What should I be doing with my 2 year old?

[CanteringCarrot]

You want them to respect you and not walk all over you. Easiest to achieve that by just leaving them be!

Which is interesting because to me, if you handle them properly and establish boundaries from the beginning, you still won't have the lack of respect and walk all over you problems?

Idk. I purposely handled mine a bit more when he first officially became mine at around 1.5 years old to make sure that we were clear on a few things. Then we touch base about twice a week with quick grooming sessions/once overs and the odd "training" session. I can't see how this will be at all detrimental when it comes time to back him I suppose I could leave him be and it wouldn't "hurt" but I also can't say that he's being harmed.


That being said, we all have different standards. Some people tolerate appalling (IMO) behavior from their youngsters because "they're babies" and just don't take it so seriously. A lot of the British style that I experienced was a bit "rough and ready" vs more refined and first centered around groundwork. Could've just been the area or the people.

My last German YO/YM left hers mostly feral until about 3 or 4 and then began lunging, introducing to tack, and then riding them within a short amount of time, and they did alright, especially if they were generally the amicable type anyway, but to me there were still just some holes or little things that could've been better with earlier or more handling and groundwork. Pros aren't always so concerned with that stuff though as long as the horse ultimately does the job (in this case, jumps the jumps).

I think over handling is a thing, but primarily it comes down to poor handling. If you handle the young horse too much and poorly, well, of course you're going to have problems! I do know many young horses that are handled regularly and competed in hand that then transition into ridden life just fine. As with most things, it comes down to the human.

It's sort of "funny" because I've had many comments that mine should be doing more. IMO, he's fine where he's at! I've had all sorts of suggestions from, "Would you like to borrow my old saddle to introduce him to saddling?!" "If you're going to train him to lunge you'll need a bridle, side reins, a surcingle, 2 lunge lines..." and "He's almost 2 and he hasn't had a bit in his mouth yet?! He's old enough!"

I've come up with some interesting replies. He's just fine where he's at!

 

[sassandbells]

I think over handling is a thing, but primarily it comes down to poor handling. If you handle the young horse too much and poorly, well, of course you're going to have problems! I do know many young horses that are handled regularly and competed in hand that then transition into ridden life just fine. As with most things, it comes down to the human.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head right there. It all comes down to the skill of the handler. Opting to do as little as necessary but ensuring those lessons are “good” is my preferred way of working as it reduces the opportunity for bad habits to form.

That being said, I know of a 3 year old who has been relatively untouched in the field other than basic handling for vet / farrier, but has not been taught that basic manners apply when he’s in the field. He’s now a 16.3hh bulldozer who has no respect for people as he’s been allowed to get away with it all in the field. I also know a 4 year old who was handled regularly, but was allowed to get away with everything using the excuse “she’s just a bit of a thug”. There’s indeed a fine line of under & over handling but either can work as long as the handler knows what they’re doing, I think!

 

[maya2008]

I said it was easiest just to let them be - no way to mess up, less hassle for the owner. You can, of course, put in the time to handle them correctly yourself, but I figure if the nanny horses will do it for me, it’s one less thing for me to do! My feral ones have (with one exception where the poor thing was traumatised by people before I got her) been over respectful of humans, and thus always safe to handle from the word go. I have had a couple that were handled a lot when they were younger who have been…well…more problematic shall we say, and had to have boundaries put in place at a not-so-pleasant mature size and strength. Two of those were then sternly educated by my old TB mare, on correct behaviour around humans. She did a fantastic job, very quickly laying ground rules and enforcing them. So…I happily let mine be educated by the herd, pull them out every now and then and that’s it. Easy!!

 

[Caol Ila]

I spent a lot of time swearing at my mare's breeder for leaving her youngstock unhandled. I didn't expect a two-year old to be singing, dancing, and making the coffee, but catching, leading, and picking up her feet sure would have been nice.

I imagine the feral ones are naturally warier of people. My horse had interacted with people - they would go into the herd - but she hadn't been taught anything useful. She had zero sense of space when I got her (unlike my actual ex-feral, who is very mindful of space). I had to spend a lot of time teaching and reinforcing that standing on top of and running over humans is not kosher. She's got nice manners now but I'm never buying an unhandled horse again.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I've not experienced another horse actually training another horse how to behave around humans, to my standards, anyway. I've just not seen that, that's not saying it doesn't exist.

Another horse not letting other horses get near the human isn't laying ground rules or installing any form of training, that's more of a form of resource guarding, IMO, or a form of herd guarding.

I dunno, I've done a lot of horse observing and I've seen horses communicate with others to be wary of a human, or to stand back as the one designated member of the herd approaches said human as the herd ambassador of sorts, or watched as one warded others off as that one horse approached the human in search of a resource such as food. I've not seen another horse train one to lead, load, tie, stand, pick up hooves, and learn how to be trimmed. I know there is the whole monkey see monkey do concept but I'm not sure how far that goes with horses.

I guess it also depends on your expectations for your youngster(s) too. I 100% believe in them living in a herd and think there is much value in that because they do learn behaviors and certain mannerisms, so don't get me wrong there. I would also rather a young horse that was "let be" or somewhat feral vs mishandled. If I have the time and knowledge, I'm going to install a proper education from the beginning though, and it really doesn't take much time at all.

I will say that YO has several horses of varying ages that have been just living their lives in the herd and minimally handled, and my rising 2 year old is far better to deal with IMO. The consistent handling, even in small amounts, just makes him easier to deal with IMO, and he already accepts regular human interaction and has become interested in it. There is only so much they can learn from other horses. That's a part of their education for sure, but just a part of it, for me. Sure if my youngster checks all of the boxes he needs to for the basics, then I'll leave him be, but he needs to be able to be trimmed, loaded, led, haltered, tied, and groomed/touched everywhere at a minimum. But again, those are my preferences.

 

[sbloom]

There are some fabulous horsemanship type trainers, a bit of behaviour, a bit of posture and movement, a lot of teaching the rider/owner, some hands-on, some online. I would be doing some of this stuff, just teeny amounts, most weeks for sure - prepare their mind and body to be useful, happy and relaxed with all that we want to do with them. The Americans seem to put up the best social media content, Amy Skinner and Mills Consilient Horsemanship put up really interesting stuff that would cover these areas.

I'm with Cantering Carrot, doing more than the very basics isn't necessarily harmful.