What do you think a 3yo should be doing under saddle?

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MeganMarie

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i’m curious to what people think a 3yo horse should be (if at all) doing under saddle? Let’s say you get a 3yo, with the hopes of doing 4yo classes the following year, what do you believe the horse should be doing/able to achieve under saddle as a 3yo? How often/long would you ride a horse of that age?

I know a lot of it is about the individual horse, as i’ve seen some young horses extremely well balanced and filled out, and then i’ve also seem older ones, that are still quite gangly, unbalanced & with still a lot of growing to do etc. So I guess it depends on each horse.

I ask this because i’m currently looking for a young horse (showjumper) and I was ideally looking for a 4yo, but i find a lot of the young horses for sale now, are unbacked 3yo’s (2015), so i’m considering going for a 3yo, but it depends. Because a lot of the decent ish 4/5 yo’s are a tad out of our price range etc.

Those who’ve had youngsters, what were your experiences? :)
 
It is possibly unhelpful to say "not very much". It may be about educating the horse to accept tack, a saddle and a rider, and educating them on the ground. Lots of learning to be done to prepare them, and it should be really rewarding to do as well. That is my plan as the owner of a 3 year old draft, save that I will defer buying a saddle for another year. There is a good reason 4/5 year olds are more expensive and that is because time and another year of horse keeping has been invested in them.

This may not be the most helpful response, and others wiser than me may express different opinions of course.
 
Hack4fun said:
It is possibly unhelpful to say "not very much". It may be about educating the horse to accept tack, a saddle and a rider, and educating them on the ground. Lots of learning to be done to prepare them, and it should be really rewarding to do as well. That is my plan as the owner of a 3 year old draft, save that I will defer buying a saddle for another year. There is a good reason 4/5 year olds are more expensive and that is because time and another year of horse keeping has been invested in them.

This may not be the most helpful response, and others wiser than me may express different opinions of course.
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My reply may be considered to be even less helpful; Nothing at all.

3 yr olds are still growing, there is a lot you can do with them without putting a rider on.
 
Wearing a saddle, maybe going for a bimble around the lanes in hand wearing said saddle, possibly having stirrups put on and off. Maybe a little walk around the paddock on a lead rope with a rider sitting on, just to start getting walk and halt installed if they're nicely grown and looking ready - my boy is three in Marcb and he's so leggy and gawky that we won't be doing anything for another year as I don't think he's got the balance and strength.

No schooling, no poles, no actual work. They've got years for that but only a little while to grow.
 
Nothing until the autumn of their 3 year old year, then backed as you would any horse and then turned away until end of Feb, bring back into to work at the start of march. 4 year olds are only 90 at the start of the year, which shouldn't be challenging to a SJ bred horse
 
Midwychequestrain said:
Nothing until the autumn of their 3 year old year, then backed as you would any horse and then turned away until end of Feb, bring back into to work at the start of march. 4 year olds are only 90 at the start of the year, which shouldn't be challenging to a SJ bred horse
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This ^^ of course it depends on the horse, some wont be ready, but best case scenario is the one outlined above, but some will need more time.
 
My 3 year olds get backed and ridden for about 3 weeks, usually late summer. They then go back out into the field until spring of their 4 year old year. As 4 year olds they may (or may not depending on maturity and how busy we are!) do a few shows in the late summer. As 5 year olds they do a bit more. I breed and produce show jumpers up to International level hopefully.
 
This might not be helpful either, but I've recently bought a young 4yo and he'd been hacked to death as a 3yo with up to 45 minutes schooling with a fairly heavy rider as well and as a result has developed a couple of major behavioural issues (began as a response to discomfort and pain which have now been learned) which will take a long time to overcome.

For reasons I won't go into he does better in light work than being turned away, but as above I'd say if you've got a reasonably well-grown and filled out 3yo a month or two of bimbling around learning the basics of walk and halt but nothing above that then a winter or so turned away to mature and soak it all in. They learn so quickly and first experiences are so crucial not just physically but if you stress them out mentally that can do a lot of damage as well!
 
Nothing, except some light work in hand (not excessive lunging!) and ground driving with a fitting saddle on, and hacking in hand, if possible! A 3yo is still just a baby. :)
 
Backed at the start of summer and hacked quietly for a couple of months with a little bit of time (preferably 5/10 mins after a hack) in the school a couple of times a week to learn 4 straight lines, 4 corners and basic transitions in walk/ trot. They might pop a fence if they feel strong and straight.
But some won't be backed until 4 if they are narrow and weak
 
If mine is strong enough he will be backed and ridden for half an hour max about three times a week either in a 30×40 with a good surface, using all of it for 'circles' or a short but hilly hack, where I will walk with him both up and down the worst bits to start with.

Under no circumstances will he jump anything or do pole work ridden until he has passed his fourth birthday. No lunging, either, ever, except as a short test to see how fizzy he is that day.

Like most of the rest of the world, once in work he will stay in work, I'm not a believer in turning away. I think it only became a normal thing to do in this country centuries ago to avoid the bad weather and concentrate on hunting.
 
Nothing. Lots you can do with a 3yo that doesn't involve climbing on board. I don't see much point in doing riding in the later 3yo year and then turning away till 4. May as well do it all at 4 and just do it once.
 
looks like a concensus of opinion nothing until late three except a bit of in hand and maybe a bit of long reining in straight lines possibly with a lead out on the roads. Wear tack. Late summer early 4 year old lightly back and hack out
 
paddy555 said:
Nothing. Lots you can do with a 3yo that doesn't involve climbing on board. I don't see much point in doing riding in the later 3yo year and then turning away till 4. May as well do it all at 4 and just do it once.
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I completely understand why other people do different, but I prefer to sit on mine before they have realised their own strength. I do think it helps me, if not them. And I don't think it does them any damage.
 
windand rain said:
looks like a concensus of opinion nothing until late three except a bit of in hand and maybe a bit of long reining in straight lines possibly with a lead out on the roads. Wear tack. Late summer early 4 year old lightly back and hack out
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Opinions were more divided on another recent thread, but the period who back three year olds (and one two year old) aren't posting on this thread yet.

I get the impression it's still completely normal to back at three in this country and even unusual to wait until later in most (all?) other countries.
 
Well I've never bought a horse to aim at 4yo classes, so maybe not so helpful, but generally I like to back when they are between 3.5 and 4, but don't do much with them until the summer of their 4yo year.

When on pro sj yards we used to buy 4yos and then back straight away and within 6-8 weeks they would be ready to pootle around a British novice (in the outdoor season so the courses are a bit more open and flowing). 90cm is no height for a youngster with a decent canter and natural jump.
 
My last horse was 3.5 when I bought her. She went out into the fields for two months, then began being tacked up, led up and and down the lane. I backed her a week before she was 4, we did gentle hacking and a bit of very vague schooling over summer.

Current baby is 3.5, mentally very mature but physically has a lot of growing left to do. She's been tacked up, walked out inhand and hacks out in hand with full tack. We've done some roadwork in hand, and she's had my 4 year old niece sit on her for a few minutes.
She seems to be thriving on doing adult horse stuff without the ridden bit and is very mature. I will give her the summer to grow and probably back her over next winter when she has filled out and stopped growing so rapidly. Theres no rush with her and the inhand walking is doing wonders for my fitness :)

It all totally depends on the horse, but I do think it's best to establish a loose routine with youngsters, coming in for a token feed, being groomed and getting used to normal yard life for an hour a day before being turned back out to be muddy hairy hooligans :D
 
MeganMarie said:
i’m curious to what people think a 3yo horse should be (if at all) doing under saddle? Let’s say you get a 3yo, with the hopes of doing 4yo classes the following year, what do you believe the horse should be doing/able to achieve under saddle as a 3yo? How often/long would you ride a horse of that age?

I know a lot of it is about the individual horse, as i’ve seen some young horses extremely well balanced and filled out, and then i’ve also seem older ones, that are still quite gangly, unbalanced & with still a lot of growing to do etc. So I guess it depends on each horse.

I ask this because i’m currently looking for a young horse (showjumper) and I was ideally looking for a 4yo, but i find a lot of the young horses for sale now, are unbacked 3yo’s (2015), so i’m considering going for a 3yo, but it depends. Because a lot of the decent ish 4/5 yo’s are a tad out of our price range etc.

Those who’ve had youngsters, what were your experiences? :)
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Nothing unless you want to start bitting with a rubber snaffle - I would not do anything or even start to break until 3 1/2 to let bones grow, they are only babies once so start backing about 3 1/2 and go from there.

In hand work in the school teaching it voice commands, join up but nothing on board
 
For actual riding, I'd prefer them to be at least 3,5yo (4 is always better though). The most I do with a 3 yo is 2 times a week 20 minutes, no sharp turns, no small circles, just walk, trot and a bit of canter. Don't want to put much stress on the still growing joints. It's ok for them to do a bit, just not to the point where you know that you're pressuring joints or certain bones. Other than the two riding sessions, it'll be in-hand work or some light lunging.
 
ycbm said:
I completely understand why other people do different, but I prefer to sit on mine before they have realised their own strength. I do think it helps me, if not them. And I don't think it does them any damage.
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this article https://www.webertrainingstables.com/riding-young more of less sums up why I think they should be left till 4. If my chiro had his way it would be 5.

I appreciate the point on strength.If it was totally down to strength he could remove me just as easily at 3 as at 4. Hopefully it will more be down to cooperation.
 
i think it depends on the horse, the rider and the circumstances.

generally we start light lunging and long reining around feb, and sit on them any time from May-July. we do the bare minimum of lunging and circles and only as much as is needed to get them used to tack etc. then focus on in hand walk work to make then supple and even prior to backing.

then they mainly hack until they are 4yo.

most recent one has been so instantly accepting of anything and everything that he's already backed BUT i dont have to lunge to make him safe to sit on, i can walk him around in hand, practice a few halts and turns,and then pop on for 5min :) so we will keep plodding along like that until the summer. he's only walking on a long rein once a week for 5 mins which i dont think does any harm at all and at weekends goes for an in hand hack to see the world............if it feels right i might pop on and ride 10/15min home this weekend but we will see.
 
I would think young horses can learn a lot about the concept of "going for a ride" whilst being led on a calm hack from a confident older horse, without weight on their back.
 
It all comes down to the horse...

Presuming a rising 3yo... Yeah, still all comes down the to the horse!

Nova's birthday is in May. I backed him last June over the course of a couple of months. He finished the year doing 10/15 mins WTC 3 times a year and hacks and had jumped a small fence.

This year as a rising 4yo he's doing 20 mins WTC 3 times a year, starting to think a little sideways and some gears in the work.

He's improved so much strength wise with a little work and is learning to control those big gangly legs of his.
 
A long retired and much respected vet said to me years ago, whilst looking at a young horse of mine, 'the less they do before they are 5 the more they will do after they are 15.

So if you are rearing a young one for yourself in the hope of many happy years leave them be. If you are producing to sell a polished product you start them early, sell them and forget about them.
 
Not this.........................

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paddy555 said:
this article https://www.webertrainingstables.com/riding-young more of less sums up why I think they should be left till 4. If my chiro had his way it would be 5.

I appreciate the point on strength.If it was totally down to strength he could remove me just as easily at 3 as at 4. Hopefully it will more be down to cooperation.
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The article is American, I think, and about the dangers of backing a horse before three, which is common in the USA but not here except in flat racers.

The schedule of growth plate closure is well known. What we don't have is any scientific evidence that there is any problem at all with backing and riding lightly at three. Just because the plates aren't closed doesn't mean the horse will be damaged by being ridden at three.
 
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