Who would you choose?! Backing and Breaking advice!

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wiffy

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Ok I have a big lad (currently around 17.2) he is 4 years old and needs backing and breaking. I have had several quotes for him to go away and been done but they range from £50-£220 a week :eek:

What is the average going rate?

I have heard excellent things about one guy who charges £160pw but also have met a lovely lady that can do it for £85 a week but no-one 'knows' her. She has given me two numbers to call for references.

What would you do, go with the more expensive as he is known or opt for the cheaper who seemed lovely?

Lx
 
Can't help you on price as we back our youngsters ourselves, including a monster 17.2 3 year old.

I would say that it is vital to get this done properly, particularly if you are not very experienced at bringing on young horses yourself.

£85 a week does sound very cheap as basic part livery round here would be about £90 a week and that doesn't include any riding!

I would certainly take up the references the lady has offered.

I would also ask how long they think they will need (I know, how long is a piece of string?), what they expect to achieve in that time, are they happy for you to visit and see his progress and can they fit in with the time you have available.

Also go and see them working with a young horse. Whilst I certainly don't condone punishing a horse I also think it is very important that they are consistent in their treatment of the horse and are firm but fair.

Good people generally
 
I would want to see some horses that have been backed by whoever I sent the horse to. I would ideally like to see whoever working on a current 'client'.

If money is no object, I would go for the expensive one you have heard good things about.....
 
thanks for you replies, I am so confused about all this and defiantly don't have the experience to do it myself. I am going to get references for both and take it from there but just wondered if paying more always means better?!
 
Would always go for somewhere thats recommended or you know of. My mate just sent her highly flighty chestnut mare to be started, paid £250 and has come back a nightmare. She has now got to pay someone else to help sort the mare out.
 
Why dont you send a PM to Janet George on here. I don't know her personally but I know she breeds Irish Drafts so is used to dealing with big boys:p They also offer breaking and reschooling services. Have a look at her profile and check out her previous posts - she speaks a lot of sense. She is miles away from me but know that if I was in your position I would def send my baby to her for starting.
 
wiffy said:
thanks for you replies, I am so confused about all this and defiantly don't have the experience to do it myself. I am going to get references for both and take it from there but just wondered if paying more always means better?!
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No, it doesn't! I have had a number of horses come here after being thoroughly mucked up by 'trainers' (so called!) who charge a lot more than I do!! I'm afraid there ARE a lot of trainers out there that I wouldn't trust to teach a cat to drink milk!

We charge £140 a week, including full livery and plenty of feed! It's just not possible to do it much cheaper unless you cut corners (like feed, and clean bedding!!) And of course some trainers will string the process out as long as possible - we had one come in who had been with another trainer for 8 weeks and they still hadn't got the horse lunging properly, let alone sat on her!

It's impossible to give a guarantee on how long backing will take - because it depends on the individual horse - but MOST horses should get to the 'hacking out with a quiet companion' stage in 5 weeks and should also be able to do 'walk, trot, canter and whoa' (whoa being most important!) on both reins in the school.

You should visit the trainer and see 'work in progress' BEFORE making a decision - this is the most important decision you'll ever have to make for the future behaviour of your horse!! Something like 1 in 6 of the horses we get in for backing' now are horses that someone else has already made a mess of - at considerable cost to the owner! These horses take much longer to get going properly, because they are often frightened, confused, and sometimes totally pi**ed off with people!

You're not THAT far from me if you want to pop over for a chat!
 
chameleon said:
Why dont you send a PM to Janet George on here. I don't know her personally but I know she breeds Irish Drafts so is used to dealing with big boys:p They also offer breaking and reschooling services. Have a look at her profile and check out her previous posts - she speaks a lot of sense. She is miles away from me but know that if I was in your position I would def send my baby to her for starting.
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^^^ this! Janet had my boy for rebreaking and reschooling and did a cracking job. Would highly recommend. And her rates are reasonable too.
Whoever you decide on, I would go and see them working horses.... references are bound to be good....you aren't going to get pointed in the direction of dissatified clients :o
 
If shes just starting out then maybe that's why she's not charging as much until she builds up her reputation...Deffo look in to her reference's and make sure they aren't members of her family!!! Have a really good chat with her and see how you feel.
Just because she's not charging a fortune doesn't mean she's rubbish, just means she's not ripping you off?

Obviously this is a really important part of his hopefully long riding life so I'd research everyone you have had quotes from and find out why they are charging what they charge. What do you get for your money?

How many times do they ride, what happens to your horse when they are training them, what level do they train up to etc etc.

I have a rising 3 year old that I'm going to bring an instructor to me. I'm lucky i have facilities they can use and i know I'll pay more to have them come to me but at least i know how he's living day to day and i can keep an eye on the instructor. Maybe if you can look into someone coming to you?

Which ever route you choose, word of mouth in this area is really important so don't forget to ask around local saddlerys, yards and farriers etc who they recommend.

Good luck
 
if you don't go from a recommendation on here, go and see the person working other horses. this is VITAL. horses can be permanently wrecked if this early work is mucked up. high price and a big name is no guarantee. i had a lovely easy horse in to back who had had a bad time at a well known name's yard. heaven knows why, easy peasy horse here.
fwiw it doesn't have to be expensive, it depends on the set-up... if i can keep a horse out, and just feed it hay and feed (and work it, and skip out daily etc) then obv this saves me bedding costs etc. however, most riders will factor in a bit of danger money for backers, with good reason sometimes, so it shouldn't be very cheap imho...
 
We charge £150 a week, we use natural horsemanship techniques along side traditional methods for a tailored approach to a horse because everyone is different!!!
Price also includes full livery 7 days a week and all hay, staw and hard feed.
 
i use a guy called robert leese he is very good and i would recomend him to anyone with any horse related issue.

he has a website roberleesehorsemanship.com
 
JanetGeorge said:
No, it doesn't! I have had a number of horses come here after being thoroughly mucked up by 'trainers' (so called!) who charge a lot more than I do!! I'm afraid there ARE a lot of trainers out there that I wouldn't trust to teach a cat to drink milk!

We charge £140 a week, including full livery and plenty of feed! It's just not possible to do it much cheaper unless you cut corners (like feed, and clean bedding!!) And of course some trainers will string the process out as long as possible - we had one come in who had been with another trainer for 8 weeks and they still hadn't got the horse lunging properly, let alone sat on her!

It's impossible to give a guarantee on how long backing will take - because it depends on the individual horse - but MOST horses should get to the 'hacking out with a quiet companion' stage in 5 weeks and should also be able to do 'walk, trot, canter and whoa' (whoa being most important!) on both reins in the school.

You should visit the trainer and see 'work in progress' BEFORE making a decision - this is the most important decision you'll ever have to make for the future behaviour of your horse!! Something like 1 in 6 of the horses we get in for backing' now are horses that someone else has already made a mess of - at considerable cost to the owner! These horses take much longer to get going properly, because they are often frightened, confused, and sometimes totally pi**ed off with people!

You're not THAT far from me if you want to pop over for a chat!
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I would take Mrs George's offer up if I was you.
 
onemoretime said:
I would take Mrs George's offer up if I was you.
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One for me to remember in the future too!:)

Word of mouth is really important.

I have had horses started by non-professionals and professionals. I actually got a better deal from the non-professional. I am not complaining about the professionals at all, as the horse was well looked after but I didnt get what I wanted. I probably didnt specify clearly enough tbh.

As other people have said, you need to look for someone who specialises in starting young horses and look at what they have done.
 
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