In your expert opinion. How old should a colt be before he is saddle broke? Ours is 2 yrs. old. He's part quarter & appaloosa (sp). He is approximately 14 plus hands at this point and filled out quite nice. Thanks!

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), March 16, 2002

Answers

3 years as far as actual riding. A saddle on now, lounging at a walk and trot ONLY, few minutes each direction, ground driving, ponying off an older horse can all be done now. He is still a baby and knees and spine are not closed yet.

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), March 16, 2002.

He can be started now at two but soundn't be riden very hard before three.

-- Eve Lyn (evelynv@valuelinx.net), March 16, 2002.

WE broke ours at 2, no heavy riding and not for long periods of time.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

They are commonly broken to ride at 2 years here in TX. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to break them. Two year olds are commonly used in trail rides, and 2 1/2 year olds in rodeo events.

-- Green (ratdog10@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

My appie/qtr.horse was broken to ride last summer, he was 4 years old and the trainer said he was a charm to work with. He has never been kicked by a rider and never needed to. He was very tame before he was broken though. At almost 5 years he is finally getting some of his fathers build. Most of the horse people I know do not break a horse to ride until 3 years old. The only exception is if it is a large horse, well built, and if it is being ridden by a light child or person not more than 100 pounds.

Susan

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), March 16, 2002.

In my humble opinion, a young horse should not be started under saddle until they're three. Under the age of three ground work is the thing to do, light longe work, line driving, etc.. At two, they're like little kids and don't have the attention span to retain what you're trying to teach.

I know many, many trainers start young horses at 18 months in order to be under saddle for the two year old futurities but I don't think that it's good thing for the horse. It all depends on the horse too, warmblood's knees don't close until they're at least four and sometimes older.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

Alot of trainers start qtrs at 2 yrs or 24 months old from their birthdate not their model year. Some start them at 18 mos. which can cause alot of problems - it's just too, too young. Knew a guy that started his horse before 2 yrs and that horse was always fighting some URI or was on antibiotics for something. There is pressure to start them early for the futurities which they'd ride in late in their 3rd year. That's the big money - but what is that big money worth if you really like your horse and he doesn't last or gets injured?? If your just starting a horse for your own use and not for showing might as well wait and go easy after 24 months and then step up training after 3 yrs. There also is pressure to breed mares early in the year so you get a long yearling. It's funny tho - I was reading some research on gestation periods for mares - it seems according to this one report that mares adjust their gestation periods some for spring. This means that a mare breed very early has a tendency to have a longer gestation period than a mare breed later in the year. It seems like nature adjust the foaling time to when it's warm in spring and there's green grass.

-- zeb (wrangler@jridgeranch.com), March 16, 2002.

We have all the ground work finished on our Quarter horses by the time they are two. Then we start riding them at 2. They shouldn't be ridden hard for at least another year, horses grow til they are 5. Best wishes!

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Actually, the larger the horse the LESS likely you should begin to work the horse heavily at an early age. The large horses have much more bone that needs to develop/strengthen than a finer built horse (a thoroughbred is more likely to develop early than a warmblood or draft horse). If I were you I would certainly err on the cautious side if you want this young horse to last for years and years. I personally wouldn't back a horse until a minimum of 30 months have passed (I'd prefer 36 however).....you just take so many chances in pushing the youngsters....what's a few months more anyway when it would mean potentially adding years to your horse's useful life span?

Harder to break at an older age? No, not really......not if you spend that time working on ground manners, ground driving, despooking etc. There are SO many things you can work on a young horse with that will make the "breaking in" process SO much easier when the horse is truely mature enough to handle it. Take that extra time to desensitize your young horse to LOTS of things (vehicles, blankets, "spooky things" etc), pony the horse on trail rides or even around the ring, do some light ground driving (may come in handy later if you'd like to do a little driving but will definately give you "power steering" when you do start riding).

I did all these things with both my mare's foals. The first one was ridden for the FIRST time after 45 months (yes, that is later than usual) and went on to take a regional champion and another regional reserve (also MANY show championships) less than 6 months after his first ride. The second one hasn't been shown yet, but both of them the trainer commented on how easy the two of them were to train.....they acted like fully trained horses from their first ride.

Of course this is all only my opinion, but if I were you I really wouldn't push too soon.

-- Lisa - MI (sqrrlbabe@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

I'm a Texan and don't put a saddle on them until they're at least three....4 and 5 years are common amongst some. You need a brain as well as a healthy body to work with.

Careful with any lunging (I don't) ~ you can break down a youngster's legs.

You can play with the babies and earn their trust during those early years. Rubbing the ears, legs, belly, butt, lifting hooves, etc., whenever you pass them is a good way to do this. Once you earn their trust, everything falls into place. This is MY ground work. It's not unusual for me to take them on the trail the first day I mount them. It's not recommended for everyone, but it works for me.

Wonder if it makes a difference that my many babies have been mules.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

I do ground work only until age 2 or 2.5, kinda depends on the horse's mental attitude. Some are in the terrible two's and are not mentally mature enough for saddle training until three. My horses have a saddle on at age two and light riding at 2.5 to three, again depending on the mental attitude. When I say light riding, I mean no more than 20 minutes in a session, mostly teaching the correct halt, and walk, giving to the bit and mount and dismount. A session every other day. On the off days, it is back to basic ground work. I don't go the next step until horse has completely understood the step before. I look at it as these are my horses and there's no rush to get anywhere. Of course, when I trained for paying customers, that was a whole 'nuther story!

Horses are alot like children, each develops differently and you must use your judgement as to what is best for your horse. I judge when to ride on mental and physical abilities of the horse. There is nothing wrong with sitting on a horse in a round pen and letting him get used to your weight, but I would not start that until after age two. They are going to be ridden most of their lives, it is nice to give them a chance to just be babies and teen-agers.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), March 17, 2002.

My Arab wasn't broke to ride until he was 5. Lovely horse. I've seen several horses with screaming swaybacks from riding too soon. I agree with everyone else - around 3 is a good age. Let those bones solidify some.... Do your ground work and all but wait a bit to ride...

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 17, 2002.

i would never work a horse under saddle until age 3, but thats my opinion, i dont lunge horses at all, i find its not a good way, but then my horses have ample room to get thier exercise and are never in a stable or small paddock , i find the main reason people lunge a horse when its "hot" its not a "hot " horse, its scared and nervous, if at any time during the training process a horse"acts up" it needs calm reassurance , not lunging, its scared not hot, although i know the horse term covers a lot of territory , i see it too often used as a cover up for an impatient trainer

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Pat,

It depends a lot on your horse, I tend to look at horses in two very large catagories fast maturing and slow maturing. I have two half brothers (out of a QH stud) one out of a fast maturing mare that at two was definatly all there mentaly and physicaly to be started (he never acted like a colt always such a little big horse :-)), but I didn't start him until fall (he was a spring baby) and only took him on two 1 1/2 hr rides on easy terrian about a month apart. The other out of a slow maturing mare, he is now 4 and I still haven't broke him out to ride, he still is gangly, akward and very much a baby mentally, I'll wait till he grows up more.

The thing is, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. I personly don't like starting a horse before 2 1/2 but I know people who have started riding yearlings. I believe that no horse is fully mature before the age of 7 and you shouldn't work a horse until at least the age of 5. If you think he is big enough to ride go ahead but DON'T over ride him and don't take him on hard terrian, if you wreak the legs on a horse, you wreak the horse.

just my 2 cents, good luck :-)

-- Mt Storm (mtstorm@usa.net), March 20, 2002.