Got my rising 4yr old rock solid at standing to mount in 2-3 clicker sessions. Now he sees a mounting block and he drags me there, and stand perfectly in position like a rock with his mouth open waiting for his treat. 
Clicker training has been ASTONISHINGLY helpful for starting my baby.
Iâm half enjoying this thread & half not Iâm going to look at a VERY green 5yo next weekend. Itâs been 5 years since my last youngster and you are all reminding me of the fun and frustration that it is.
Clicker training was phenomenal with the last one, she was quite sharp and had no issues upping the ante if she felt it necessary. It was brilliant for handling her back legs, mounting (from mounting blocks, sides of the arena, tree stumps, fences etc etc), trailer loading, clipping etc.
This time Iâm hoping to get the same athleticism but a little less attitude!
Took about a month before he started to be comfortable going around the arena at the canter.
One day I just realized we actually cantered twice around the arena!! 
Trot poles will help with strength for canter. They also have the added benefit of keeping the baby entertained and focused. Unfortunately, my vet wants us cantering more first before we go to poles because of our rehab protocol, but I have just started walking him over some. They help to lighten the front end which means they have to engage the hind end and think about where their legs are.
I did a LOT of trotting before I even attempted a canter. We havenât made in around the entire arena yet but do circles 2/3 the size of my smaller ring. Today she rode in company for the first time and did better than I thought she might. She was distracted but listened well. It may be time to break out the trot poles to help her with her balance and self carriage
Thank you for starting this thread! I have a 4 y/o mare. Teaching her to first lunge in a round pen was a battle. But going under saddle has been a breeze! Iâve done all the training/riding myself and she is always well behaved and happy-go-lucky attitude. No sass. We are now w-t-c (still pretty green and somewhat unbalanced) and the last two rides Iâve trotted over poled! Taking it slow but will probably start small jumps this fall!
It is a well known fact that young horses learn more when standing in their stalls than they do when being ridden in the ring.
I have gotten very frustrated when working with 4 year olds, to the point where I find one thing that they will do upon request, and then get off to wait for another day.
Only to find out that these boys come out the next day and are superstars, performing each movement/lesson that they were incapable of doing the day before.
I spent many hours trying to figure out this âdelayed learning phenomenonâ, but finally gave up and just gratefully accepted it.
Oh my god - FINALLY I found my support group!!!
I bought a 3 year old welsh/warmblood mare in November, she had maybe 30 days on her at that point. In December she was diagnosed with both front/hind gut ulcers, so we treated them, and keep her on a maintenance program. And then on May 1st she turned 4.
We have days where she was just born broke, she already has confirmed lead changes (under good talented youth riders - not me a re-adult rider). We have popped her over a few jumps and she has such a beautiful jump - she makes me laugh out loud and smile huge. Her movement is hunter winning⊠Just beautiful stride with daisy cutter moves.
Except when it isnât and she wonât. She goes from talent to a wall in 5 seconds flat. Where she plants her feet and pretends that sheâs a large stone arena ornament. All her half brother / sisters and full are all super quiet and kinda on the lazy side, so she comes by it naturally. And she has been so amazing for my confidence, after the last 17.3 hh clyde cross that landed me in the hospital multiple times and was just so not size appropriate for me.
This little peanut is 15.1 hh and when she tries to buck or spin, or rear, I stick, sit it and can move her on. So the fearful riding is gone⊠Its been replaced with the bipolar emotional riding.
On any certain day if she wants to work (after the initial 20 minute mandatory warm up, where I convince her today is a day she wants to work) you couldnât wipe the smile off my face. Its like a drug, I say to myself, yep this is why I ride. She is born broke!
Then there are the days that I was not aware we were playing freeze tag, but we are.
So I canât tell you how INCREDIABLE it is to hear Iâm not alone!!! I will bring the donuts and coffee at the next meeting!!!
Awesome! Welcome to the 4 year old club!
I am taking Louis to his first jumping show next week.
We will probably trot everything and see how he takes it all in.
He did hunter breeding as a baby so he has been to a few shows. But never jumping before.
I have no expectations and my goal is to make it relaxing and as positive as I can for him.
I will get pictures!!!
I cannot get my kid on the trailer for Iâd be at shows too 
Heâs nervous about backing out (shivers) so goes in but wants off right away. Gah.
We got up to 5 mins of canter today. Left lead was pretty good. Right lead was terrible. And while I wasnât exactly getting run away with, I had no brakes. I was trying to trot a few strides, canter a few strides, repeat. We used to to that exercise all the time. UmmmâŠyeah. I swear, effectively redoing the 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 year is rough!
Mine can finally get her leads both ways but gawd it can be a bit treacherous on the turns, esp to the right. I know the no brakes feeling and just kind of sit light and pray lol
I realized the other day that I have more fun riding my 4 yo than the 21 yo dead broke, complete jerk of an old man that I exercise. Thatâs progress to me, even if we arenât cantering yet!
Riding a made horse at home is boring. Just same old/same old. If you are showing, there is the fun of training and getting ready to show. But just ride a made horse in a ring? zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
A young horse, otoh, is a new adventure every day. I love them babies.
First canter jump! Man can this horse jump!
But here is a question. When he gets to the base of the jump he lowers his head and really jumps with a very round bascule over the top of the jump. This is great for the hunters which is what I want but, I feel like he is almost too slow in the air and then he tends to land slow and in a heap so to speak.
If the jump is smaller he just doesnât focus.
So a lot of leg? And keeping him straight and forward after the jump?
Went out to take my 4 y/o on her first trail ride last week, only to find a major deep gash in her chest. She is now stitched up with a but load of stitches, and will have a few more weeks off till she healsâŠ
[QUOTE=Samotis;8708636]
First canter jump! Man can this horse jump!
But here is a question. When he gets to the base of the jump he lowers his head and really jumps with a very round bascule over the top of the jump. This is great for the hunters which is what I want but, I feel like he is almost too slow in the air and then he tends to land slow and in a heap so to speak.
If the jump is smaller he just doesnât focus.
So a lot of leg? And keeping him straight and forward after the jump?[/QUOTE]
Iâm sure heâll figure it out with time and experience!
[QUOTE=Samotis;8708636]
First canter jump! Man can this horse jump!
But here is a question. When he gets to the base of the jump he lowers his head and really jumps with a very round bascule over the top of the jump. This is great for the hunters which is what I want but, I feel like he is almost too slow in the air and then he tends to land slow and in a heap so to speak.
If the jump is smaller he just doesnât focus.
So a lot of leg? And keeping him straight and forward after the jump?[/QUOTE]
Gymnastics, especially bounces. Start small. It will also improve as he gets more experience. You may also want to use landing rails, but put them farther out like one stride instead of a bounce. A bounce rail they will see early and could back him up even further on take off. Less likely with a one stride landing rail, and it will teach him to keep going and reach on landing with low risk if he makes a mistake. The small bounce jumps, on the other hand, will get him paying more attention to what he is doing. When he is confident, you can put them up as high as the canter jumps where you are having problems, and it will teach him to jump across a bit more to make the bounce work.
[QUOTE=Samotis;8708636]
But here is a question. When he gets to the base of the jump he lowers his head and really jumps with a very round bascule over the top of the jump. This is great for the hunters which is what I want but, I feel like he is almost too slow in the air and then he tends to land slow and in a heap so to speak.
If the jump is smaller he just doesnât focus.
So a lot of leg? And keeping him straight and forward after the jump?[/QUOTE]
I would just keep cantering jumps and ignoring the landing in the heap part. My baby mare did this as a 3 and then 4 year old. I kept the jumps small(ish) even though she didnât focus all that well, with the goal of working on her focus rather than the alternative of jumping slightly bigger jumps and feeling like I needed to work on the mechanics.
And then yes, straight and forward was all that mattered.
With my mare, I felt like part of her issue was related to strength and muscling, and she just didnât have the body parts to land and continue on smoothly in that first landing stride. I put her in young jumper classes at a show where they run the classes on the big GP field, and that was where she jumped best because we could really gallop around. But it was too hard for her to gallop around like that in my [much more size-constrained] arena. I think she got halfway through her 5yo year and after bulking up quite a bit started getting really snappy over the jumps (which I wasnât sure was ever going to happen!).
My current 4yo has a related problem where he lands with a bit too much steam (relating to, I think, the same âI donât have all the muscles issueâ) and will occasionally jump a little flat. I started adding landing poles after the jumps for him (just a pole 10-ish feet after the fence), and thatâs made a huge difference and reminds him to carry a little shape in the air. But I wouldnât have done the same thing with my mare who would jump way UP without carrying the correct amount of momentum across. I think that landing poles for her would have given her too much to focus on on the back side of the fence and would have scared her more than helped her. But it would be easy to play with take off and landing poles to see how your guy handles it (with, of course, a small crossrail or something simple in the middle).
Another thought with your guy - make the smaller fences that heâs physically jumping well but not focusing on a bit more thought-provoking to gain that focus without adding size. Simple gymnastics, for example, might be enough to get him focused AND keep him flowing.
All great advice. I feel my biggest issue with him is not having the space and help needed to really move him forward.
I have a small arena at home and a couple jumps. Mostly I am by myself on the occasion a friend comes and helps, those are the days I jump. Flat we do well and always work on frame and impulse on, but I donât try changes because he just isnât where I want him to be on the flat yet.
If I had enough jumps to do a gymnastic I would! I feel he really just needs to figure out how to jump and a little repetition will eventually get him where he needs to be.
He also really does have the body and muscle issue right now. He is growing so much that his muscles canât catch up with the growth and he just loses all coordination!! So I am just working on everything slowly and will keep interested and soon enough it will come together.
He has a great mind and really does try, at this point he just has to grow up!
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