Reassure me it won’t hurt the 6ur old to stay unbacked…

[dorsetladette]

Speedy recovery OP.

OP I think your pony will be absolutely fine. The best pony I've ever owned was started pretty much how you described as he was timid and got overwhelmed by new things quite easily. We got him going in walk and trot eventually and then we hacked him miles and miles and miles. Everything became a big adventure and his personality really shone through. He became a lovely well rounded pony and never had a day sick or sorry until the day he died. slow and steady wins the race.

 

[littleshetland]

You " chucked " him in the field as a 4 year old when you could have done a lot with him at that time.Horses still grow whilst being handled and trained !
Now some years on you get injured and hes back in the field !
You have not raised him to his full potential - best to sell him so he can be given proper training and attention.
Accidents happen but this horse relies on you - his future should be in your hands but its not.
Its your choice - sell him or see how you are in 3 months.

What...???!! What a horrible post.

 

[Nasicus]

You " chucked " him in the field as a 4 year old when you could have done a lot with him at that time.Horses still grow whilst being handled and trained !
Now some years on you get injured and hes back in the field !
You have not raised him to his full potential - best to sell him so he can be given proper training and attention.
Accidents happen but this horse relies on you - his future should be in your hands but its not.
Its your choice - sell him or see how you are in 3 months.

Oh please be DunRoaming! That's the first time I've spotted a post and said 'I bet that's DR.', feels like a badge of honour!

 

[tristar]

so sorry snowfilly you have had a hard time that got harder, but do not give upon your plans, he will come to no harm whatsoever, so try not to stress

your little horse will be perfect when you come back to him, give yourself time to heal and time to get fit again, you will be weaker and lack confidence so start off slowly with in hand walking and lunging, then you and the horse can come back to a good place together

age has nothing to do with initial training, he will be all the better for extra strength and maturity specially as he grew so much, he may well be the horse of your dreams yet!

so do not fret, relax and recover, plan and dream for the future with your horse when you are well again. x

 

[meleeka]

OP Sorry to read you are out of action. I hope it heals soon.

Honestly, I think you could probably find more important things to worry about.?. Even if he goes back a small step, what’s the harm? I’m sure he’ll be very happy to get a little holiday from all the grown up stuff.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

You " chucked " him in the field as a 4 year old when you could have done a lot with him at that time.Horses still grow whilst being handled and trained !
Now some years on you get injured and hes back in the field !
You have not raised him to his full potential - best to sell him so he can be given proper training and attention.
Accidents happen but this horse relies on you - his future should be in your hands but its not.
Its your choice - sell him or see how you are in 3 months.

^^^ I'm not sure I can agree.......

I have a lovely friend who has a selection of horses of a certain breed of which she is probably the biggest expert in my part of the country, on this particular breed. She has had to deal with certain unfortunate and disabling health issues - and none of hers are ever backed. However they are all polite well mannered horses, are consistently well & healthy, are handled daily, and are living a fantastic life - and will always be cared for both in sickness and in health. When "the decision" has to be made (as has had to happen fairly recently) she does the decent thing and doesn't pass them on to someone else.

You will get around to your youngster all in good time. You have just had an unfortunate accident happen, but hey he's not fussed is he?? So why worry. I don't think you should use "what people think" as a gauge for what you should do and I actually find the above contribution a little harsh I have to say, and really not helpful. At the end of the day he is YOUR horse - and actually sounds a very fine youngster - and it will not kill him to have a bit of extra time off before you get round to him - better that than a lot of horses you sadly see who're jumping god-know-what as just-backed 4yo's and being hammered everywhere, and then by the time they're in double-figures they're frankly knackered. I know, I was looking for a horse about 5yrs ago and saw a lot around 9 or 10 who'd obviously done too much too early.

Of course yes you COULD sell him........ that is indeed an option open to you and something you might care to do, if you feel that is right. But I rather suspect this is not an option you would wish to go for??

Do what you feel is right for YOU (and your youngster) would be what I would suggest. Stuff other people's opinions! But at the end of the day you know the history of this horse and know that someone else hasn't been messing around with him, and it will be a nice little project to crack on with perhaps over winter when you're up to it..............

Good luck. Enjoy.

 

[Annagain]

Sorry to hear you've been in the wars snowfilly. He'll be grand for a few more months or even a year. In fact, you've probably added a few years to his ridden career. He's loved, cared for and all his needs are met. That's all that matters.

 

[Birker2020]

A couple of years back, I brought a poor, skinny, 4 year old and chucked him in the field to grow (he’s grown 5 inches since then) he’d been saddled and bridled but was terrified of them.

I left him to mature and calm down, last summer he was 5 and I got him carrying the saddle, mouthed and generally being confident and then 3 family members died or got ill in two months and life meant he went back into the field as a big pet.

Three weeks ago, life settled down and I went back to work and had him lunging and laying across his back. A couple of days ago, I fell in the field and broke my leg badly.

It’s going to be 8 weeks before I’m out the cast at best and then some physio and the like. Probably 3 months before I can think about restarting the breaking, if everything heals well and tbh I don’t know if I’ll be fit enough to go straight to riding a youngster, the leg is pretty mullered.

I haven’t got a single spare penny to spend on getting someone to work him, he’s just got to stand in the field with his mates.

Someone reassure me I’m not totally ruining his future by being broken myself.

Please don't worry about your horse, I'm sure he's not. I hope you get your leg sorted. I'm sorry about the nastiness, there are some nasty people around. Look after yourself, I hope he turns out good in the end. I am sorry for your family loss(es).

 

[HuskyFluff]

I hope you have the ideal text book recovery OP, that sounds like a real bad luck accident!

I bought a foal intending to back her at 5 - she had groundwork, saddle on and was generally socialised. Then just before she was 5, I developed some fairly serious health issues that meant she didn't have that much done with her from then on. She was backed this year at the age of 9, and has been perfectly fine - she's been hacking for miles, and we've just started schooling her. She's lovely. So in my opinion you not being able to do much with your horse for a while is not a problem at all.

Oh - and please ignore the troll. They obviously have no idea..

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Hope your leg heals without issue. Horse will be better missing the hot weather and hard ground. Ready to be fully mature and crack on in autumn.

 

[babymare]

OP please do not fret about backing your horse. You concentrate on healing. He will be just fine and when you have recovered enjoy backing him and bringing him on. There are many horses that have been backed late and they have no issues ?

 

[twobearsarthur]

You " chucked " him in the field as a 4 year old when you could have done a lot with him at that time.Horses still grow whilst being handled and trained !
Now some years on you get injured and hes back in the field !
You have not raised him to his full potential - best to sell him so he can be given proper training and attention.
Accidents happen but this horse relies on you - his future should be in your hands but its not.
Its your choice - sell him or see how you are in 3 months.

I see we’re having another flare up of the forum herpes.

He’ll be absolutely fine. What’s another few months? He doesn’t mind not being backed now rather than in a few months time. Sometimes life just doesn’t go to plan but you can still make it work long term and tbh backing a bit later is better than backing too early in a horse’s life. Hope you’re feeling better soon. And ignore the herpes it usually goes away in it’s own once it gets bored.

 

[Fieldlife]

You are the most unpleasant vile poster I've seen on here in a while.
Joined today, 8 posts to date and EVERY single one is malicious or nasty.
Do yourself a favour, get on with your homework sweetie.

Reported nasty poster! Suggest everyone does with something similar to above

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I've got a 7 year old that has done sweet FA. He was started under saddle 2 years ago and turned away to physically and mentally mature.
He's so much better for it and is finally feeling like he's ready to work.
Yours will be fine, hope you recover quickly x

 

[Smoky 2022]

I hope you recover soon op that only way it would be a problem if you planned on selling him/ her because people don’t want a green horse that old .

 

[JGC]

The more I spend thinking about it and researching it, the more I think that if I had another youngster, I'd leave a couple of years later than is customary to back! He'll be grand.

Hope your recovery is swift and straightforward!

 

[splashgirl45]

i think as he is a nervy type you are doing the best for him as you have slowly started him and he will absorb everything he has learnt so far and you will have a well adjusted horse when you finally get to sit on him. hope you recover soon and please ignore the nasty poster,

 

[LadyGascoyne]

He’ll be fine! I think we over think things for horses a lot.

If you do sell later on, I’d just tell buyers you started him late because you broke your leg. Life happens, as long as the horse in front of them is good, sound and doing the job they want it for, it would be a foolish buyer to be put off by a later start.

Hope you’re on the mend, Snowfilly, and it’s a quick recovery.

 

[QuantockHills]

You " chucked " him in the field as a 4 year old when you could have done a lot with him at that time.Horses still grow whilst being handled and trained !
Now some years on you get injured and hes back in the field !
You have not raised him to his full potential - best to sell him so he can be given proper training and attention.
Accidents happen but this horse relies on you - his future should be in your hands but its not.
Its your choice - sell him or see how you are in 3 months.

that's not very nice!

no of course it isn't wrong to leave him longer. My very well respected ID breeder once told me that the longer you leave them, the longer you'll have them. He's done a bit here and there so it wont hurt him back in the field, chilling, growing and processing the things you have done.

I hope you recover well and quickly. x

 

[Snowfilly]

Update: I managed to get to the yard and see him! Albeit over the stable door because I am not risking myself in a herd of 4 with a boot and a cane, so three went away and my elderly Shetland X was left loose for cuddles and trying to undo the Velcro on the boot, as shetlands will.

Baby horse was very snorty and suspicious of my limping and the cane, but eventually got tempted to sniff me over the door and eat polos.

As far as I can tell, he hadn’t noticed I was gone and has kept living his best life with his herd, including daily dust wallows. He’s an alarming shade of ground in orange.

Mum has lunged him a few times as well, so he’s not a chance to go fully feral.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I don't think it hurts any horse to not be backed at 3 or 4 years old most are not physically or mentally ready for it what's the rush.

 

[Horseysheepy]

My latest youngster will be lightly backed at 3, then broken at 4. That's, if I have the choice how I've always done them.

However, I've broken in a 7yr old and a 9 year old and the only thing I would say, now I'm not great with explaining things, so apologies! But as a young horse (3/4/5 years), I think with gentle appropriate training, we can 'influence' their bodies more into becoming a horse that can be adapted into carrying a rider.
Maybe the older horse's body and mind have become set in their ways and modelled into being a grazing animal, on the forehand, no postural muscles etc so it may take longer, I'm not saying it's impossible!, but I think younger muscles soft tissues and bone are more easier to adapt in the younger the horse.
I'm not saying it's wrong at all breaking in the older horse, it would be very rewarding. As I said, I'm useless with words but I hope people get the general just of what I'm getting at!.

 

[Starzaan]

One of my liveries was backed at 12yrs and went on to represent GB at dressage many times.

 

[Backtoblack]

Definitely be fine, I've known of horses who weren't backed until their teens including one at 18. They made nice riding horses and ponies, no issues.

 

[Backtoblack]

Jumpthemoon1 is a well known troll on this forum, she must have mental health issues or a miserable life BTW,best to put her on ignore.

 

[maisie06]

A couple of years back, I brought a poor, skinny, 4 year old and chucked him in the field to grow (he’s grown 5 inches since then) he’d been saddled and bridled but was terrified of them.

I left him to mature and calm down, last summer he was 5 and I got him carrying the saddle, mouthed and generally being confident and then 3 family members died or got ill in two months and life meant he went back into the field as a big pet.

Three weeks ago, life settled down and I went back to work and had him lunging and laying across his back. A couple of days ago, I fell in the field and broke my leg badly.

It’s going to be 8 weeks before I’m out the cast at best and then some physio and the like. Probably 3 months before I can think about restarting the breaking, if everything heals well and tbh I don’t know if I’ll be fit enough to go straight to riding a youngster, the leg is pretty mullered.

I haven’t got a single spare penny to spend on getting someone to work him, he’s just got to stand in the field with his mates.

Someone reassure me I’m not totally ruining his future by being broken myself.

Wishing you a speedy recovery - and I know someone who started a Broodmare as a ridden horse at the age of 10!! Nothing wrong with the mare just circumstances. She's now a super hack. Good luck

 

[Bobthecob15]

Of course not! Warmbloods are often not backed or properly ridden until at least the age of 5, sometimes 6...does them no harm. Sounds very sensible x