Turning away?

[Bri]

I was always of the opinion that after being broken and being taught the basics - the horse/pony should be turned away for a few months.
YO however thinks it's better to take things really slowly and gradually do things - with no 'rest' period.
Just wondering what everyone elses opinons are? Is it different for different horses?

 

[AmyMay]

They always do that where I am - but personally I think you have to treat the horse as an indivdual. If that means turning away is the best option then so be it, but equally if it would be more beneficial to carry on with slow steady work then I'm all for it.

 

[Kelly1982]

My horse hasn't been turned away, she loves her work though and is very itelligent so i think she would get bored stuck out in a field.

My old horse wasn't turned away either but i think the rest would of benefitted him more as it would of given him longer to mature. He was very grown up the way he acted but i think the physical side of it would of benefitted him.

 

[Stasha22]

Again, I think it depends on the individual horse.

I bought a 3 year old exracer, played with her for a few weeks just to get an idea as to what she was like and then turned her away for about 6 months.

She definately needed the break as she had had a busy little life and needed to chill and just be a horse for a bit.

 

[KatB]

Depends on the individual. However I dont believe in turning away for months and months as it can be counter productive, a few weeks here and there works just aswell as far as i'm concerned, and taking it easy.

 

[MillionDollar]

Definitely depends on the individual horse. My youngster was turned away and was def the best thing as he really seemed to mature and grow up in his mind. Friends horse however was gradually worked and this was the best thing for him, as he just loves to work and work and hates being on holiday.

 

[Tia]

Out of all the horses I have backed, only one has been turned away afterwards. He was not mature enough to cope with further training so was given time to grow up. All of the others were ready to go on and actually showed a big interest in going out and doing things.

All depends on the horse but my preference is to keep the horse going rather than roughing them off.

 

[4whitesocks]

My boy was backed October/November, hunted from Christmas through to March - then I bought him in April.....we didn't turn away as such but he had two or three weeks off work at various stages over the last 6 months....if he was stressy or struggling with the work I'd consider it but he's not (or hasn't) so we didn't......

 

[Theresa_F]

I am taking things very slowly with Chancer, ie we will have long reined for over 6 months before he is sat on. After being backed he will then spend 6 months doing things very carefully at a walk and building up to hacking out before even thinking about doing anything in the school or canter work.

I have been advised that if you can do things this way, it can be better than backing and schooling straight away and they don't normally need to be turned away to recover.

I do not tend to turn Chancer away, he is the sort that benefits from regular training sessions and really seems to enjoy doing things.