Ok, so I have a 2yo (14.3hh) AQH that will he going for professional starting and reining training. But i’m having a hard time deciding if he’s ready this year or not. There’s plenty of opinions on this topic of course and yes X-rays are an option. He is well developed and we’re currently still working on building his top line and overall strength. He is fairly thick boned. He has been getting a Fat Maxx supplement (amino acids, omega 6 and 3, B12 and folic acid) since i bought him at 6mo. He has also been getting Osteon from Platinum performance (soft tissue and bone health, bone development). So in that sector his bones are developing well for his age. Do i wait until January 2025 when he turns 3 to send him? He would not be leaving for his 60 days until October 2024 if he is ready this year. I just want to hear other people’s experiences and pros and cons. (Can add more pics in comments if needed)
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In no way should a 2yo be doing any discipline training. I’m not against basic starting - go, whoa, steer, walk, trot/lope, a couple times a week, 20 minutes or so, as a late 2yo.
So IMHO, wait. And even then, 60 days should be aimed at producing basic, solid w/t/l work and starting to develop a solid base of fitness. He can walk and trot patterns a few times a week. He does not need to be drilled on any circle patterns even as a 3yo
His knees are only the first milestone. Hocks and back still have open growth plates until 5-6, which is why discipline work should not start at 2, or even 3 depending on the discipline. Basic low key jumping (big canter stride), learning basic patterns (reining) is fine, that can be part of conditioning. But that’s it.
If your trainer is worth his salt, he won’t be over-riding and watching for any indication, whether it be physically or mentally, of your horse not capable of handling the program. Then giving you a call so you can make a decision on how to proceed.
Your horse is pretty stout with bone and looks to be ran outside. I’m not saying that’s a complete guarantee to long term soundness, I think it helps.
However the trainer, program and your goal is gong to be the biggest factor regardless of your feed program.
I am with JB, wait in getting horse going. Bones are soft, circles are bad for unfinished bones. Totally opposite of Western thinking, with their “start 'em young and go from there” into advanced training. Young horse MAY look well developed, but his mental capacity is easily overloaded with fast training on his still-soft bones. Going in straight lines, starting to get some distance rides on him is MUCH more beneficial in the long run, for long term usability. My ranch friends use a young horse (3yrs) a half day, mostly walking, as they check fence, check cattle. They change horses at noon, get another young one for his mileage. Not over using a horse, seeing things, gentle turns, forward, always forward.
Way too many AQHA, western types of horses are toast at single digit ages, with the early starting. They don’t get good without LOTS of arena work to get polished for competitions! Even Western Pleasure requires MANY circles, pattern and lead practice to be very reliable. Reining, cutting, stock horses add in hard stops, tight turns, to get them good enough to win. Add in short toe hoof trims because it is “the style,” and horse is aimed down a bad path.
Sorry, we go by age, not “he looks well grown”, when putting horses to work. Ours are tall, even young, but scarcely ready to work as 2yr olds or even 3yrs old! They get trained and into light work as 4yr olds. They do indeed keep growing until 5-6 yrs and continue to fill out until 7yrs.
They last into their 20s, still sound and working, with us enjoying them!
It depends on your trainer.
If your trainer is an HONEST professional, the horse will NOT be worked too hard to be detrimental. You can be easy on the horse and still teach them basic walk, trot, lope, stop, soft in the face, move off leg pressure, etc etc.
If your trainer is great, they can work with them 20 minutes a day and make great progress. That’s not going to be too taxing.
Your debate between October 2024 and Jan 2025 is only 3 months and really doesn’t make much of a difference honestly.
And then there are trainers out there that way override and overwork and fry a young horse, but those aren’t trainers you should be using anyway…
Yes agreed. Should have specified that “Reining training” would just be the small things. soft in the mouth, transitions, etc. Nothing harsh like full speed galloping, sliding and spins. The 60 day start would be the 20-30 mins every couple times a week.
How much turn out (and what type) will he get in training? Often trainers put horses in tiny pens or keep them stalled, both of which are not good for a developing horse.
Will they be shod? Also considered problematic for a growing horse.
What is the rate of attrition for this trainer? It is not uncommon for futurity trainers to take in a bunch of young stock, knowing that only a small percentage will cope (mentally and or physically) and they will focus on those for the futurities and send the others home to recover.
How heavy is the person that will be riding your horse? I do think this matters.
Is the training arena riding or will they be heading out on trails in fields as well? The less circles/turns the easier on a young joints.
I would be tempted to split the difference. Send the colt for 30 days in October. Emphasize to the trainer that you want basics and confidence building and that it includes you riding him towards the end. Then you can work on those basics at home and gently build condition (with maybe a short vacation built in) Six months later he may be ready for more discipline specific work.
That’s better, BUT, it still leaves a lot of questions. I’ve seen a lot of trainers use lots and lots of transitions to get the horse “soft” in the mouth, and that’s not healthy for that age. That age needs to just go. Long trotting, lots of walking, they don’t need a ton of transitions at this point because that’s hard on the hocks and back, and not neede to learn to be soft
Properly applied shoes on properly trimmed feet aren’t a problem for growing feet
I like this! 30 days for a long 2yo who has a reasonable foundation of horse basics at home, should easily be able to get a reasonable start of the basics in 30 days, 2-3 days a week, 20 minutes a day
Some trainers will not take a horse for only 30 days. Some have a 60-90 day minimum, for good reason.
30 days is very ideal but the trainer i am going to requires a minimum of 60 days for colt starting. I think im going to hold off until next year! After hearing suggestions i think it’s best to just wait. Maybe back him later this year but that’ll be it
What’s your goal for the horse? If it’s showing in the reining futurities now, you need to get him with the colt starter. If it’s sending him to a program as a 3 yo, you need to send him to the colt starter now.
There’s a lot of folks that disagree with riding 2 yo’s as a black and white fact. I personally believe in having horses in an appropriate program as early as possible (as yearlings, if possible), if the end goal is to be competitive showing. Learning how to live in a regimented schedule, accepting boundaries, etc - all of it is so much easier on them mentally when they’re young, versus waiting until they’re rebellious teenagers.
If he has space, I say send your horse.
All I can say is that for my personal horses I believe in waiting. My coming 2 yr old probably won’t be ridden until age 3. He is mentally and physically immature. I know he has another 4 inches of growth and he is very narrow in the chest. He needs time to grow.
I might ground drive him and sit on his back and maybe walk around. That’s all I have planned for him. Maybe do some clicker training and teach him fetch since he loves games… Maybe go to a couple obstacle events and work on obstacles this fall. He does need work on crossing water so that’s on the list too. He’ll cross puddles but doesn’t know what a pond is.
I’m not planning much until this fall… until then he gets to enjoy being a happy pasture pet.
presently we have one of each on the barn
A weanling was delivered to us at Morgan Grand Nationals, since he was there it made sense to put him the ring as there was a class he could be entered. He won that division against over thirty head of aged veteran show horses possibly becoming the youngest Morgan World Champion to date (he was five months old). He is now a long yearling who is just a pleasure to work with with excellent stall manors. Very nicely developing standing at just under 15h Very personal, accepts whatever as if he had done it all before (and eats everything without question) His class was Sport Horse in Hand Stallion/Geldings, he did everything asked preforming the triangle course and stood without moving being judged, it was as if his half brother was there telling him what to do and behave
We also have a now six year mare who was never started in any thing until age five. She has since won three national and one world championship. She does have her opinion on how things are to be done but does not miss a step, remembers every thing very well, can be left alone for months at a time then returned to former self without a problem.
(and an oddity that we had to go back to check is she is looks just like of first Morgan of 35 years ago, a long time Morgan owner at Nationals asked if She was closely related to our former horse who she knew well, she said She Looked Just Like Her…had to pull up the photos and sure enough down to snip on the nose they looked alike)
So I guess once again “it” depends on what the horse can do and what is best for the horse at the time. We never have demanded that horse Has To Do whatever discipline we wanted, we worked with them to find what they liked to do
I have a post about this, but it is incredibly difficult to find research if it is out there.
My personal experience is that it can be really easy to mess with the joints and bones in a young horse, so I’d just rather not do any disciplinary training that early. This is all anecdotal, but I know a few horses that were trained quite heavily at 2 and all had issues around 4+ or undisclosed issues (unwilling to move forward, stiff moving or uneven, but subtle moving). Whether this is genetic-related or simply the stress on the joints and growth, I don’t know. At the very least, I’d suspect it may exacerbate genetic issues.
If your goal IS not the 3 years old futurities i would wait, send to break under saddle beginning of next year. It s sound crazy but end of march it IS allready late to send your horse and have him ready for thé 3 years old reining futurities
It sort of sounds like you’re saying that a rider’s/owner’s competitive goals are more important than the long term health and soundness of the horse
Came here to just say this!
If you aren’t aiming towards the futurities (and if you are you’re running late already) just wait.
I never once said that, and frankly, I don’t appreciate you putting words into my mouth.
In fact, the only reason I would not send a horse out as a yearling would be if it would be a burden financially - at which point, I would ask the owner what their goals with the horse are - competitive or not. The earlier young horses learn structure, the better for them long term.
It was a given that most horses were backed as 2 year olds. In fact back when that was common we really didn’t have the lameness issues that seem to run rampant today?
Maybe I just never heard of them since we didn’t have internet then or maybe horses were just stronger structurally? No one is saying to ride them hard but looking at OP’s horse I see a solid young horse who could easily benefit from very light riding as a 2 year old.
Carrying a rider, backing, learning to walk, leg yield, turn, stop, move off of leg, etc… all at the walk with a weight appropriate rider just sets them up for a positive future.
It also sets them up mentally to have a positive “work ethic” type of mind. I know people hate that phrase but IME horses left to do as they please longer tend to prefer that to doing what is asked.
