what age is best too back a youngster?

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samual

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I have a youngster and have decided to back her at three but am confused as someone has said four, i need a bit of guidence. My last youngster i backed at three and hes 7 now and have never had any back problems. does anyone else back at 3?
 
It depends on how mature the 3 year old is. Some are ready at 3 whereas others are best left until nearer 4. I've known one left to nearly 5 as he wasn't mentally mature enough


Only you can know if your horse is ready or not

For what its worth I'm hoping to start my youngster this summer as she will be 3. But only if she's ready for it. If not I will leave her until I feel she is ready. If that is another year then its another year
 
depends if shes nearly finished growing at 3 and taking everything else into account.
some horses just arent ready to be backed at 3.
you could lightly back her then turn her away if you dont think she's quite there yet :)
 
Personally I can see no point in rushing and backing a horse at 3, I leave mine until they are 4 and more physically mature. After all, I want them to last me another 20 years, hopefully!
 
we tend to bback at 3, then turn away until 4. and at 4 still doing low impact stuff, so their joints arent messed with.

one was only sat on when he was 4, then started riding a year or more later, as he was just too 'runty' and weak to be ridden properly
 
Back at 3 but turn away and leave to mature till 4. Very light work at 4. Wouldnt introduce galloping or jumping til 5.
 
Depends on the horse. I've always backed my smaller horses at 3 (<15.2) but when I brought my gangly 16.2 in last summer (at 3) and attempted work her a bit, it took me all of 2 days to realise she wasn't ready and I turned her back out and will try again this spring when she's four.
 
We are backing our 3 year old lightly inthe summer, he'll do something three times a week for a about ten minutes each time for a couple of months and then turned away until spring next year when we will re start and bring on.

I have an ex race horse that was backed at 18 months and raced at two, i brought her at two, she was then re backed at three, worked for three months and is currently nearing the last five weeks of her four month holiday, she is very mature for her age but then bred to be.

I would not start a horse until it is mentally and physically mature enough for it. I tend to start at 3, just hacking out and bomb proofing then at four they start in the school. Try not to lunge until they are five as it is hard work on the joints. If the horse is a nut then a lunge does happenn to get rid of the excess energy!!

If you are happy with what you are doing then carry on. You know your horse better than anyone else
 
I started my 3 year old last year, got a saddle, boots and bridle on with ease, but decided against going any further as he just wasn;t physically mature enough. He is 16'1 now, a little bum high again so a couple more months and i will start him properly, he is such a laid back character I really think he will be fine but no point rushing - I have waited this long whats a fe more months.
 
I'm backing my boy this spring. Technically, he's rising 4, but he was a very late foal (September) so I still classify him as 3. He'll just be doing light hacking this year, not planning any schooling or such as don't want too much pressure on joints whilst still growing. But definitely think he's ready to start this year.

I think it's completely dependant on the horse and you will know your horse the best and be able to judge if they're ready to take that step. If you are happy, then go for it :)
 
Dogstar said:
Personally I can see no point in rushing and backing a horse at 3, I leave mine until they are 4 and more physically mature. After all, I want them to last me another 20 years, hopefully!
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I agree, the Spanish riding school are a fantastic example, their stallions begin backing at 4 and then spend (I'm sure its 3) years doing the basics, these stallions are being flown around the world to do demo's well into their old age, I saw them at the NEC a few years ago and the oldest there was 28!
In comparison to the racers i've seen that were backed as yearlings and are showing their age at 10 I think its a real good reason to take it slowly with youngsters, my filly will be 3 this year, she already loads, leads and be groomed, trimmed etc etc I plan to get her out to a few shows then turn her away again and start her the following year.
I plan to keep her for life so surely it makes sense to start slowly and have them (illness/accident permitting) for longer?

And I don't buy into this 'some breeds mature faster than others' either, racehorses are just pumped full of food to make them stronger for the track. The skeleton carries on developing until around 6 or 7 so personally I don;t think they should be working hard until after that point.
 
I sway more towards the 'nearer 4' mark. My boy turned three in october and just before his birthday, put on a huge growth spurt... his growth has since levelled off and I hope to start him in March / April so he will be 3 and a half BUT if he has another growth spurt in the mean time, I will leave it a few more months. He is much more mature than he was this time last year but still a lot of filling out to do. I want him to last so I'm not rushing it. Light flatwork and hacking this year, winter off, bring back into work spring 2012 for slightly heavier work but still only flat and hacking...
 
The problem with 3 is that their teeth are capping making bitting sometimes uncomfortable for them. I think it depends on what the horse is for too. My averagey 2 year old will wait till 4 as she's not going anywhere but my yearling will be backed at 3 and turned away so's she's ready to go to professionals at 4 to be competed either showing or jumping.
 
vieshot said:
Back at 3 but turn away and leave to mature till 4. Very light work at 4. Wouldnt introduce galloping or jumping til 5.
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Same as this, also to add my rising 2 year olds will be bitted and begin some light lunge work (about once a week to fortnightly) this year, just to give them the early basis of work but without any pressure etc, lunged off cavesson not bit and very short sessions. Sometimes mentally they need something else to think about, especially when they are to be shown in hand.
 
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