starting a young horse

[Cathey]

Due to being at uni and not being able to have one of my own right now (

) iv been sharing for the last year. Over christmas the horse i was sharing went on loan and her owner got a youngster on loan from her friend that im going to keep sharing.

Now i have a few conerns over this. Firstly shes not yet 4 but was broken in the summer and has been turned away from november until now. Shes an appy x cob (but is very fine) and still looks slightly out of proportion. This will also be the youngest horse iv ever ridden. Her owner wants to bring her back into work (personally id give her until the summer off) and so it looks as though il be riding her lol.

So my question is what would u do with a horse this young? theres a school i can hire down the drive for £5 per half an hr and i was thinking start just lunging her in tack again, start walking round for 10 mins building it up each time about twice a week, taking everything slow and keeping it varied so she doesnt get stale and bored. Doing lots of ground work with her in the field etc. Her owner has never had any formal lessons and only ever owned a ploddy cob and the youngest horse iv ridden was a 4 yr old that had already been ridden away. I know im capable but dont want to ruin her lol especially as her owner is only really interesting in hacking but im more interested in the schooling side of things.

id appreciate your advice

 

[irishdraft]

A lot depends on the maturity of the youngster but in theory what has been done is correct and you would now bring the youngster back into work. If they were mine i would start light hacking and schooling, keeping it very basic, later on in the year if all was going well you could introduce pole work and small jumps, I wouldnt do too much lungeing, its not good for joints to keep going round in circles, best form of building up is varied hacking, all terrains and more interesting for a youngster as well.

 

[Bri]

I'm in a similar position, but mine has turned 4 now and is well proportioned and no longer looks like a youngster.

I have been doing lots of hacking with mine, mostly in walk although now starting to introduce small stretches of trot..
Have been doing a lot of hill work to help build muscles and improve his balance. Personally I wouldn't introduce schooling until I was happy that the horse was coping well with hacking and was going forward and straight, although I appreciate everyone is different!

I think the most important thing is to listen to the horse, most well let you know if they're not coping with what is being asked of them.

Good Luck, although it can be difficult it is also hugely rewarding starting a young horse from scratch!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

also def try long reining, esp while physically they are a bit backward, will encourage them to go forward and rein aids but without your weight to deal with. Quite fun too, and great fitness!

Canter I found much easier to teach out hacking, in a school you are always onto the next corner and they havent worked out their strike off/balance yet.

 

[eggs]

When I bring my 4 year olds back into work after being backed and turned away for the winter at 3, I start by doing some very short lunge sessions (10 mins max). On the first day I don't put their tack on and then on the second day lunge in tack and for the last few minutes have the stirrups hanging down. I usually get back on them on the third of fourth session. I would strongly recommend having someone to help you on the ground when you first starting getting back on her (I keep the horse on the lunge for the first day or two).

If you have someone sensible to hack with I would spend more time hacking than schooling and concentrate on keeping her going forward.

I tend to do no more than four days a week with them.

 

[AengusOg]

[ QUOTE ]

theres a school i can hire down the drive for £5 per half an hr and i was thinking start just lunging her in tack again, start walking round for 10 mins building it up each time about twice a week, taking everything slow and keeping it varied so she doesnt get stale and bored. Doing lots of ground work with her in the field etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds like a very good start to me.