What is everyone doing with their 3 year olds?

[Ali27]

I bought my ginger baby last year as a pretty much unhandled 2 year old! Had a little scare a few months later when we thought she might be in foal but luckily just fat from too much of my good grass
She leads beautifully now, is bitted, self loads in trailer and has been out in trailer on 5 adventures now to off road hacking, last week she saw water for the first time and went waltzing in first. I’ve started long reining her but still with someone leading and reins on headcollar. Off on holiday next week but planning on going out on roads asap! Her field is by a road and she doesn’t seem bothered by tractors etc going past. Going to back her next Spring and can’t wait!

 

[saddlesore]

I backed my boy at 3 (a long time away now!) and rode him away for a couple of weeks before turning away. Rightly or wrongly I repeated that pattern throughout his 3rd year. A couple of weeks of work then a month or so off. Kept him interested without overdoing it.

Ultimately you know your horse best

 

[hock]

I have 4 this year and I’m about to take one of them round the block leading off one of last years 3 year olds! They’re great mates so he’ll give him loads of confidence!

 

[monte1]

My homebred was three in May and has been bitted, had a roller and saddle on, I have done some very short ride and lead sessions with him from my other horse, he has travelled a few times as a foal and yearling and was fine, I am not quite sure how much more to do to be honest, we do go for short walks around the estate where i keep him, sometimes that is very exciting for him, which i find a bit disconcerting from down on the ground, but he isn't nasty just very alert and a bit bouncy, so i guess i just need to do more of it to desensitise him more ? i would like to do a bit of long reining this summer as i think this will help him settle and hopefully get him backed by a pro towards end of this year before winter kicks in then restart some work when he turns 4.

 

[Patterdale]

Mine is still out and not had much done but will be backed in august, walk trot canter in straight lines then back out with the herd until next spring, when he will become a functional member of the team.

I don’t subscribe to the current feeling for doing nothing with them until they’re 6/7 (with accompanying Facebook graphic of a coloured in skeleton and comparisons of putting children down mines). I think that that route does nothing for their bone density, connective tissue integrity, general fitness or attitude to life.

In times of old horses have always been worked hard from 3 because they needed to be out earning. But crucially, this work was NOT on surfaces or schooling in circles. I don’t have an arena and my horses don’t school in one unless on a rare indoor lesson or camp.
Straight lines, hacking and jumping up to 70/80 does no harm in my experience.

 

[AutumnDays]

Mine was backed and lightly hacked for a month or two before being turned away. She then injured herself whilst pratting about in the field and now cannot be ridden so she is back to being a odd shaped dog

 

[lme]

Nothing. He’s in the field. However he had a lot of handling / physio as a foal so is good to handle.

 

[dorsetladette]

Mine is out 24/7 with his mates. We've had him from 9 months. In that time he has seen alot of the world and experienced 'life'. We are on a really busy road on one side of the field so the see everything flying past. Both my babies are naturally traffic proof which I put down to this.

The 3yr old has been introduced to everything we can think of. Saddles, bridles, driving harness, poles on the ground, walking over tarps, umbrella's, loading. We aim his showing more at different enviroments rather than prizes. So he's done indoor, outdoor, grass, small and big shows, Tanoy systems, pretty much every enviroment we can think off so when we start going out undersaddle the only 'new' thing is having me on top rather than on the ground. He finds life one big exciting adventure so doing things with him now is fun for everyone as he loves life. I think he's been here before - if you believe in that sort of thing/know what I mean.

The 2yr old is a totally different kettle of fish. This is his first rodeo, he has no clue about life. He also came to us at 9 months, but with a very different beginings. The poor mite had 5 homes between breeder and us, which resulted in a shutdown nervous pony who really didn't know which way was up. He is doing well now and finds new things exciting but a little scary so we have to take things a little slower with him. Once we have worked out how to keep our front feet below eye level we will start popping out to small shows. We are in the process of bitting him, but he's finding it stressful bless him so its taking a while. He's had a saddle popped on his back and worn harness. He's walked over tarps and we've done some loading practise, but we're not very good at that as it requires co-ordination and that just is beyond (not so) little Reggie.

Obviously its a given that they both stand to be groomed, feet picked up, for the farrier and for the vet. Have rugs on and off and genral everyday 'stuff'

Every pony is different and has to be taken through things at their own speed. But I find it best to do as much as possible while they are young and inquisitive when it comes to experiencing new things.

 

[tda]

I have two 3 yr olds, one has just been sold and she's off shortly, straight to a trainer to do some groundwork/prep and possibly gets backed if all goes well.
The other one is hopefully going to start some walking out/leading from another, she is very chilled so not expecting any issues, will probably sit on her later this year

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I bought my just about to turn 3yo in May, he had been out in the field doing nothing until the week I bought him and shipped him over from Ireland. He has his moments but on the whole he is fairly grounded for a done nothing youngster.

I have been working through 'you need this to be a functional member of society' things, and wrote the below this week on the 3/4yo thread which about sums up what we have been doing. He is good with his back feet now, but we practise every day as he's not great, he's seen the farrier and has the dentist booked in.

We continue daily with sprays, standing still to be hosed off, bridling, coping with the bobcat lifting huge bales around, sniffing everything scary we can find and lots of ground work which is just about to progress onto moving towards pressure (with a view to getting him to line up next to the mounting block).
We have an established vocal 'back', a wait when putting his food bowl down, he disengages both ways consistently, steps away from me when going into a walk 'lunge', is super respectful being led, understands shoulder pressure means move out when walking around me, we lead and do groundwork from both eyes, we can trot (although don't do much, not keen on too many circles) without much drama, and just working on moving sideways from pressure with the handle end of the whip on his side where the foot would be. I'd like to get out walking in hand soon, but want to do more spook busting in the school first as we have to go along a fairly quiet but single track road to get anywhere from the yard. I am looking to source umbrellas and tarps etc for this spook busting, and hopefully will get him loading from next month. I don't have transport so it's tricky to do much loading, but there is one I can hire from the yard. YO has said that she will arrange something as I only want it for an hour, and not to go anywhere yet.

He is booked in to be backed early/mid-2024 depending on how mature he looks/is - I have weight to lose before I am willing to ride so I am in no rush here.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

If anyone is willing to post photos of their 3yo's I would love to see them!