I have an approximately 5 month old weanling that I just bought. She’s fabulous. Already leads, loads, ties, picks up feet etc. I was thinking about starting to pony her on some the the easier trails that I ride (nothing more than 3-4 miles).
Is 5 months too young to start to pony? So far nothing seems to phase this baby and I would like to keep it that way.
I think that is a bit too much to ask for a 5 month old. Let the baby be a baby.
Yes. The neck is much too fragile to risk getting yanked on at that age.
There is nothing wrong with ponying at this age if you do the preliminary work. Get the youngster well broke to giving to the lead rope and use a really mellow old gelding to start work. Do nothing faster than a walk for a LONG time. Understand that the youngster is still learning and can easily have a “Monday.”
Good luck with your program.
G.
Our foals were taught from when they were born to give to pressure and we never had one set back when tied.
Some of them at times we ponied them for short rides, at times from their own dam and they were fine.
They seem to have a great time going along, very curious and happy like.
It is all how you do things, be careful, as explained above, the trick is not to ever get in any fight, but finesse any time there is a bit of problem with a youngster, especially careful that they don’t feel too much pressure from the halter.
Very young ones can panic and flip and get seriously injured.
Teach to give carefully and keep reminding them about it, always gently.
Sounds like yours is already there with all it knows, where ponying should just be one more fun thing to do.
I believe the key here is your expectation. Start with the basic’s and gradually add to that foundation. From what you describe, I believe your baby is ready for the new challenge. Never over face him, remain constantly attentive to how baby is tolerating, and remember to keep lessons brief. Careful to not teach behaviors you will spend months trying to fix!
I would start with having someone lead baby alongside horse and rider. Assess response, and progress from there.
OP also said she was thinking 3-4 miles of ponying on easy trails. IDK but seems to me like 3-4 miles might be a bit on the long side for a 5 month old?
I suppose it comes down to the weaner. But why would you want to, feel a need to?
I have bred and raised a lot of foals, (TBs). Years ago I used to fool with them a lot like some/a lot of books suggest, talk about.
But due to the work load of having lots of horses and short on staff. I stopped and only made sure the were good with the very basics as foals or weanlings.
When it came time to sales prep I would pull them in and start working with them. Sometimes only 30 days before a sale. Come in a bit on the feral side of things. But were perfect citizens when they got tho the sales. (TB auctions).
Yearlings, I started them on the drill in the summer to late fall. Unless they were slated to be sold. In my many years of experience doing it this way with lots of them each year. It only added a bit more work at first. The ALL came around quickly within 2 weeks. Mush to the amazement of some of my “pony club” employees and friends.
To each their own on this.
I guess I should probably mention what my expectations for this baby are. She will mostly be a trail riding horse and she will also be taught to drive. I tend to have all around horses that can do whatever discipline I require from them. The trail I plan to take her on is pretty level (no hard up or down) well maintained and not rocky. She will be ponyed off my extremely experienced mare who has also been her companion since I brought this baby home (in fact, this mare pretty much has made the baby her own). The baby is turned out (on significant acreage) with this mare so she gets a fair amount of exercise daily.
I’m going to go ahead and give it a shot. If it’s a problem, we’ll abort mission.
Foals in the wild are expected to travel miles with the herd to watering holes and areas to graze, sometimes within hours of birth. I don’t think ponying occasionally would hurt her, as long as you do it safely. Good luck OP!
I ponied my pre-weanlings from their dams many times after they were well accustomed to leading. I always held the (short) lead rope in my hand (no dallying) and rode in pastures where I could let go if necessary. It was rarely if ever necessary but in the one case I can remember, the foal was much more interested in staying with mom than exploring or panicking. I retrieved the rope without even dismounting. I don’t think the foal realized anything was amiss.
Over time, they learned lots about stream crossings, cattle, birds and the like not to mention that they all pony beautifully as adults. A big win in my estimation assuming you have a safe environment.
I ponied my babies from their mother - even when they got away, they stayed close - don’t have specific ages for this training - just when everything seemed right and the baby was well handled.
Just a quick update. We went on the ride yesterday. Kept it very short and took a few breaks when the baby seemed stressed/tired. Everyone did very well. We’ll continue to go on short little rides while the weather holds.
I see no physical or training reason to pony a weanling other than to get the youngster used to movement and activity over it’s head, and that only needs to be done for a few minutes in the arena. When I sales prepped tb youngsters, we never ever did anything more strenuous than 15 minutes of hand walking with weanlings, and 10 minutes of lunging or 20 minutes of hand walking with yearlings. These were horses that went to big sales and brought 6 figures, occasionally 7. They got lots of turnout and plenty of self-exercise.
We did a lot of ponying with our young event prospects, but never at 5 months. It’s a good way to exercise long yearlings etc… and can teach them some solid skills re terrain and water, how to behave out in the open…that kind of thing. They can pick up all kinds of good stuff from a quiet confident lead horse.
These were always very short jaunts though, never anything like 3-4 miles.
Also I would worry about sore hooves on a wee one doing that level of work
Why are you in such a rush? This is a BABY let it be a baby. I wouldn’t think of ponying anything under 2 years old.
Sure foals have to go distances in the wild, but their life expectancies are short and nobody is going to ride them.
Put this baby back in the field where it belongs and just do a little ground work/grooming/foot trimming, etc.
At the rate you are going, this horse has almost no chance of long term soundness as a riding horse of any kind.
Do not concur.
The baby is going to grow into a 1000 lb. animal and the foundation you lay today will support the structure of training and discipline you start tomorrow. Teaching the weanling the discipline of the lead rope, no matter what it might be attached to, is NOT going to cause any injury of any kind, long or short term. On the other hand neglecting to teach these lessons until the weanling is a yearling or even larger means a much greater risk of harm to both human and horse.
This doesn’t mean pony the horse from D.C. to L.A.; it does mean teach the youngster that this is part of life as a saddle horse. Intelligently done there is no unreasonable risk of harm.
G.
This is obviously a topic of hot contention and I think we will have to agree to disagree in some cases. I am not overworking this baby - she is handled daily in that she walks up to me in the pasture and I’ll brush her and mess with her feet but that’s about it. A couple times a week I try to do something different such as leading her around the property or having her move around the arena or a quick pony trip. Otherwise she is out in the pasture playing with the other horses.
I find that younsters tend to be much more curious rather than scared of new experiences. I would rather her take her out at this age and get her used to all kinds of things so by the time she gets under saddle (which will not be until she is 4 btw) she’ll have been there and done that.
This is a loaded topic. It honestly depends on the person. I myself would not be comfortable doing this as I don’t trust my timing enough. I personally do not see a valid reason to start this young.
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