Training for a 3yo OTTB

[RolledAway]

Hello!

This is my first post on the Chronicle forums, and I’m hoping to get some feedback on what sort of training others do with their 3 year old OTTB’s.

I recently got a 3yo OTTB gelding, very lightly raced. He only raced twice this year, once in July and once in August. He’s been off the track since last Sunday, and is as calm and cool as can be. I’ve already put one ride on him, walk, trot and a little bit of canter. He’s very good under saddle and was nice and relaxed after our first ride.

So my question is, what do some of you guys do with your very young OTTB’s? How often do you ride them a week, and what kind of work do you do with them?

[EventerAJ]

It depends on the horse. I like to ride them a little bit in the beginning to assess what I’ve got-- are they relaxed or spooky, are they strong or weak, stiff or wiggly? I want the horse to realize he has a new job, not racing. But he also needs down time to be a horse, heal any minor injuries (muscle soreness), and get a mental break. For some horses this is a month in the field, basically left alone; others do better with more interaction and some light riding.

Once I have established that the horse can stop, go, and steer reliably, it’s time to hit the trails. Lots of hacking, no drilling in the arena. Working on circles with a young 3 year old is pretty pointless; they get bored and they aren’t strong enough to accomplish much anyway, they’re likely to be unbalanced, still growing, and it’s unfair to expect much. Get out and see the sights, experience terrain, water, wildlife, and new places outside the ring. Go to horse shows, tie to the trailer and walk around. Go hacking with a buddy at first, and then alone if he’s settled. Keep it low key, mostly walking and jogging. The frequency depends on the horse and my time, anywhere from once to several times per week.

Late in the year (Nov/Dec) I might start to do a little more flatwork. Big loopy circles, learning canter leads (perhaps only on the straight, no circles if really unbalanced), and introducing turn on the forehand and leg yield at the walk. Walking and trotting poles. If things are going well I might hop over an X or tiny log to judge the horse’s willingness and aptitude toward fences. The form may be sloppy at this point, but it’s more about how the horse reacts to the obstacle: does he naturally grasp the concept of going over? Is he confused or scared? Does he rush, or slow down to figure it out?

Then give him time off over winter, no major work just hacking if anything. Start in the spring as 4 year old with “real” flatwork concepts and introduce jumping as the horse is straighter and stronger.

It’s good to have an older riding horse so that your three year old can be “forgotten” sometimes. If that’s all you have to ride, it’s tempting to do too much, especially if the horse is talented and willing. Keep reminding yourself he’s only 3, he has a long life ahead of him to do big exciting things. At this age it’s just important to develop a calm, willing attitude that will be the foundation for the rest of his career.

[GoForAGallop]

I got mine in the winter, same age, and she just had the winter off.

If I had one now? Lots and lots of trails and hacking out. Get them exposed. Take them to shows (not entered in any classes) just so that they learn to stand tied at the trailer and learn that not every trailering experience means they’re off to the races. (Trust me, this will pay off when you actually ARE showing and don’t want to be dealing with trailer loading skills.)

Working on manners, speaking of. Not all load nicely on the trailer, so get that down pat. Standing patiently on cross ties. Lunging politely.

Then I’d turn them out for the winter to grow.

“Real” work can start in spring of 4yo year.

[Training_Cupid]

I got my 3 y/o in June, a few weeks after his last race. First I gave him 3 weeks of turnout in a good sized pasture with a small herd. I handled him a bit every day, just grooming and ground manners. Turns out his were already pretty good; he ties and cross-ties fine, is good with his feet, lets his mane be pulled, baths, etc. I started riding him slowly, walk only the first week, started trotting the second, and cantering the third. The focus was primarily to work on steering, and getting him used to cues from the seat and leg. Unfortunately he came up sore on his hind and has been on stall rest for over three weeks. I had a chiro come out (something I wish I had done sooner), and now we’re starting back up again slowly lunging or riding ~20 minutes, gradually increasing time and adding some hills and caveletti but vet said no cantering for 2 months.

[Training_Cupid]

Also to add, I was planning to start jumping him next summer, but when he was xrayed it revealed his stifles haven’t closed all the way. He definitely needs more time to grow up. Super sweet guy though, I adore him! Good luck and have fun with yours.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Most of the time we do not do much with them. There is currently one 3 year old OTTB on our farm. He came off the track in May…and has been turned out 24/7 since. Doing nothing more than coming in and being groomed. Most he may do later this fall is get restarted a bit and out hacking. By being restarted, I mean just enough to make sure we will not be in trouble going out hacking. No drilling in the ring. Hacking out lightly (mostly walking), learning about crossing water…but mostly just let them hang out and grow. Just like any other 3 year old.

At 4, early spring, we will start to do more depending on their mental maturity.

[RolledAway]

Thanks for all the comments so far guys, keep them coming.

[beowulf]

For the 3 year olds? Not much at all. Usually we get ours when the meet ends in the fall/late summer - so ours have gotten the entire winter off, with some attention on the ground here and there. By late spring I like to hack them around, nothing that requires any sort of work - walking around the property or doing trails.

I generally haven’t done much with mine until they are 5, to be honest. The past few I’ve gotten have all had at least 6mo off.

Once I think they can handle work maturely (and this does take a while) I’ll be more serious on the trails, and work on W/T while out and about (not in the ring!). Once they are fit enough to handle 20-40m of W/T work, I’ll start them in the ring in side-reins on the lunge - to teach them to yield to contact/pressure. I usually ask them to canter once the lunge routine is down to pat - get them accustomed to the command (it doesn’t have to be pretty) so that when I ask undersaddle it isn’t a huge frickin’ deal to lose your mind over.

I think 1-2 months on the lunge with hacks here and there is a great way to get a green horse working on the basics of contact and rhythm; I like to throw poles everywhere: and I like to watch them figure it all out without a rider on their back. They get to learn their new job, and I get to see them go and develop a feel on the ground for how they are with work, how they move, and how they react to stimuli without having to sacrifice my body!

I don’t love lunging for a mature or non-green horse, but I keep the sessions very short - I don’t think I even lunge my 6yo for more than 30m. Lots of walk and trot poles to build up their topline, and transitions to keep them busy - I like working on the ground with them when they are this green because it also gets them accustomed to verbal cues: later on in their education, that ‘aaaand’ that we utter before saying ‘aaand whoa’ will serve as an excellent introduction to half halts.

Once I feel the horse understands basic transitions and yielding to contact, while being comfortable enough to trot around rhythmically, I’ll get on and continue the education in the ring; but I do keep my sessions short until they are older, and I don’t really feel comfortable jumping them until they are more mature.

But to be honest, the best thing you can do for a young horse is not have a time frame.

[gypsymare]

Hacking out, intro to steering, moving away from my leg and giving to the bit. Holding tempo at the trot. Depending on the physical maturity level maybe nothing but ground manners. My 16.3 hh OTTB was 4 last fall. Everything screamed immature. So she got year off and filled out. Bigger feet, thicker bone, longer neck, better balance and more relaxed back and hip. At 5 she still looks like she has more growing to do.

[jstov96327]

It just depends on the horse…My 4 year old learned w/t/c, moving off my leg, a bit of bending, and lots of hacking. I kept it very fun and did one elementary event (he’s exception and got 3rd after 2.5 months training:D) and now he’s going out for the next few months to grow and enjoy life. I’ll hack him 2 times a week until it gets too cold and bring him back full time in the Spring. I think its VERY important to keep them happy and enjoying their new job.