What age do you think is right to break and ride a horse?

As already said, it depends very much on the breed and probabaly the individula horse/pony too!
Dales ponies mature really slowly and my current "baby" dales is 5 now. I lightly backed her at 3 then she had a foal and have finally brought her into work this year. Mentally she is much more mature than she was a 4 year old
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we will just do some basic schooling and hacking this year and then hopefully next year we will start on longer pleasure rides and a bit of jumping
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I am planning on doing the long reining/groundwork and light backing at 2 or 3 depending on growth and maturity, then turning away and remounting the following spring for a season of light riding and schooling. The second year of training will be the start of competition and ridden showing - however this is very fluid and depends on the progress of the horse
 
At the BEF futurity events, if you enter your 3yr old into the sj or eventing sections they expect it to be loose jumping so they can send it up the jumping lane and access it
 
usually i would at 3 years, but a few people up my yard decided to break theirs in at 18 mths which personally i think is horriable as his legs are know completley messed up and keeps going lame. arrrghhh makes me so madddd to see them riding youngsters.
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Do you disagree though that lots and LOTS of SJers and dressage horses are overproduced? I've read sooo much about people buying very young dressage horses shown doing advanced movements and 'trotting for ten' and then having to be taken right back to basics so they don't get ruined. Sort of the same thing goes for SJers, I think.
Sorry, turned into a bit of a ramble there...
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oh totally! thats why i bought my youngster as an unbroken 4 year old rather than from a well know local dealer who is famous for overproducing her babies- they look like medium dressage horses on her website...very worrying
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I've also worked in the racing industry, and being very small and light, got to ride a lot of the two year olds. They feel so different from 3 year olds, much smaller and more fragile, and they are so innocent. Actually not that many racehorses race as two year olds, mainly the extremely robust, quick maturing sprint bred ones. Many National Hunt horses take until 6 or 7 to mature fully. And thats TBs, which are bred to mature early, which have light bone and which are specially fed to mature quickly.

I see no point in doing more than lightly backing 3 year olds, other than it being easier for the owner because they are more innocent and gullible due to being weak. I would be very dubious about buying a horse that had done much at 3, because I would be worried about soundness issues. I certainly wouldn't be expecting them to jump, and I also have the same concerns about serious amounts of loose jumping in showjumpers. They have the whole of the rest of their lives ahead of them.
 
I think it is all very much down to the individual horse and what stage they are at.

I have lunged my two year old in very loose side reins twice while he was in for getting ready for the Futurity. He came straight in from the field, has not been fed since April and went on to be the Champion Potential 2 Year Old Eventer at the venue. I stayed and watched quite a few of his age group and could not believe how muscled and big some of them there. Some looked like four year olds
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My two year old is now back out in the field with his two friends and will not be coming in until November time. At this point, I plan on starting his education with some more light lunging (by this I do not mean circles, I take him large but being alone I struggled to get him working on two lines), will put a saddle on him (he is worked in a roller) and depending on how he is looking at the beginning of next year I will probably have a sit on him.
 
I'd very much like to see the scientific journals that claim a 2 year old race horse hammered into the ground has better bone strength to the average horse.

My horse was broken at 4, which I think suited him. He's 5 now but looking at previous pictures of him he was very physically immature.
I think it really depends on the horse, what physical and mental maturity they're at.
I would not break a horse younger than 3.5 years of age and after inital breaking i'd turn it away.
 
At three they are too young to cope with the pressures of ridden work in my opinion. At this age I will get them used to having tack on, and slowly introduce groundwork (not lunging). I will also have a little sit on if I feel they are mature enough, just bareback and for no more than 5mins though.

4 is the absolute youngest I would start ridden training, but I wouldn't put them over fences at this age.

I tend to wait until they are 5 for their proper education, as I personally prefer to wait until they are physically and mentally mature enough to cope.

I know the common argument is to "break" them while they aren't yet fully mature and can't offer as much resistance but I hate this attitude. In my experience if you do your foundation work correctly you don't encounter the extreme resistance that you can if you rush in all guns blazing. All horse require different training times to establish safe ridden work, but in my opinion there is no need for the rush, if you take it at their pace there is very little issue, and contrary to popular belief bucking isn't a mandatory part of the backing/training process!
 
PapaFrita said:
I'm pretty sure that for every article extolling the virtues of backing horses under 3 and the benefit it has on the density of their bone, you can find another article describing the wear and tear on the joints and long-term damage. And of course that's just the physical aspect; the psychological consequences are something else. I think it's a 'piece of string' question. Personally I would back at 3 and not jump at all until 4.
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I agree.
I like to start them at 3 (pop a rider on a couple of times a week to start getting the basics down) and take them out to shows in hand to get them used to that sort of thing.
By 4 they learn the basics of their future job, perfect it in the 5 year old year and go off to do their job at 6.
 
Oh lord! It amazes me how many people STILL believe that different breeds mature (physically) at different rates!

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

This was originally written in 2001, that's 10 years ago. (Yes, copyright is 2008, but the original date is in the introduction).

I'd love to have a study done with vast numbers of horses of different breeds. It would be a long term study (eg 30years), but I'd like to see the work done by the horses, plus the age the work was done, recorded alongside any lameness suffered by them throughout their lives. It would also be interesting to compare PTS rates of racehorses compared to eventers for example.

I have a friend who lives on the continent (a few different countries) she once said to me that I would be amazed by how many horses there regularly have joint injections. As she was talking about graded WBs, I do wonder whether there is a link to the jumping that they do at a young age. Another study is needed here too.
 
a recently made friend in college said she backed her traddie cob at 2 because he was turning into a bored thug and needed something to do. she could have done something else but she backed without turning away instead. he's now been on loan a few times to an 8 year old for hacking and sound as a pound apparently. i think he's now four or five..

her mum bred her a foal this year from a good ID stallion (apparently good but i've not heard of him) out of her ex racer thoroughbred 'with **** conformation but she needed a foal as a project...' and she already decided to break it at 2, though this time she'll teach it to walk, trot, canter and maybe jump under saddle then give him 6 months in a field...he'll be too big if they wait til he's 3...

personally i'd get it backed at 3 and turn away until 4 and gradually build up the 'proper' work. only thing i'd do with a two year old is handle and play with it, maybe get it to wear tack but certainly no rider on it...
 
There is no right or wrong answer to this. I personally look at the horse and if they look physically mature enough and are mentally mature enough to start doing some work then they do so. I've broken everything from 2yo's to 7yo's. Even if it only gets to the stage of lunging and long lining before a break or whether they get sat on and pootled about or again whether they do proper work. Every horse is different. You know your horse, you know when it will say enough is enough or if they are still capable of more before going on a chill out break.
 
I'm only just starting the ground work with my youngster and he is 3.5 years old. Hes bridled and bitted and happily doing inhand work and walking out in hand.

Im not planning on doing any ridden until after christmas (so he will be nearly 4). Hes a lovely sports horse and is just starting to fill out and develop natural muscle and topline, so Im taking it slow to ensure he is developed well before I do any ridden. (Plus Ive only had him 4 weeks so were still getting to know one another and he came straight out from the field!).

I think it depends on the individual horse, how mature they are, how they're taking to work already etc. Some horses develop quicker than others, and some alot slower.
 
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Thanks for that faracat, I found it very interesting and very useful for me as I have a 3 year old.

since the beginning of the year he has gone from a 5'3" to a 6' rug, he has got taller but mainly longer and obviously filling out.

he loads and travels and has been to a futurity so done the in hand showing. good for the farrier, and to be bathed, wears a bit and roller and is lunged (though no circles - I run up and down) and due to the hard ground we don't canter.

he walks and trots over poles on the ground and does small jumps. he will weave flags and round and between barrels, up and down steps and ditches thru water, up ramps along platforms up and over banks, thru 'curtains' and across tarpaulins.

I have stood him next to the mounting block with me at the top and stood
him next to a horse being clipped.

I am not entirely sure he is physically mature enough yet, he is looking more horse like but still a bit leggy and gangley. but I will see how we go, there is no rush. he lives out at the moment with other youngsters and has been either barned or stabled in bad weather.

I will be following this thread
 
The majority on here know my thoughts about leaving horses until they are 4+ to be broken and this topic has been covered numerous times. I would just like to add that it's very easy for a lot of people on here to say leave them, give them time etc. The majority of people out there producing these horses, be it for racing, eventing, dressage etc they are running a business. They need to make money and by producing a horse to win a BYEH class as a 4 yr old or for it to win it's maiden race at 2 they have to be produced accordingly and their value is raised accordingly. There was a video clip yesterday of a 3yr old dressage horse who made €900K and he was very smart but I would put money on it that he would have been started as a 2yr old and he's a big warmblood. People are in horses as a business and to make money - otherwise there wouldn't be an industry!
 
AH, what you say is totally correct.

When it comes down to it, the only youngsters that I have control over are my own. So they will be backed during their fourth year and taken slowly from there. I'm sure that this will stack the odds in their favour of having a long, sound ridden career.
 
I have a Comtois X who is 3.5yrs old and just had his first go at long-lining - he picked it up very quickly, I was surprised and delighted. He's a very steady-Eddie chap and takes everything in his stride but I read the article on growth plates a couple of years ago and there is no way I would sit on my boy's back before his 5th year, despite how mature he seems in the head.
 
Quarter horses and race horses are often 'broken' earlier than most other horses. It would be interesting to see a study on the lifespan and working life of these horses in comparison to horses who are started later in life. If there's already a study someone point me to it I'd be interested to read it!

My horse was lightly started this year, that involved lots more ground work, introducing tack, ground work in tack and then introducing a rider. He did no more than 1 - 2 hours of 'ridden' work a week and was taken through his lessons at his own pace. He spent probably 3 months working like this and has had the last few months off work and will have the remainder of the winter off work.

He's a draught horse though, and he's not 4 until next spring. I wanted to be at a point where he was used to someone getting on and off his back this year, but because he's a big chap and a strong character and at times a bit of a handful going into his teens so to speak, I felt and was also advised by horsey professionals that he needed something to focus on. That's why we started a little early, however we did take things slowly and at his pace. He's certainly not 'backed' and ready to be ridden away, he'll come back into work next spring when he's 4 and we will gradually work up again. I'm in no rush and he's still very young.

Some people will argue that he should be much further along in his education by now, and indeed even probably competing next year. Others argue that he's still a baby and as such needs that time to mature.

Being a draught he will physically mature around 7/8 years, so I see no reason to push him too hard at this stage and run the risk of ruining him or damaging him at such a young age.
 
I am really interested in the owners of Draught horses and the big heavy cobs as to their theories. I may be wrong but I am assuming that these horses will not be competed to a high level of competition. They might be a family friend and used for hacking, hunting, bit of showing etc. A sort of all round family horse as such. I struggle to understand how if it was broken and ridden away at 3 or 4 how you could harm it physically with a bit of light hacking and pottering around a school. I am interested in your views..... Please do not take my post as a criticism or elitist as it isn't. I know that there is a market for these horses and they are much loved by their owners and do their job proud and well.
 
My own personal theory, Aces_High, is that Draught horses are built for pulling and not carrying. When you look at the weight of things they can pull, there is no way that you would put the something of equivalent weight on their back, they would collapse. If you look at the sticky in the vet section ("Images of Veterinary Conditions", there are some x-rays of kissing spines which show just how close the tops of the vertebrae can be. To me, it wouldn't take a lot of weight to make them touch. If you read this article about growth plates....

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

... it shows and tells how the soft growth plates at the ends of horses' bones harden from the hoof up and that the spine is last thing to harden off and mature completely and that this is actually not until a horse is around 5.5 years..... if the horse is long-necked then the base of the neck area/withers is 6 years... and where do we put a saddle and sit? Not too far from there...

This article claims that ALL horses mature at the same rate, regardless of breed and I will concede that there is recent scientific evidence that shows that young racehorses actually do have denser bones than their non-raced TB equivalents. Naturally their frames will be supported better by muscles that have been worked, trained and exercised but I do wonder if you were to compare those two horses at the age of 15 whether the racehorse would be suffering with arthritis or other bone degenerative problems.... they haven't done THAT survey yet.

So just because a horse looks big and strong, doesn't necessarily mean that internally the structures are there to support a rider - yet. We all love our horses and want the best for them - for them to live as long a life and to be as healthy as possible. By sitting on them too early, I do wonder whether we are contributing to problems that will appear in later life. But that it just my own humble opinion......
 
I am currently breaking in my 3 year old (well 3 and a half now).
He is currently standing at 15.3hh ish but is growing so fast that I have to keep stopping and starting. He is walk, trot, canter under saddle - very balanced and willing when he's not having a growth spurt but when his bum gets too high he becomes unbalanced to I give him some time off.
He it lunged over jumps, basically as high as he wants - he loves it but i dont do it too often only when he gets stale schooling.
I find he is only mentally capable of doing half an hour under saddle.
I plan to potter along at his pace, each training session is different, sometimes he is super balanced and will do trot poles and raised poles easily, other days he can barely canter a circle.

I believe each horse is different and you need to tailor your training accordingly. I personally dont back them until they are 3 but i do get them used to tack and ground work at 2 and a half.

But by far the most important point it to not take anything too seriously and make the training fun :) :) Happy unpressured horse is a far faster learner IMO
 
Hi Domane - I completely understand where you are coming from. I haven't had a chance to read the link - I think I might have read it before though. Barbaro does appear on a lot of journals though! I still do not think that if I was to hop on to your big chap as a 3 yr old that I would do him any damage. I weigh 8.5 stone and with tack wouldn't be over 9.5 stone. I am not sure how much a GP saddle weighs! I can understand that you wouldn't want him pulling huge weights as that does put a lot of strain on their skeleton. I just think for me hopping on to probably a 700KG (complete guess) horse isn't going to structurally affect him later on in life. I don't mean intensively training him but hacking out gently and a bit of walk, trot and canter in the school. I am not sure that I agree that all horse mature at the same rate. I know that TB's are conditioned to it but even comparing an untouched TB to an untouched WB the TB will always look more furnished - unless of course it's bred to stay 4 miles in wet ground!

I do completely agree it is horses for courses and also it depends if you are a professional or just a person who loves horses and is looking to break and ride away your first horse, to be able to say you have done it and then maybe keep that animal as a life long friend.
 
I'm backing my youngester next spring, he's is already a well built chap but there's going to be a lot growth yet.

Brought him as 3yr old but think he's a late foal and only just 3. (resuced so not sure) but he hasnt been touched at all so needs the extra time.
Weather he is 3 or 4 in the spring he will be backed, ridden away for a month or two then throwen back out to restart at the end of the summer/autumn to start winter dressage for a few months before having time off again after Xmas till the spring the following year, when he will be 4-5
 
Whether horses are broken at 3 or 4 often depends on the economics. As a breeder the sooner horses are ready to be seen under saddle, the sooner you are likely to get a buyer so many 3 year olds are backed in the spring of their 3 year old year. This doesn't mean that they have to be worked very hard, just educated enough to be assesed.
 
team barney said:
At three they are too young to cope with the pressures of ridden work in my opinion. At this age I will get them used to having tack on, and slowly introduce groundwork (not lunging). I will also have a little sit on if I feel they are mature enough, just bareback and for no more than 5mins though.

4 is the absolute youngest I would start ridden training, but I wouldn't put them over fences at this age.

I tend to wait until they are 5 for their proper education, as I personally prefer to wait until they are physically and mentally mature enough to cope.

I know the common argument is to "break" them while they aren't yet fully mature and can't offer as much resistance but I hate this attitude. In my experience if you do your foundation work correctly you don't encounter the extreme resistance that you can if you rush in all guns blazing. All horse require different training times to establish safe ridden work, but in my opinion there is no need for the rush, if you take it at their pace there is very little issue, and contrary to popular belief bucking isn't a mandatory part of the backing/training process!
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This ^^^^^

Have a little sit and a hack on your 3yo if you want/ if he's getting bored, sure do a bit of groundwork/ take them out in-hand, etc, etc, but that's about it. Come on people, what's the hurry!!!??? (OK, finances are the hurry, but isn't it sad that we live in a world where that takes priority over the welfare of the horse???).

... and as for the people that say to back a horse "before he's too big and strong" - FFS, as has been said above, if that's really your view, then clearly you're not the right person to back that horse, leave it to someone more experienced who is happy waiting until he is plenty big and strong enough!!!

A friend of mine does retirement livery and there is a very strong correlation between the age that the horse retires and the age that he started any sort of hard work at :( I really wish there could be some proper studies on this one to put the issue to bed at long last. However, all the while there is such doubt, let's give the horse the benefit of the doubt and allow him to enjoy his childhood, eh?
 
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