What would you expect a 3/4 year old to be doing?

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LadyRascasse

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As title really, everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what they should and shouldn't be doing. So I am curious to the general consensus on here :)
 
Personally, mine do nothing other than be in a field. I generally don't start them until 5yrs old, allowing them time to mature. Not what others do, I know, but the first ones I started are in their 20's now, sound, and never had lameness problems.
 
Everyone is different as you say, but mine will be 4 in December. He was very slowly backed over summer and we are now just hacking. We haven't even had our first canter yet, but it's imminent. I'm planning to keep him hacking 2/3 times a week over winter before introducing a small bit of schooling next spring. That's not a concrete plan though and is subject to change all the time.
I think it's very much a case of being able to read your own horse and know what's right for them.
 
My 3yo was broken this summer and spent a lot of time getting used to me being on and having a walk around, and getting some brakes/steering.Every horse is different, she is a big girl and around 16.1 and all legs now! So still very weak, so some weeks she does nothing but stand in a field as she is that 'foal' looking!
 
A 3 rising 4 year old that is reasonably well grown and not gangly I would expect to be W/T/C in the school, hacking about, maybe occasionally popping a little cross pole and perhaps going to a small show for a gander at the big boys and to soak up the atmosphere. I'd probably be riding 3 - 4 times a week for no more than 40 mins. Horses which are really babyish or are really big and unfurnished would probably just be lunging a little and doing a little walk trot: depends on the maturity of the horse.
 
mine was backed at 3.5, walk/trot/canter/hacking out very very lightly.... literally twice a week ridden however..... turned away as she was shouting at me as she had enough, realised this - shes now chilling in the field doing sweet FA except being brushed, poked and shes had a personality transplant - shes LOVELY. :D

So leaving her until 2016, as shes off to have a baby next year, [in foal to sprout 2016] and then re-backed age rising 6 [shes a very late november foal]

so basically nothing. I dont miss riding in the slightest and enjoy her now more without pressure...shes happier too

probably not what you wanted to hear but there you go...I wouldnt ever back anything again until 4+
 
Cortez said:
A 3 rising 4 year old that is reasonably well grown and not gangly I would expect to be W/T/C in the school, hacking about, maybe occasionally popping a little cross pole and perhaps going to a small show for a gander at the big boys and to soak up the atmosphere. I'd probably be riding 3 - 4 times a week for no more than 40 mins. Horses which are really babyish or are really big and unfurnished would probably just be lunging a little and doing a little walk trot: depends on the maturity of the horse.
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Agree 100% with this.

My youngster was backed at the end of summer of his 3 year. Strong well built chap, w/t/c and popped a couple of cross poles. Turned away for the winter. Then as a 4 yo brought bck, did a few training shows, and lots of hacking. His half sister, a bit more immature, she was left until her 4th year. Lots of hacking at first, and eventually got to a few training shows by he end of her 4thyear. Both now 5, very pleased with them. They both made it to scope this year and took it in their strides. They have had another month off, and are now just coming bck into work.
 
My mare backed at 3.5 w/t/c jumping a small track and hacking out. She is now out with a herd for the winter she will be checked daily but not brought in unless something needs treated. In feb she will be brought in as a 4 year old & prepared for a few training shows.
 
My gir was backed as a 3 year old, then ridden lightly until winter kicked in and she picked up a nasty virus. Once spring came around, although better her bloods were not 100% the vet said we could do gentle walk work only, which we did, little hacks around the yard and pottering in the school, she was 4 this June and we have continued with walk and trot, done one intro dressage test, and started popping the odd cross pole, hopefully i will just keep her ticking over with hacking during the winter.

ETA: My mare loves to work it engages her very active brain. Leaving her until she was 4 to be backed in several peoples opinion was NOT a good idea. She only does gentle work nothing too strenuous, but she loves it and is also a much nicer personality for having something to occupy her mind.
 
I've got a yearling so very interested in this thread - as you say OP everyone has a different idea of what should and shouldnt be done!

What I find most interesting is the argument for and against turning away once backed; I must admit personally I dont entirely see the logic in backing them and then a few months later they are turned away, but equally if they are proving to still be a bit babyish the time off will do them good to carry on developing.

I'm going to wait and see with my little (well not so little!) man, he's an April baby so wont 'technically' be 3.5 when I come to back him if I choose to back him in the summer of his 3rd year, but again this all hangs on how he looks and if he seems ready to be backed or not. Probably will get turned away over the winter if I choose to do it this way as he will be a young 3 when he's backed so I dont want to overdo it.

I might even ruffle some feathers and not back him until he is 4 (shock horror!) - spring of his 4th year then miss out the turning away period and carry straight on with him - could even brave some baby horse dressage classes if I fell up to taking on the Eilbergs and Hughes clans (that's the problem with them sharing all my local competition venues!).
 
I dont tend to back and then turn away, it suits the occasional horse, but i wouldnt do it as standard. My current advanced horse wasnt backed til the start of her 5yr old year, she is 12 now and about to do her first GP.

My 6yr wasnt backed til the january of his 4yr old year and i didnt turn him away, but just kept him going gently, he did YH classes and now at 6 he has just done and won his first Medium.

For a horse at this time (oct) of its 3yr old year i would be very happy if it had done absolutely nothing! If it was just about to be started, thats ok, but i'd be happier to leave them a bit longer. As long as the 3yr old was civilised to handle, have feet done etc, i'd rather just leave it in the field.
 
My 4yo will be hacking at weekends and doing very very light schooling and inhand work in the school a couple of times a week over winter. I may take him to a walk and trot test in November but I will wait and see how things go.
 
I have a very well grown three year old who is off to be started at the weekend. When she comes home, she will gently school and hack for the next year. It's spring here, and she will be one of two I will be riding over the summer, so it will work out well.

She has a fairly active brain as well, so I am not so sure that sitting in a paddock for anther year would be the best thing for this horse either. She really needs to be doing something.
 
My youngster was 4yo this year. We have had a little work on lunging, tack on, long lining and ride and lead out round the roads. I can get on her with or without a saddle and she is quite happy with that - but has got big brakes on about actually moving off with me sat on her - so I will leave her now until spring and then focus on her a little more and will carry on working my older mare over the winter.

My current mare was not really backed until 9, and previous mare was backed as she was going into 6th year. All 3 are reactive and sharp horses, and the current one I could see that doing something maybe good for her - she does learn things quickly, but she also is not the most co-ordinated horse in the world, and I would very much like her to spend a little more time learning where her feet are without me, before we start haring round the countryside! ;). I backed a youngster at 3 before who was not the most clever with her feet, and wished I had left her for another year.
 
daffy44 said:
I dont tend to back and then turn away, it suits the occasional horse, but i wouldnt do it as standard. My current advanced horse wasnt backed til the start of her 5yr old year, she is 12 now and about to do her first GP.

My 6yr wasnt backed til the january of his 4yr old year and i didnt turn him away, but just kept him going gently, he did YH classes and now at 6 he has just done and won his first Medium.

For a horse at this time (oct) of its 3yr old year i would be very happy if it had done absolutely nothing! If it was just about to be started, thats ok, but i'd be happier to leave them a bit longer. As long as the 3yr old was civilised to handle, have feet done etc, i'd rather just leave it in the field.
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That's very interesting to see Daffy, I have been leaning towards the idea of starting my baby towards the start of his 4th year rather than doing anything with him at 3, and then continuing with him without turning away once we have started - good to know you are having good results and well done on your 6yr old winning his first Medium, brilliant result!
 
Mine is 3, was backed late Summer this year and hacking out.
Now turned away and living at grass until next Spring, as the breed is late maturing.
 
Blimey, you're making me feel all behind!

My youngster was three in Jun, and although he's had tack on that's about it. He's just gone bum high (again) and although I'm going to start long reining him over the winter, I hadn't planned on sitting on him until he was four (by which time I'll need either a trampoline or a ladder to get on him)
 
interesting discussion, nice to hear everyones opinions.

what's anyone's thoughts on the way we do it here in ireland in places, which is to back and send off hunting young?
 
I backed my WB at 4 as he is huge, he was 17.1 and very gangly. Then he had the winter off Dec-Apr. Then he has had a few stop starts this year due to growth spurts, he's now 5 & 17.3 so I'm just taking things slowly. I think you have to liken them to kids, they need time off to relax & unwind, physically & mentally.

I read an article by Jason Webb who has backed 100's, says his preferred method now is to back them and get them going, then give them 4-5 weeks complete rest in the field, then come back to finish being backed. He says this is the method that gives the best results.

Mine will get a few weeks off in winter as its a hard slog, and I get busy over Xmas & New Year so the break will suit us both.
 
One of my 3yr olds has started longreining and is loving it, she only goes out 1-2 a week but thrives on it and has near perfect transitions from voice (driving pony-to-be). She is still working off a headcollar but works beautifully with a very light contact. She will continue with this as and when light and weather permits over the winter and will look at backing or putting to (or both!) next year, but just light stuff.
My other 3 yr old still has very poor coordination and balance on his own, was too worried by longreining when we tried and has the attention span of a baby gnat, so I have switched tactics with him completely and he has gone to playschool, doing very short bursts of clicker training hidden amongst games to work on ground manners and voice control, dabbling in horse agility type stuff (weaving in cones, wobble board mattress, walking on platforms) and spook-busting stuff like tarps and bunting, and is much much happier for it. I have consciously decided to maybe try longreining again next year but he won't be ridden until at least 5yrs, and probably ridden for a couple of years before looking at putting him in harness.
 
kc100 said:
That's very interesting to see Daffy, I have been leaning towards the idea of starting my baby towards the start of his 4th year rather than doing anything with him at 3, and then continuing with him without turning away once we have started - good to know you are having good results and well done on your 6yr old winning his first Medium, brilliant result!
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Thank you KC100, I am delighted with him! I left backing him til the start of his 4yrold year as he is very big, and was very happy in the field, and i had a feeling that his brain would be very good, so i trusted my instinct. Fortunately, his brain is very good, and he has been very easy, he is still turned out all day everyday(as all my horses are) but i never rode him more than three times a week for 20-30min max all through his four yr old year, and whenever he did a show he had at least a week off.
 
My 3yr old WB is very mature physically but I was concerned that mentally she wouldnt cope with being pushed but she was ready to start work. She was lunged, long-reined, tack on, rider onboard took it all in her stride but it was clear that mentally she had done enough. I'm glad we listened and turned her away as I think she's the type that could sour if pushed beyond what she was ready for.

I'll start her again early 2015 and hope to get her W/T/C and hacking out next year with another wee break and bring her out strong as a 5yr old...that is my plan based on how she was this year.
 
Would depend on the horse but generally OH wouldn't think about backing them until they were 4. We're not in any rush to get them doing anything, and on the basis we'd like them still to be going strong in their 20s (I'm having great fun on my 18yo at the moment), losing a year or two at the outset isn't really a problem. Our last two youngsters (one's only 17 months) have been huge beasts. Flic wasn't backed until she was 5 and we've taken it very slowly. It's only recently that her body has started to look as though it fits her legs.

Show me a method that always works with horses and I'll find you the horse that will disprove the theory. They're all different and I'd much rather work with someone who is led by their horse than by their marketing brochure.
 
I think people who do different disciplines have different ideas about what horses of certain ages should be doing. Each to their own and all that.

My mare was racing in the sulky and was also backed at 3; we've raced a 3 and 4 year old this summer and will hopefully be racing another 3yo filly next year (provided I can convince her owner to let us train her). My mare hunted at 4 and began jumping at 5, however her age wasn't the reason for that as it was more that she had finished racing and I was looking to start her on something else.
 
I think the general consensus is 3 or 4 depending on factors such as physical maturity or mental readiness. What used to be the norm was a simple formula really but once people started picking bits out of research and taking things out of context, it all started to get complicated.

I was always under the impression that the following used to be an ideal plan:

The 3 yo should be backed in the spring over a couple of months so that they can confidently go forward off the leg and know how to do the basics, and perhaps hack out confidently through the village. Then, turned away at the beginning of winter to mature in the field with a herd. (roughly what Elwyn Hartly-Edwards prescribes and a few other authors of that time)

The 4 yo should be prepared for some work the following spring and be hacked lightly, perhaps a few shows and very basic schooling and perhaps a little polework. Then turned away for the winter with the herd. (even Sylvia Loch prescribes this)

The 5 yo will be ready to start some pre-liminary and novice schooling and some jumping be introduced.

The 6 yo will be ready for more advanced work and should be mature enough to do longer than 30mins in the school or more than an hour out hacking.

Nowadays.... people seem happy to leave it until 4, 5, 6 before even starting them out. Personally, having looked at all the research on skeletal development and soft tissue development and conditioning, I think 3 or 4 is ideal and at a very low level and build up work over several years, not months. Slow and steady is the key to a sound horse as if you want a working horse, the soft tissue need conditioning but not at the expense of the joints and skeletal development.
 
My 5 yo was backed at 3 1/2 and broken at 4, did a few unaff jumping etc. I got her just before 5 and IMO and my v good instructors opinion, it was all a bit rushed, as in her outline was more in front and not correct from behind and whilst she could do stuff, it wasn't very natural, it was rider was carrying her through everything (as a young un I understand that there is an element of this) but actually she didn't really have a clue where to put her feet if you worked her on a gentle contact and asked quietly. So we have taken her training back to basics and letting her work out the answers for herself, it's working wonders! I think the people who started her wanted glory right away, not saying that is wrong, just didn't work well for mine! But every horse is different!
 
My youngster is 3 and half just now and he came home two weeks ago after being away to be backed this autumn. The plan is to lightly hack him out over the winter as the weather allows. Otherwise he will be turned out 24/7 with my other horses.

He really seems to enjoy his hacks out and very happy to go in company or out solo.
 
Jnhuk said:
My youngster is 3 and half just now and he came home two weeks ago after being away to be backed this autumn. The plan is to lightly hack him out over the winter as the weather allows. Otherwise he will be turned out 24/7 with my other horses.

He really seems to enjoy his hacks out and very happy to go in company or out solo.
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Sounds good.
 
The 4yo I bought in June was backed & ridden away at Christmas at the end of his 3yo year, he's established w/t/c can jump a little course but tbh the 4 months I've had him we've done very little,

My 5yo by contrast was broken at 2, then spent a year in training & came home as a late 3yo, he had one (very quiet) days hunting that season then was turned away for most of his 4yo year, coming back into work last autumn, he's had the summer off due to a totally freak accident but is back in action & has started cubbing this season, he'll hopefully have his first proper season this time, he's miles behind the 4yo in terms of balance/strength/working correctly, but will take a fair while to undo the dreadful habits he picked up in racing, but he's honest, straightforward & has taken to hunting like a duck to water, so a quiet season this winter will help him improve his balance & way of going far more than boring him stiff trying to 'reschool' him the usual way (he was very very sour & stale when he came home from racing.... They even described him as an angry horse.....yet now he's such a sweetie he'd move into the house if you let him!!)

So after all that waffle.... The most important thing is to be guided by the horse, if he takes to things easily & is quick to learn, just keep him ticking over with a few weeks off here & there, is he's backward & slow on the uptake, a longer break can work well, likewise if he's big, gangly & unbalanced, look at his body as it grows & be guided by that as well
 
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