To back or not to back

L

Lightning

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I have a 3 year old warmblood mare who I am wondering whether to have backed this year and turn away or next year as a 4 year old.

I am pregnant at the moment so I will be sending her away to be backed. She has already been bitted and lightly lunged and, as I bred her myself, I will be doing all the groundwork myself. Bitting, long lining, tack, everything except the actual getting on.

My baby is due next year and I am just wanting people's opinions. Do I spend a few weeks with her now and then send her away for around 4 weeks to be lightly backed and then turn her away until after my baby is born and then send her away again for a few weeks of training and bringing on before I get on or do I just turn her away and then send her away next spring time to be backed and brought on lightly. However with the latter I don't think I will be able (due to my size by then) to do the groundwork so I won't get as much for my money as the backing yard will have to do this. I have a specific amount of money for this and want to use it wisely.

Any opinions?
 
You have done a fair amount already so why not just get her well established this year then send her away next year for backing, she will not forget much, should quickly pick it all up again, you plan on sending her back anyway for a few weeks which means around 6-8 weeks in total so why not do it all in one go when she will be more mature and you are able to carry on for the summer when she comes back.
 
I backed & broke both my girls myself & have found the bond & knowledge of my girls to be greatly improved by doing it myself :) It would be free too, if you can wait til you can do it yourself.. I don't think waiting a while would hurt, if you could keep up the ground work as much as possible :)

If you're not confident enough to do it yourself, I'd suggest sitting down & writing a list of pros & cons about when to have her sent away.. You might think you're getting less for your money next year, but maybe not having to look after her for a few weeks when you've just become a mum might be a welcome break :)

And congratulations & good luck with your bump! :) xxx
 
My sister has just had her lovely just turned 4 year old ISH homebred mare backed by a professional. The horse has been brilliant to lunge, hack and back and has is forward thinking and loving her work...she was pregnant as well. Nothing previously had been done with her, except handling and farrier. I think there is a lot to be said for leaving horses till they are mature.
 
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