically ok to start work.

I've ridden her between 20-25 times over the last 3 months or so starting off in a field and recently in a menage as we have moved yards. We can now stand quietly for mounting and dismounting, walk, halt and trot with good balance. At the new yard it is busier so she does sometimes get distracted by the sight of other horses but her attention does come back to me and I expect this to improve as she gets used to the new yard.

I'm now considering whether I should turn her away over winter and start riding again in April when she turns 4 or if I should continue with light work and work towards doing a little bit of hacking once she's fully settled in her new yard.

Basically offering myself up for anyone opinion and any personal experiences would be interesting too.

I know some people may feel she's too young to be ridden which is why I spoke to my vet before starting her and why I never push her to do more than she is willing to do. I want her to enjoy being ridden and so I listen to her if she's tired we stop and if she's nervous about something we take out time and I'll talk her through it and help her settle :)
 
I would definitely turn away. I never back a horse until it's 4. Ideally it would be 5 if I'm honest. So a 3 year old should at most be very lightly backed and then allowed to mature. IMO even as a four year old she should have only very light work. I don't agree with competing horses as four year olds, though I know many would disagree. Remember a horse's growth plates don't fuse in its spine until 5 1/2 - 6 years old.
 
Like you, I have just broken in my 3.5 year old after checking with the Vet and Physio as I thought he still looked a little babyish but they assured me he was ready.
He has taken to everything amazingly well and has just had his first canter down a grass track out hacking. I haven't done any schooling with him apart from using a ménage the first time I rode him properly.
He will be turned away from the end of October to March/April time. Mostly to let him think about it all and digest it but to also grow some more both upwards and outwards as he is still all legs at the moment (16.2hh and still going up!).
He will have an easy year as a 4 year old just spudling around and won't compete till he is 5 providing he is ready both mentally and physically.
 
My OH's youngster was broken at 3. We rode her a handful of times and then turned her away for winter. Shes now come back into work and is going brilliantly. Personally I think a few months off after backing can do them the world of good. Gives them a chance to chill after the sensory overload of being broken in. Plus I prefer to leave them till they are at least 4 before they start doing regular work. So I think turning them away does them the world of good mentally and physically :)
 
In my experience, turning away is really helpful to let them grow, mature, and want to work; I've seen quite a few horses grow sour from not having been turned away at a young age. I'd do it every year for 2-3 months if I had a youngster, whihc I don't at the moment.

I do agree with TFF just above though, if you ARE going to continue working then light hacking only, not schooling.
 
We bought a just backed 3 (in May yr old in the Juy. She has since been left to grow on for 2 yrs, as she was physically and mentally immature. She wasn't used to people and their strange ways, so she has been handled every day, brought in to a stable overnight and generay been treated as a riding horse without being ridden. She is now just about ready to be sat on, as soon as her new saddle arrives. If we had bought her unbacked, we wouldn't have backed her at 3.
 
I usually break them at 3 and keep them ticking over. The only reason I'd turn a horse away altogether is if the weather was too awful to do anything. Riding 2 - 3 times a week for 20 - 40 minutes is all it takes to keep the learning going and I don't see the point of starting and stopping. Turning horses away "to mature" doesn't really make sense; a horse will mature whether you ride it or not and I'd rather get going and keep the muscles growing.
 
My horse is 3 and was backed a couple of weeks before I bought him. I keep him ticking over, but only do 1-2 days very light hacking a week. When he turns 4 in May, I will start doing a little more with hm. My vet is also happy for him to be ridden. I will be taking it very slowly over the next two years.

I've never turned any of my youngsters away, however some people do say they benifit from it. People have very different opinions on backing ages and turning away.
 
Cortez said:
I usually break them at 3 and keep them ticking over. The only reason I'd turn a horse away altogether is if the weather was too awful to do anything. Riding 2 - 3 times a week for 20 - 40 minutes is all it takes to keep the learning going and I don't see the point of starting and stopping. Turning horses away "to mature" doesn't really make sense; a horse will mature whether you ride it or not and I'd rather get going and keep the muscles growing.
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Mature to me doesnt just mean physically. Ive seen horses that were not mentally ready yet when they are first broken in. The owners continuing to push them by working them only made the situation worse. Yet 6 months off and they have come back into work like a different horse.
 
I think for a 3yo then turning away over winter would definitely be my option, the only downside to that is if you are planning YH classes (which I generally have no interest in).

Come 4yo then I think you have to be a little more guided by the horse. I have a 4yo being prepped to event next year who seems to go backwards for a break (many come out better), so he has just 1 month off this autumn and then will be in pretty regular work over winter with 1 week down every 6-8 weeks of work.
 
Thanks for all the responses! The only reason I haven't been hacking my girl is because when she was at home there was nowhere to hack and she's gone from living with 1 shetland to a farm with around 60 horses so there is a lot of new things to get used to before we try that. In the menage it's not schooling so much as wandering round keeping to the track and practising turning, stopping and tryng not to get too distracted by other horses coming and going out of the nearby barn.

I can see the benefits to turning away if the horse is showing it's having a bit of an overload and needs a break but with horses like my girl where they are calmly accepting it I agree with TFF and Cortez some light hacking (or walking round the school) to keep them ticking over and help them build some muscle.

For those that do turn away does that mean absolutely no work for them? No lunging or long reining just out in the field and maybe in at night?

As much as I'd like to keep her ticking over I am thinking turning away might be fore the best just because of her change of yard and having so much to get used to. That being said she has settled brilliantly other than being distracted occasionally by other horses. Also I have no interest in showing in the next couple of years I just want to spend time with my girl help her learn at her own pace and make sure she's happy with what she's doing
 
to be honest, even with a horse calmly accepting the work, I'd turn away entirely for a bit. I've seen so many go sour from doing too much too young, and you only get one chance at that! For me, better not to risk it and give them more breaks rather than less. Then they come in wanting to work....

For me turning away generally does mean, leave them in a field and just bringing in or whatever you have to do at your yard, but the less the better! that's just me though. I'm currently riding my friend's horse - she has four homebreds ranging from 12-4, and they are all just desperate to work and be near you. For me, the reason for that is that she barely does anything with them as youngsters, just blocks of time working then longer blocks of being turned away again, and then they are all like 'please bring me in, please do something!'.

Obviously all people and horses are different, but I like her approach and that's what I'd do, personally!
 
Thanks Morgan123 Dwynwen is very similar at the moment always meets me at gate and loves attention and getting out and doing things. I think I will give her a break as you say better not to risk souring her. I'll see how she goes up to Christmas and decide in the new year whether to leave her until March/April or whether to start earlier :)

This was us having a trot the other day :)
dwynwen%201_zpsnm4fnqmo.jpg


I might see if anyone else on the yard wants help exercising their horses so I can stay fit while she has a break
 
Interesting thread. I think it has to depend on the horse. I have a pair that turned 4 in the summer and both were broken this summer. I am also trying to decide what to do over the winter months. Working full time and the weather will have a major influence. They are both growing and have massively different temperaments.

The most they will do is a weekend short hack, they will live out. Is is stupid to expect newly broken horses to be ridden once a week and expect them to behave themselves, am I asking for trouble. I could stop them both and pick them up in the Spring, will they forget all the work they have done over this summer. Decisions decisions !
 
I am going to let the weather (and the horse) dictate what we do this winter. Mine is a 3 year old .. broken in June , work has been a bit hit and miss since the end of July , so he has had a couple of weeks regular light work , then a week or so off, then again a couple of weeks work, and a week off. If we have rough weather, then he will get a holiday.
I would rather work them max 3 or 4 days in a row, then some time off , than just working them one day a week. I find with mine after a week or so off, we need the first session for some 'revision' then we progress in the next couple of sessions so tend to do the work in blocks
 
Have a half sister to
AA above :)
She's now four and will be turned away for 4 months at the end of the month.
Few reasons, she's still growing and I don't want to sour her, current yard appears to
Be busy at night for riding, weather is poo in winter and I already have my other horse to keep fit/compete.

3.5yrs is personally too young to have on full work
Let them grow :)
 
I always backed at three in the summer or early autumn and turned away .
It's diffcult to keep youngsters going over the winter with the dark short days and bad weather and it does them no harm IME to be turned away .
You do need it consider the individual though .
It's windy here in winter ,dark short days , time pressure and very young horses is not a great combination .
 
I'd say it depends on the horse. My now 6 yo was backed at the end of his 3rd year, and turned away until the following March. He then had another break in the summer. His half sister was backed in the late spring of her 4th year. She just wasn't ready. Then turned away in the winter for a break. My 3 year old is due to be backed within the next few weeks, and she will most definitely be turned away after, until the spring. The guy who rides ours really believes they benefit from the break. He says it allows them time to think about it, and most of them come back better for it. There's always an exception to that rule though ! he anticipates my 3 yo will be backed within 5 weeks, and will have walked, trotted and cantered her and possibly one or two very small cross poles. This is totally dependent on how she goes.
 
I have a different take, my girl was backed & ridden at 3 and kept ticking over, but she had shoes on and my experience has lead me to believe this was a bad idea (the shoes, not necessarily the work). She developed navicular at 7 and had barefoot rehab, over which time her heels developed massively. She has come sound now but given my time again I would have maybe worked her a little but taken shoes off for sure. Can't tell if your girl has shoes but a point to consider, she looks lovely BTW.
 
My old boss (SJ rider) gets all his youngsters backed in the summer of their 3rd year, then once they can walk, trot, canter round the school and walk round the fields they get turned away until the following spring. The backing process from start to finish usually only lasts 2 weeks as the guy who does them is very good and very quick. They do nothing over winter and live out in a herd, and have never forgotten anything when they come back into work the following year. In fact, they tend to get going quite quickly, as though they've been looking forward to it. Not saying this is right and others are wrong, but it does show they don't particularly need to be kept ticking over.
 
I turned both of mine away and they came back with a much fresher attitude to work. I think if I had kept schooling them with the miserable weather they might have become a little sour to it.
 
Thanks ITPersonnage for your different take :) she hasn't got shoes on and will hopefully stay barefoot :)

Well it's great to see all the differing views and experiences. I still can't make my mind up haha. We have an instructor at the yard this weekend with experience with youngsters so I think I will ask her to have a little look at us and see what her opinion is too.
 
Mine can take a break, I have decided that Alice can continue with her pilates, that will keep her supple and fit.

Alice%20under%20the%20fence_zpsltg8r56k.jpg


and Ted The Twit can rest on his laurels of two rosettes and wait for Team GB to need a replacement for Valegro.

DSCF1650_zpsjwvvcn3k.jpg
 
my 3yo was backed at the end of Sept so has done about 3 weeks ridden work now.

he was not easy to get under saddle but is proving extremely balanced and easy to ride now he IS happy to truck a human round!

because of how tricky he was to get on he wont get turned away, he will tick along(3 x a week for 20mins) and do some 4yo classes next April and THEN get a rest, when we are sure that weeks off wont require total re-backing.

had he been 100% straightforward i would prob turn away for a couple of months dec/jan sort of time.

its a very individual thing, mine has been an easier horse to handle since getting his *office job*.
 
I do think it depends on the horse, when I got my pony at 3.5 he had just been backed, I got him in the November so I got him hacking out alone and in company then turned him away. He seemed to be bored/wanting attention though so I did 5 mins of groundwork everyday when he came in to be fed and once a week he had a lunge or hack out and was fine when I started more work in the spring. If I'd left him completely doing nothing he would have created his own entertainment I think haha!
 
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