What are you doing with your rising 4 year old over the winter?

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RunningFree

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As above, are you letting them have the winter off - keeping them ticking over with a little bit of hacking or are you doing a few outings i.e walk trot tests etc?
 
Mine is unbacked so will be busy over winter. Just started a bit of lunge work and by spring I'd quite like him to be doing short hacks and a bit of schooling, ready for some prelim tests next year. He's very babyish though, so will be going super slow, but he will stay in consistent work.
 
Mine's just gone to be ridden away, I've put a mouth on him, lunged him and introduced to long reining and sat on him lightly myself. Don't have help here every day to safely ride him away so he's gone to pro yard to ride away and will hopefully come back ready to rock in two/three weeks. Once back he will be lightly ridden all through winter and introduced to things slowly.
 
Hoping to have my first sit on next week. Aiming for walk, trot, turn and woah then we will go for a few short hacks before turning away until early spring
 
I have just started groundwork with mine. She is still very babyish so am taking backing very slowly. May have a little sit and walk around but then turning away until spring.
 
Mine is very bum high at the moment, so I'll wait until spring to start working towards backing her.
I have shown her in hand to date, and she is very mature mentally. I just need her body to catch up now. :)
 
I've not been able to start mine due to lack of facilities so I'd imagine she will do nothing all winter unless yo builds me a fence for school :-(
Wanted to have her backed and turned away this winter.
 
My 3 year old was v lightly backed and then turned away. I won't be doing much at all as I'm in my final year of my degree so she can wait til next summer! She's not 4 til June though.
 
I don't like to turn away completely. I keep them ticking over with hacking and occasional short easy sessions in the school. They only go out a couple of times a week. I also like to take them on the trailer when I take the older horses out to competitions, so they get to see all the goings on and are not as stressed when it is their turn later.. I also do tiny clips - little bibs etc to get them used to it without it being a huge session for their first clip when they are in work..
 
Mine has had a few weeks work in bits and bobs, so he's having a break til January, I'll pop him out for a hack every now and again if he's bored senseless- he does love hacking out, as long as he's either alone or in front!! Then in Jan he'll be broken to harness, next spring he'll be doing intro tests and dressage and cones at the driving trials. At some point he'll have further ridden schooling and do some shows at the end of next season. He's been out in hand loads and has manners to burn, bless him!
 
RunningFree said:
I just feel a bit sorry for the mares.... teeth and seasons - god i know what i was like as a teenager..... i would have been in naughty horse school !
Click to expand...

Good point !
My girl (3 years, 4 months old) has not only been growing all summer as if she is living in a growbag, you know...bum high-level-bum high-level-bum high/weedy shoulders-good shoulders-weedy shoulders-good shoulders.....and so on, she is also cutting her lateral incisors and her premolars/molars. Her mouth is too tender right now to bite into a soft fleshed apple, she can't eat a piece of carrot and she is not eating up all of the (handful of) feed I give her when I bring her in. Poor wee thing must be pretty sore all over right now.
I'm going to have to keep a close eye on her condition while her mouth is sore so there's no point in rushing to start backing her until next spring.
 
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Mine was lightly backed and has been turned out now since June - he won't be doing anything over the winter but will come back in to be restarted next spring.
 
Mine is 4 in january (winter baby!!) but is a spindly warmblood so is taking it slow. He has been worked and backed lightly this Summer and he will be out days and in nights through winter with a friend and maybe a little manners work at weekends (only have an outdoor arena) then in the spring the proper work will start :)
 
Mine will be getting about 4-6 months off!!! When I brought him he was supposed to be much much older, I had been hacking him, had him professionally reschooled the lot, then when vet said he thought he was more like 4 and just moved from a livery yard to my own field with no one around to help me as much I decided to give him winter off. He is very babyish so will wait til spring and was planning to pay a professional again to get him ridden away so doesn't really matter how long i leave him in my opinion. He is much happier being a horse!
 
Both mine are walking, trotting and cantering - one better than the other! Will be roughed off from end October - Mid January then brought back in to work. Aim is to get them out to there first ridden baby showing show end March/early April.
 
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