What are you doing with your 4 year olds?

[Starbucks]

My mare has been away for breaking for 6 weeks and came home 2 weeks ago. She's doing great! Just been getting used to each other, been for a couple of little hacks and had a lesson this morning. Even had a little pop! She seems (so far!) like she's going to be a good girl. Which is good because I'm not sure if i can cope with any acrobatics!

I never really know what to do with them at this early stage! She's at home and turned out now and we have zero facilities but happy to go out in the trailer a few times a week. Will have lessons but only every fortnight because it's £80 to take her and my other mare! So I'm thinking:

Hacking in company off road & to get used to a bit of traffic
Flat work / pole work
Jumping? Would you leave this for lessons?
Wasn't sure if she'd be ready for a walk / trot test or if that might be a bit scary at the mo

What are you doing with yours and what are your plans? Not really thought of plans / aims for her but would be nice to do a little event at some point this year.

 

[Fanatical]

Mine has been away for breaking for 5 weeks and is coming home tomorrow to go in the field for a month. He will then go back to be re started for a few weeks and then I will bring him home and continue with hacking, light sessions in the school and start to get out and about to see the world. He may then have another short break in the field around autumn time.
He's not yet 4 (end of May) and a big lad (around 16.3hh) so I feel it's best for his long term soundness to not do too much too quickly.

 

[spacefaer]

Mine's in the field.

He was backed last summer, turned away. I bought him last autumn and had a couple of weeks hacking him about and I took him to a local xc schooling field to show him banks, water, ditches etc to see what he thought, then I chucked him out for the winter. He's grown about an inch and filled out, so a winter pootling around hasn't hurt at all.

He's coming back into work in the next month - he'll go hacking, with and without a buddy, do some fun rides, get going over a few fences, and then he'll start autumn hunting in Aug/Sept. He won't see an arena and probably won't see many coloured poles this year - I want him nice and forward, and not trudging round in ever decreasing circles.

He's possibly a year older though - he's 4 rising 5.

 

[Charla]

Mine will be 4 in June. She started the year looking very weedy and narrow for her age, so she has done minimal. Light hacking and small hill work three times a week. It's only now that she's started to get a neck and a nice back end and is extremely full of herself to handle, so to me it suggests she is now ready for some more work. I will continue hacking her, but up the work load and start light schooling too, with a lesson a week thrown in.

 

[nikkimariet]

Nova is officially 4 tomorrow.

He's done 2 outings - one testing the water prelim and his first age class. He's worked anything from 0-4 times a week. Try and make one of those a hack and he's very good at coming out for 5/10 mins stretching then going back out in the filed.

Work has helped straighten and strengthen him, and helps keep him mentally stimulated. He's had his first lesson too and also been for a couple of pole work clinics. We box him up as regularly as we can to hack also.

He's had a little jump at home too, he enjoyed it even if he thought the aim was to knock them all down!

In the school he is working towards very baby Elem and I intend to introduce the changes soon.

 

[blood_magik]

Mine is 4 next month.

She’s a big girl (17.1/17.2) and is looking a little bit leggy at the moment so she’s not being worked as hard as she could be. Her flatwork is coming on nicely though and she’s lovely and forwards.

She’s done a fair amount at home. she’s happy to work inside the dressage boards, has done some pole work and jumped a few single fences under saddle.
She’s taken to jumping like a duck to water - her first time away from home she jumped her first course, complete with fillers, and didnt look at a single thing so she’s heading to her first show next week.

The plan is to take her to a few shows and then turn her away for a few months to grow.

 

[Lorenzo zoil]

Hacking out. Bit of schooling while hacking. Few trips out to hack at different places per month. Will start schooling in arena 1-2 x week soon and fee lessons/clinics and comps

 

[mcnaughty]

Ours has his 4th birthday today and was bought as an unhandled gelding in January, he has been lunged, backed, and is now schooling nicely on the flat and over poles. He went to his first SJ show 5 weeks ago and got a clear round and his first ridden show 3 weeks ago and got 2 fifths. He is amazing and has turned from an equine who wanted to kill anyone who came in his stable to a super cuddly boy who only wants to please. Oh and he's a Shetland!

 

[Denbob]

Mine is doing very little, largely because he's been growing wonky so every time I've got the time to do something with him he changes again! Along with time constraints with final year of university he's only been doing in-hand and a little bit of long-reining maybe twice a week but not actually been sat on in about 6 weeks (due to waiting for a decent saddler). He's rising 5 now and a bit older, pushing 16.3hh and starting to look like a horse instead of a giraffe, shoulders and neck have started to come in and he's really filling out. Physio is really happy with his progress though so we've got the go-ahead to start being a little bit more active so poor boy will stop being a field ornament and be put to work again he's certainly ready to do more mentally and been telling me every day for the last week or so, so feeling a bit guilty for leaving him as long as I have!

Big move for a new job means he'll be handled to death in the coming weeks with little bits of ridden work to get him up and together and then properly back into the swing of things once there, much better hacking and more people to go with means he'll be doing a lot of that to start with. Then introducing some gentle walk/trot schooling alongside his long-reining and some pole work to help him find his balance then onto a bit more intense schooling in July once he's fit and all-being well.

He's my first youngster and had a bit of a rough start so taking things very slowly and letting him really mature physically and although selfish side of me hopes he won't need another winter off I am preparing for that if it's the best thing for him.