Developing a Young Dressage Horse

[GramV]

There is no such thing as an early or late bloomer in terms of bone development, which I think is one of the major keys to a sound, long life. The other is careful conditioning.

From birth to 3 mine get handled every which way–tying, leading, ponying, trailering, walking over tarps, going to shows, etc. and plenty of out on the trails with adult horses, or out in a huge field with hills to run.

At 3 or earlier start making a saddle and bridle just part of life. Maybe late 3’s start putting weight on back and sliding off.

4 very slowly start riding. Since all of the prelim. work has been done, nothing is usually an issue. Light, easy arena work and trails. It’s not about pushing, but just letting them experience everything. I find they’re usually working on focusing on where to put their feet, so don’t have the attention to do other things.

I find 5 is the year where they know where to put their feet and feel like they are super cool now, so start testing. Slowly start asking more in terms of staying together. This is where the conditioning steps up, and it’s not about pushing in the arena, but longer times, and preferably a lot of trail with hills.

6/7 they start really building the muscling and conditioning, and the last of the bones close in the spine, so it’s the START of the collection and really bringing them together.

I think it is a concern that we have “naturally talented horses that can do the work” at 5/6. They might be “doing” it, but correct dressage requires a lot of training and conditioning, and it takes minimally 2/3 years of really focused conditioning to get the soft tissue as well as bony tissue where they are truly doing it correctly and preparing for a lifetime of soundness.

The traditional Lippizzaners don’t even ride them until about 6, and they are staying sound and working at a very high level well into their 30’s. I think that’s a lesson to learn.

[TaraB_Connected_Ride]

@MysticOakRanch

I agree with @joiedevie99s timeline - that is pretty much how we did my youngsters over the years. Basic groundwork for the first 3 years, started with saddle, bridle, lunging at 3.5, mounted between 3.5 and 4. Usually a few months off during the Winter months, then back to work in late Spring of 4 years old.

Then we would generally do 3 days/week of light work, eventually up it to 4 days/week, and slowly build the work up. My theory is they should be ready to show Training Level at 4 years old. Anything before that and they have been started too young. First level at 5 years old, and if they are “precocious”, 2nd level at 5 years too. The FEI young horse classes are for those precocious horses who have a lot of natural uphill ability and are mentally ready for harder work - they are NOT for all horses.

You also mention that your horse was weaned early. At 3 months, a foal has gotten all the nutrition they really need from their mother - but they have not gotten the emotional support and the discipline that a mare provides. So I would make sure she has contact with other horses, and preferably at least one of those horses should be dominant over her, so she doesn’t feel like she has to be in charge of everything.

Good luck - I love seeing the progress of young horses!

I completely agree that timeline makes a ton of sense! As usual this community and their wealth of collective knowledge doesn’t dissapoint!

I was very fortunate that I was able to put my girl with other horses as soon as she arrived at 3 months, that were certainly the boss of her. She is not dominant in any way, thankfully! I knew that was going to be the largest hurdle with her being so young and away from her mother. She went out first with an old quarter horse gelding that took 0 crap from her and slowly introduced her to the rest of the heard from there. There certainly are things that we just can’t teach that their mother would!

[TaraB_Connected_Ride]

@SnicklefritzG

I have several young horses that I’m developing. I’ve started them with handling, leading (with their dam there), etc. before they are weaned. Once weaned we do age appropriate activities including some in-hand showing. they also learned how to accept a bit and bridle from an early age due to the rules for tack, etc.

I’m planning to back the now 2 year old early next year just to sit on her and walk around and not do much else until maybe later in her 3 year old year depending on how things go and how she develops.

One comment I will make is that a lot of people choose to skip the 4 year old FEI test. It is a lot to start a horse and have it not only doing w/t/c, but steering, and showing some submission etc at that age. To be doing that test at 4 one generally has to start the horse under saddle at 3 and not all are ready for that. there are more people who skip that and wait to do the FEI 5 year old test instead.

Thank you for the imput on the FEI 4 year olds. I have heard the same and that is why most doing 4 year olds did 3 year old Material in preparation. I definitely have no intentions of pushing her to do anything she isn’t ready for. There is just no need for that! My trainer has this amazing 8 year old who was brought out at 4 to do the FEI test and he was clearly not ready. Thankfully they let him be and grow as he is HUGE and at 6 took him back out to do the 6 year olds in europe where he was winning everything! I defibitely want happy, healthy and longevity for my girl. She is absolutely my heart and soul!

[TaraB_Connected_Ride]

@alibi_18

Hum… Like MysticOakRanch said, you should make sure she has another horse, more dominant, to teach her proper behavior. Your bond may be strong, but from experience, it can cause behavioral problems down the road. Having a strong bond is something, but young horses really need to develop their horse personality
(I don’t mean it in a PP way!!!) by bonding with their own kind.

5-6yrs is the teenage years… You will see it when you get there. They all go through a phase where they think they’ve learned it all and get that « it’s boring » and « you can’t make me do » attitude. It does appear overnight for some and it goes away with patience and understanding.

What is your riding experience in general? Have you trained horses up the level? What is the highest level of dressage you’ve competed at?
What do you know about the young horses classes?

Asking because the FEI young horses are not for every horses, and not for every riders. It’s also not judged the same and, as I scribe a lot, I find it disenhearting to see really nice pairs not suited/prepared at all for the level, when they would get more out of regular classes.

Thanks for taking the time to reply! After about 2 weeks of “quarentine” when she got to me at 3 months, I turned her out with an old Quarter Horse gelding who I knew wouldn’t hurt her but took absolutely no crap from her and was the herd leader here at our farm. He taught her very well! At about 6 months I was able to put her out with the herd of 7 horses. She is low man on the totem pole to this day and I don’t think she minds it! She seems very happy not being the boss and the respect she learned from them clearly translated to her respecting me/others. I have zero issues with that. I know enough from working on breeding farms that she absolutely had to learn respect from other horses and not me.

You are the second responder to talk about the “know it all” phase which is fascinating to me! I’m very curious to see when that hits for her!

I started riding hunter/jumpers as a kid and moved into eventing in my early teens and competed up to prelim. In my late teens I got the amazing experience of working with Bettina Drummond and fell in love with dressage. I started workibg at a dressage barn when I turned 18 and worked there for 13 years. I have competed through 4th level on horses that I have brought up to that level working with trainers and have been very fortunate to be able to ride and train on some amazing GP school masters. But, I’ve never started from scratch. The horses I competed up were already well started and competing 1st/2nd.

I do know how the young horse classes are judged and scored differently and absolutely agree they are not for every horse/rider! Also, to clarify, I am not planning on being the one to back her or start her under saddle training. She will go to a professional to get her start and I may decide to not ride her myself for a few years to let her be ridden mostly by a pro. I would probably take a few lessons on her when she’s steady enough not to be confused by multiple riders, but I will leave most of it to the trainer. Who I would trust to decide if/when she’s ready to compete or if she has the quality to go down the FEI track.

I would just like to do everything leading up to her being sent to a professional to be backed and doing it in an appropriate time-frame. So teaching her to lunge, long line, accept tack and maybe even start to put weight on her back.

I have seen enough young horse showing to know exactly what you mean about nice horse and rider pairs that really would have been way better competing at 1st level than what the produced in a 4 year old test. I definitely don’t want that to be the case for my girl!

[TaraB_Connected_Ride]

@Jealoushe

Carl Hester said he does not aim his horses at the 4/5/6 classes unless they are so naturally talented it is easy for them. It is a lot on a young horse, and most that do those classes don’t end up competing very long.

Whats the rush? So many people buy youngsters and then don’t have the patience to wait for them to mature to start working them

There is absolutely no rush! I have goals, because I think they are good to have, but she will not be pushed or compete in anything if she isn’t capable of doing well and mentally and physically ready!

[TaraB_Connected_Ride]

@GramV

There is no such thing as an early or late bloomer in terms of bone development, which I think is one of the major keys to a sound, long life. The other is careful conditioning.

From birth to 3 mine get handled every which way–tying, leading, ponying, trailering, walking over tarps, going to shows, etc. and plenty of out on the trails with adult horses, or out in a huge field with hills to run.

At 3 or earlier start making a saddle and bridle just part of life. Maybe late 3’s start putting weight on back and sliding off.

4 very slowly start riding. Since all of the prelim. work has been done, nothing is usually an issue. Light, easy arena work and trails. It’s not about pushing, but just letting them experience everything. I find they’re usually working on focusing on where to put their feet, so don’t have the attention to do other things.

I find 5 is the year where they know where to put their feet and feel like they are super cool now, so start testing. Slowly start asking more in terms of staying together. This is where the conditioning steps up, and it’s not about pushing in the arena, but longer times, and preferably a lot of trail with hills.

6/7 they start really building the muscling and conditioning, and the last of the bones close in the spine, so it’s the START of the collection and really bringing them together.

I think it is a concern that we have “naturally talented horses that can do the work” at 5/6. They might be “doing” it, but correct dressage requires a lot of training and conditioning, and it takes minimally 2/3 years of really focused conditioning to get the soft tissue as well as bony tissue where they are truly doing it correctly and preparing for a lifetime of soundness.

The traditional Lippizzaners don’t even ride them until about 6, and they are staying sound and working at a very high level well into their 30’s. I think that’s a lesson to learn.

Thank you for the detail! This was great to read. I know you never know when growth spurts and maturity will happen and some develop quickly and others more slowly. We had a 6 year old that was doing FEI and was absolutely stunning. At 7, he had a growth spurt and he was like a gangly baby again that didn’t know where to put his feet! It almost seemed like it was 10 steps back, but it wasn’t. He just needed to slow down for a bit to adjust to his new body and after he did, he was back to his brilliant (maybe even more brilliant) self!

[alibi_18]

@TaraB_Connected _Rider

You are the second responder to talk about the “know it all” phase which is fascinating to me! I’m very curious to see when that hits for her!

That phase is mesmerizing.
One day everything is playfull and the horse is eager to learn and please… than BAM!
I béieve it is also related to the last real growth spurs…and last teeth to erupt… and … the stars that aren’t aligned.

Usually, it tales a week or a month and the shenanigans just disapears.

I started riding hunter/jumpers as a kid and moved into eventing in my early teens and competed up to prelim. In my late teens I got the amazing experience of working with Bettina Drummond and fell in love with dressage. I started workibg at a dressage barn when I turned 18 and worked there for 13 years. I have competed through 4th level on horses that I have brought up to that level working with trainers and have been very fortunate to be able to ride and train on some amazing GP school masters. But, I’ve never started from scratch. The horses I competed up were already well started and competing 1st/2nd.

So you seem to have enough experience to try to start your horse. Unless you don’t want to, I see no reason why you couldn’t. Have the same rigueur as if you would train a GP horse… with patience and kindness. Forgiving errors and putting all the emphasis on the good steps.

I do know how the young horse classes are judged and scored differently and absolutely agree they are not for every horse/rider! Also, to clarify, I am not planning on being the one to back her or start her under saddle training. She will go to a professional to get her start and I may decide to not ride her myself for a few years to let her be ridden mostly by a pro. I would probably take a few lessons on her when she’s steady enough not to be confused by multiple riders, but I will leave most of it to the trainer. Who I would trust to decide if/when she’s ready to compete or if she has the quality to go down the FEI track.

I would just like to do everything leading up to her being sent to a professional to be backed and doing it in an appropriate time-frame. So teaching her to lunge, long line, accept tack and maybe even start to put weight on her back.

I would find a trainer first and ask about what they would like your horse to know (and how) before coming to their program.
You could/should also take lessons for that.
If I were you, I would get as much involved as I could. There’s not much you could do wrong, especially under the supervision of the trainer of your choice.
It’s a real pleasure to work with youngster and does add a lot of tools in your tool box to really understand how training works (and how to improve it!)

[xQHDQ]

@TaraB_Connected _Rider

She will go to a professional to get her start and I may decide to not ride her myself for a few years to let her be ridden mostly by a pro.

This is what I’m doing. No shame in getting help. My trainer rides my 4yo 3 days a week. I don’t get on other than to cool him out. She’s showing him in the 4yo classes. If we qualify, great, if not, oh well. It’s really for the experience, so by the time I get back on, he’s well broke and understands his job.

But, I watch almost every ride to see how he reacts to things like the pressure, what he spooks at, etc. I’m also doing some in-hand showing just to get him to trust me and for me to understand him.

My goal is a horse I can enjoy for 20 years with the hope of doing GP with him (I’m a second level rider right now), but if not, as long as I’m learning and progressing as a rider, I’m happy. Thus, now is the time to put a basis on him and a work ethic. He doesn’t need me confusing him - there will be plenty of time for that!