Young horses

[6103claire]

Hiya

I have a four year old mare (chestnut in photos) who i ride on average 4 times a week. i try to vary what i don as much as possible and never school her for more than half an hour at a time, making sure she has various breaks throughout. i jump her probably a few times a month, nothing big and varying in how long. i have also taken her to various clinics and little shows and a couple of days hunting, although i dont do the whole day, and its not a very fast hunt with just a few jumps usually.

i think that doing such a varied workload is good for youngsters as long as its not too intense as it gets them used to doing different things and they learn to accept new situations.

i was just wondering what other people do with their youngsters and how much?

 

[AmyMay]

Well I don't have a youngster - but hope than when Amy's foal is four it will have as much fun as yours is, and that I can be as considerate an owner.

 

[6103claire]

thanks, i've never had a youngster before but try to do as varied stuff as i can without it being to intense! hopefully then i can avoid problems in the long run as i intend keeping her! if i had had her from when she was much younger i would have done loads with her in hand so she got used to anything! i'm lucky as i got her off her breeder who has obviously done quite a bit of ground work when she was younger.

 

[eventergirl87]

I have a 5 year old.......... and i try to vary his work as much as possible ..... from schooling to lunging to jumping to hacking etc...

obviously hes asked more than your 4 yr old......

hes still quite a babyish 5 yr old...... hasnt done much schooling sessions range from 1/2hr to 45mins, jumping about once a week. Goes to shows etc...

But if id had him when he was 4 i would be doing about the same amount that you do.

sounds just rite with varity etc....

 

[annaellie]

In my experance sticking to the same things youngsters get bored more easy I have always varied the work as much as poss

 

[6103claire]

glad it sounds about right! i hate it when you see four and 5 year olds in with full intense workloads, it cant be any good for them in the long run!

 

[samp]

Think you are best doing a variety as it is best to introduce them to news things at a young age. I would be doing probably about the sae as you, though I may do more hacking as 30mins in the school IMO can be quite intense on there legs etc and I want them to harden up a bit first

 

[Theresa_F]

Mine is just starting out but I do a little of everything with him - in hand, long reining, loose schooling, hacking out being led of my old horse and a tiny bit of riding.

This weekend he did a couple of 6" poles which he found huge fun - will have another go at this in a few weeks.

He seems to be really enjoying his varied short sessions.

 

[6103claire]

yeh i forgot to put but i prob hack more than i school as i find it more interesting and school is waterlogged half the time! when i do school i tend to spend at least ten mins in walk and let her stretch every 5 mins or so. i aggree it is alot of pressure on legs tho if you do too much

 

[6103claire]

i think variety is the best way to make a behaved calm horse which enjoys and wants to work

 

[Tempi]

i have a 5 year old too, and i agree that varying their work is very good for them. However being 5 and destined for future dressage stardom (in my dreams!) he wont ever get hunted or x-countried as his legs are too valuable. Hes just starting hacking now and is also just starting jumping. hes ridden 6 days a week.

When my mare has her foal in 2008 and it turns 4 in 2012 i will hope to vary its work aswell.

 

[Baileysno1]

Ryu is 5 and a half now, I had him 1 year the other week and we've done a bit of everything, I keep his exercise at home varied and try to get to various riding club rallies and clinics, we even did adult camp!

Ryu isn't very forward going and although he will hopefully be a large riding horse / dressge horse and his legs are precious I took him autumn hunting we only did a little bit of jumping but it was fast and really blew the cob webs out. In the Spring he start will going to the beach every week for fast work, this was a wonderful addition to me other horses programme and Ryu will hopefully love it too!

 

[Seahorse]

I have a 4yr old gelding and I normally hack about 3 or 4 times a week and go in the school about twice a week but it depends on several things like work and if my daughter is at nursery and there is someone to hack out with. If I have my daughter with me I will go in the school or lunge him. If there's nobody to hack out with I will go in the school (I hate hacking on my own!)
So it varies from week to week and we have no set routine. But after christmas I'm going to have a flatwork lesson a week and will probably start jumping him too.

This year I'm planning on doing some showing and dressage on him as well as some sponsored rides and things like that

 

[6103claire]

i wish i could take mine to the beach! i bet they love it and its good on their legs!

 

[KatB]

Lol!! My four year old (in my siggy) has a similar work load to yours, he has done a few HT and small ODE and been bloodhounding a couple of times, and done a small amount of showing. but does short schooling sessions and mainly hacking. He was worked hard over the summer, but did try and keep things varied and interesting for him. He is turnign into a fab horse, and I just listen to him, if he needs time off he has it. He is having an easy life at the mo, and will start "hard" work again in Jan/feb.

 

[_jetset_]

I have a 5 year old who was onlty backed at 4 so probably more like a 4 year old in her stage of work. She is taken in the school 5 days a week and schooled between 35 minutes to an hour depending on whether she is going well or not.

She is also starting to hack out, but as I work it is difficult to hack much at this time of year (especially as she is only just starting to hack and it can get pretty busy on the roads near us) but hopefully after the New Year we will hack out at least once a week.

I try to vary her schooling to make it more interesting... whether that be serpentines, small circles lots of transition work etc etc. She seems to enjoy what we do and likes learning new things, which is good.

 

[JoBo]

Blackie is 4 and he is ridden/lunged about 4 or 5 times a week. This includes 1 half an hour lesson and hacking.
He has been to a couple of little Walk/Trot dressages and popped over a few little jumps at home. He certainly seems happy and well, so we will just carry on doing what seems to be working.

I have just brought Bodey who is 3.5 and he has just been backed.

 

[MagicMelon]

I try to do varied stuff too. I try to let the horse experience everything, lots of situations etc. to prepare it for competing.

 

[RobinHood]

I have a 3.5yr old haflinger. I broke him in september and he did about 10/15mins a day in the school for 3 weeks. Since then he has just hacked once a week for 30mins max just to let him go out and see the world. To start with he hacked with another horse but he always went in front and he went on his first solo hack last week. He was an absolute superstar!

In the spring he will start doing a bit of work in the school and go out on the lorry for some different hacks. I will keep my eyes open for some low key local shows so he can go and do 'handsomest gelding' or something similar just to experience the atmosphere, not that I think he'll he bothered.

 

[virtual]

I tend to only have young horses. They always get hacked out 2 or 3 times a week (alone and in company) with several schooling sessions a month (I tend to do a few one after the other so we can progress further, then give a break, which fits in with my university commitments). I often do pole work and give them a little pop over a few jumps at the end of a schooling session (which they seem to love)

Getting them out and about is important for me because I like to compete, so we often go to 'no pressure' events like teaching sessions, XC schooling, small shows and clear round jumping. This seems to keep them level headed and sane.