too young?

togster

No not another PI thread...

I was asked to start riding a 3 y o holsteiner today. Now heres the thing, she is just 3 and already broken.

Would any of ye have any reservations of riding such a young horse. I mean she isn't fully developed yet. Its not that im afraid of riding her because in fairness she is very quiet, more from an ethical point of view.

finbarrk

The thoroughbred boys don't seem to have any problem with it so I'd say fire ahead if you feel safe!

otwb

Depends on what you would be doing on it. Poddling about & light training fine...wouldn't be doing anything too heavy & then turn it away for a couple of months....

I think that the general thinking with TB's is that they are always lightweight riders and the breed matures slightly faster. Also, your average TB for flat racing would be retired by the time they are 5 or 6 rather than looking for the 15+ years of riding that you would like on a non-racing horse.

dollydishmop

I think it really depends on what you're being asked to do with the 3 yo.

Personally I don't like to see them do too much in their 3rd year. Sure, they can be backed and/or broken....and a little ridden work, but nothing that puts too much pressure on either developing joints or young brain.

Thoroughbreds are a different kettle of fish...typically, as a breed, they develop faster than many breeds, both physically and mentally. In fact, if they are going to race as a 2yr old they are, by necessity, broken and ridden as mere yearlings.
Warmbloods will typically mature and develop more slowly, and if asked to do too much too soon they will have bigger problems far quicker.

Currently breaking a 3yr old and two 4yr olds, all warmbloods.
The 3yr old is picking up the general idea of it all much quicker, the 4 yr olds are both being much more cocky about the whole idea, but are being won over slowly but surely.
The 4yr olds will go on into continued work once they are broken. With an eye to some 4yr old competitions
The 3 yr old will get broken, do some ridden mooching and growing up over the summer, before being very probably turned away for a few months come the autumn (if not sooner). The 3yr old will then come back into proper work late next winter, in preparation for her 4yr season.

The 3yr old is doing things how I'd like them done.
The 4yr olds are doing things this way because they simply weren't done earlier by the previous owner.

togster

Thanks for the advice.

She is just broken and had an accident where she broke out of her field and injured her hock so we will be doing nothing to serious. I will ride her lightly and focus on handling her.

Again thanks.

convert

If your horse has just hurt her hock, depending on how serious it is/was, and taking into account that she's still so young, it might be better to focus on just handling her, etc., rather than actually working her, even lightly. If there's still swelling in it, or it's still tender, I wouldn't work her at all. It's better to give her a few days/weeks rest now, rather than cause permanent damage.