Starting horses too young??

I don't really see the problem with using the term 'rising' I was brought up being given 2 nd hand riding books ranging from being printed in the 80's to maybe the 60's and that was where I 1st learnt about this term. In my view it is just a more accurate way of telling someone your horses age but less fiddly than working out how many years and months he is.
 
weebarney said:
I don't really see the problem with using the term 'rising' I was brought up being given 2 nd hand riding books ranging from being printed in the 80's to maybe the 60's and that was where I 1st learnt about this term. In my view it is just a more accurate way of telling someone your horses age but less fiddly than working out how many years and months he is.
Click to expand...

But at what point does a horse stop being 2 and become rising three?
 
To me a horse is either a 2yo, 3yo, etc... I'm not bothered when its birthday is. The only people who it seems to make a difference to, is 8 year old girls in the Pony Club.
 
I have always used the term 'rising' when a horse was within a couple of months of it's next birthday.


I'd say 'just 2' if a horse has just had his birthday (within the last couple of months)
and 'rising 3' when it is a couple of months before it's next birthday
and plain old '2' for all the months in between.

I am sure it will annoy some people but personally I don't see the issue. The best part of a year can make a big difference in terms of development so the term just adds clarification really.
 
An unfortunate filly where i stable my loan boy was 'broken in' a couple of weeks ago, she is ..wait for it ... just over a YEAR old. :eek:

A YEAR?! Honestly i was gobsmacked when i saw the girl riding it around the indoor in full tack. I would have said something but it's honestly not worth all of the drama it would cause.
Just a few weeks before i think she was having her first trim as she behaved like an ass for the farrier jumping around like no one had been near her feet before.

Absolutely disgraceful though.
 
webble said:
But at what point does a horse stop being 2 and become rising three?
Click to expand...

Spring is when I have always understood the "rising" adjective to be used. Before that they are just the age of the year before.

I thought it stemmed more from people not always knowing the actual birthdate but knowing that the chances are they were born in the spring.

When people say 3,4,5, ect. during spring I tend to ask them to clarify whether they have just turned or are rising.
 
I agree!! With most of what has been said here. Would never actually sit on a horse until it's four, and would probably avoid lunging as long as I could. Of course handling, groundwork, and gradual introduction of tack is best done from day one :)

My lad is an ex racehorse, he was broken and raced rising two, his career was over before he was three, having raced seven times. I do find it sad that he was broken so young, but then again he was only doing straight lines and riding out with a tiny jockey on his back, I feel it's probably worse breaking in a riding horse at that age because the average rider (and saddle) is so much heavier, the person doing the breaking probably not a professional, and the horses are expected to go round in circles. Some of the warmbloods in europe are broken so young, jumping huge courses or working advanced at the age of three, can't be good for their brains or bodies. :(
 
I like to do a bit when their young so they know they have a job to do and they don't just sit in the field for the first four years. I don't always turn away either, I may just carry on slowley.
 
I have started saying my filly is rising 3 as she's 3 next month, however she's not developed and I wouldn't dream of backing her till 4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top