When do you stop considering your baby/youngster a baby

[kassieg]

Lucy is 5 now & over the last month she has come on more than she had over the 6 months previously!

Im struggling to consider her a proper baby any more, she's still green out competing
But at home shes doing all the basics along with 10m canter circles, leg yeild in canter, canter across the diagonal to halt & canter straight off, rein back & starting to get a few strides of medium trot

I am however very conscious that she is still young so obviously dont push it too much & dont do things 10 x's over

So yeh how much do you baby your youngsters & "protect" them

 

[khalswitz]

I still baby my 10 yr old exracer... I drive my friends mad. But he's only had a year of retraining.

However normally, if broken at 3, turned away, hacked and then schooled as a 4 year old, and schooled and lightly competed as a 5 year old (how I do things) then by 6 they are grown up in my eyes.

 

[ahml100]

For me, it is their 6 year where they stop being babies/youngsters. However, I can understand why some are still called 'green'

 

[Nightmare before Christmas]

mine is green but hes not a baby. Hes 6 this time

 

[Bedlam]

My girl is rising 5 and she's still a baby. She's had a long time in the field over winter and will be back in work next week.

Next year she'll only have a few weeks off if all goes well, and so be fit and ready to start eventing at the beginning of March.

 

[showpony]

Reckon 6 yrs old!

 

[Britestar]

Depends when they were started. My rising 6yr old was only started last year and is still very Green. Mainly due to the fact I don't have access to a school so he has to learn out hacking. He can canter in straight lines but not in a school. He's never even seen a jump but has done trotting poles.
I don't baby him as such but he certainly is nowhere near grown up.

 

[MegaBeast]

Depends how you define grown up! There are many 10yr old horse that are how Britestar describes above but means they're green. not babies.

My rising 6 yr old is no longer a baby although I would still describe him as a youngster. He completed a good few BE100s last year easily and successfully which by a lot of standards would define him as being "grown up" but in terms of his career path, so to speak, he's still got a long way to go!

 

[TarrSteps]

Horses are physically 'finished' around 7 and I find that most are mentally mature around that point. (This is separate from training and exposure.) But, as with people, there are huge individual differences and a significant, if obviously much shorter, development curve. The definition of 'too much' and optimum timing to introduce various tasks is going to differ from horse to horse.

 

[Daytona]

For me once they turn six they are no longer a baby or a youngster but they can be green still.

 

[Shoei]

Mine is 7 this year however looks and acts like a 4 year old as he was only broken in May and then turned away until November when I got him. He is very baby ish, however, I am trying to expose him to everything I can and build him up physically. The bonus of all the exposure is he doesn't get bored because he has so much catching up to do we have a very varied schooling plan and I include lots of schooling out hacking.

I do lavish him with praise though when he does something for the first time. I must look like a loon out hacking!

 

[MS123]

My rising 6 yr old is no longer a baby although I would still describe him as a youngster. He completed a good few BE100s last year easily and successfully which by a lot of standards would define him as being "grown up" but in terms of his career path, so to speak, he's still got a long way to go!

Exactly the same as my mare. Though she still acts "babyish" sometimes, but all in all has a real sensible head on her shoulders, and has taken to competing like a duck to water.

 

[Auslander]

It's difficult to define by age on paper. I look at a number of things - the individuals physical maturity, its mental maturity, the amount and type of work it's done, how much exposure it has had to the outside world, the way it has been handled - and of course, the indefinable "It's a horse, so go figure". I've had 4 and 5 yr olds who were very grown up, and 7/8 yr olds who were still very babyish.

 

[noodle_]

6

i think anyhow backed at 3/4 and a couple of years competing by 6 they are established in basics of life tbh!

 

[tilly_monster]

My 6 year old ex racer, I don't class him as a baby, but as very green, he well behind where I would like him to be with his jumping, but he just had 9 months off due to injury. And he still growing, so things are being taken slowly with him. When people say he a baby, I do say he not a baby, he just green.

 

[TarrSteps]

Out of curiosity, how do people define 'babyish'? I rarely see a horse over 3 or 4 who interacts with other horses or people in what I would think of as a juvenile manner, with the possible exception of when it's stressed or tired.

 

[ironhorse]

Mine is rising six and is pretty mature mentally - mainly because he has plenty of miles on the clock, being shown in hand and quietly ridden around at shows as a 3yo and going to a fair few clinics etc and ridden shows at four. He had also been exposed to lots of 'scary' things from day one as that is my trainer's viewpoint - so machinery, children, loose dogs etc are not a problem, and I've been able to ride him most days in a very windy outdoor school in this bad weather.
But he is not mature physically yet - he's a big gangly thing, and I still keep the amount of competitions and level of ridden work within his capabilities. He's slow maturing especially for his breed (AQH) but a good reminder that all horses are individuals!

 

[khalswitz]

Out of curiosity, how do people define 'babyish'? I rarely see a horse over 3 or 4 who interacts with other horses or people in what I would think of as a juvenile manner, with the possible exception of when it's stressed or tired.

Handling wise, when they do that babyish mouthy thing where everything gets nibbled, and do the chewing motion and neck stretching thing to stop you getting angry at them, etc.

Riding wise, when they still wobble, need wide steering hands, and floppy legs.

After that they become green, rather than babyish.

Interestingly, I just met a 7 year old who acts EXACTLY like a baby, both with other horses and people. He's still unbroken, was just forgotten about. He's a lovely character though.

 

[rockyxrio]

I'd say six usually. It does depend on the individual when they 'grow up' and mature mentally though, just like people.