As the title suggests - what’s your philosophy on young horses and time off? How frequently? How long? How do those answers vary by age of horse or individual personality?
I prefer to work all my horses, not just the youngsters, more often, in shorter sessions. They retain more.
My Mustang had a radial fracture at 18 months. Got rads and cleared to break out at 2.5 years. I did 3 days on, 2 days off with her, but only because of her history. With others, I might do 2 days on, one day off, equaling 4-5 sessions a week, keeping them under an hour.
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I just asked my vet and my trainer about this as I have a 3 year old WB that was started this summer. I had been thinking to give him a chunk of time off this winter, but both said the consistent, light work is probably better.
Vet said lightly working young horses consistently helps condition tendons and ligaments and prepare bones for future work.
We do 3 days a week, 15-25 minutes usually and we are weaning off lunging before riding. Sometimes I’m on him a bit longer if we move between the indoor, outdoor, and then walk around the unfenced jump field.
Also, I go by the rule I heard from a dressage judge 10+ years ago and have heard multiple times since: on average, work the horse the same number of days a week as they are years old. If I am working through a specific issue, I might do a few weeks with more rides, but when things are good, the 3 year old gets tacked up to do something 3 times a week.
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In my thinking I prefer to work consistently( 4-6 days a week) and tailor the training ( demands/ intensity) on the individual horses needs, age, condition and intended use. When in CA I rode year round and nobody got an extended break. They didn’t seem to mind.
Since being in the Mid West ( 30 years now) My horses have at least Jan into Feb off or more depending on the ground conditions and weather .
60-90 days in the 3 year old summer/fall, then a few months off over the winter. Then light consistent work starting late winter/early spring of 4 year old year. At 4, we stick to 3-4 days per week in the ring, 20 or so minutes each day. Then we add 1-2 hacks around the property at the walk and 1-2 days off.
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I’ve been with trainers that put 90days on a 2 year old, chuck them out for winter, and full program at spring of their 3rd year
Then with trainers that start at the age of 3 doing 3 light days a week, when they turn 4 doing 4 light days a week, then full program at 5 with no more than 5 days a week.
The latter have yielded sounder horses physically, the former horses were all extremely quiet minded but didn’t have 20+ year jumping careers.
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I really don’t do much with them until they are 3yo. Until then, they live out 24/7 in a herd setting and have just had the basics done (halter breaking, leading, feet trimming, and that’s about it). Oftentimes towards the end of their 2yo year I start bringing them in while I work older horses and get them good about tying and hanging out for extended periods, introduce them to being stalled for spurts, etc. I’ll also start their groundwork, maybe get them saddled for the first time, etc, but I don’t mount them.
Once they hit their 3yo year, I’ll bring them in and get their handleability on the ground solid and get them backed. I’ll put maybe a dozen or so rides on them, nothing strenuous, and after the first couple “rides” the rest are usually out around the property. Then they get kicked back out for another 6mo or so until they get closer to their 4yo year, at which point they start getting lightly worked 3-4 days a week. By age 4 1/2, they are pretty solidly on the payroll.
Then again, I’m not discipline specific. I want to set horses up for a long, useful life regardless of what they might end up doing, so a lot of what I’m doing is exposure, hacking, making them as handy and good-minded as possible, introducing moving with some softness, etc. I’m not placing a lot of intense physical demand on their bodies because they will likely have that the rest of their working lives.
Interestingly, I have found that nothing is lacking when I grab them from the field after a lengthy period of time off. If the lesson was absorbed back when I taught it, it’s still there when I start back up with them. A quick refresher and we’re on to bigger stuff.
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This is what I usually use as well. But my current 4 yo is… different. I started her this summer, and right now I’m riding her 6 days a week if I can. I realized that she needed to just start accepting a short ride as part of her daily routine. I’m not even really introducing something new, it’s just about the process of getting tacked up and going forward with at least some of her attention on me for 15-20 minutes a day.
I’m another that waits until they’re 3 to start them under saddle. By the time they’re three if I’m the one that put them on the ground they’ve already learned a ton of ground manners, how to load and haul, stand to be clipped, etc. During they’re third year I introduce them to lunging (though I don’t over do it at all, just enough that they understand the concept using short sessions) and long lining (which I do more and proceed on to ground driving). I will usually wait to back them late in their 3 year and riding is short, sweet, end on a good note and the focus is on slow, quiet progression. In their 4th year I start hitting the trails and solidifying the w-t-c. If I ride in the arena, I set a reasonable goal and quit soon after we hit it. Again, I avoid drilling and over-riding. I may start competing with them late in their 4th year with schooling shows but real work and expectations wait until they’re 5 - for most, there are always exceptions. As for time off, I work so even if I wanted to ride each and every all of my horses get 3 days off a week which doesn’t seem to impede progression.
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