“When should I start my young horse?” There seems to be many answers to this question. The answer I generally give most people who ask me is “it depends.” Everyone has their own rules and ideas, just like child rearing. Nowadays with all the training fads out there and some natural horsemanship stuff and child laws I see more and more spoiled whinny kids and spoiled rotten horses! What every happened to giving your child a solid foundation? That does not mean be nice and give them anything they want. What ever happened to working for it? My mom used to make me actually do something, clean my room, do the dishes, take out the trash before I got a reward. I was taught this at a young age. The same should go for our horses. Teach them to respect young and they will grow up to be well mannered horses.

We like to introduce them to everything. They go in the arena, they go on the trailer, they go in the bush and out on the trails, they go through water, they go alone, and they go in company. We expect to pull them out once or twice a week and just ride them. Simple.

I have worked with many different horses in my lifetime. The last several years I have spent working mostly with young ones. I love young horses; they are like a clean slate, no problems to undo. Now I am probably going to get all kinds of flack for this, but I start my horses at two- yes two. Do I think every horse should start working at two? Absolutely not. There is a difference between starting and riding. Starting is just that, a start, an introduction to life as a saddle horse. This year I have two 2 year olds that are fairly small and we hummed and hawed about starting them. We decided to go ahead and do it.

Now 2 months later we are sure glad we did. Now I am not saying we work them. That is far from it, but what we like to do, do is introduce them to everything. They go in the arena, they go on the trailer, they go in the bush and out on the trails, they go through water, they go alone, and they go in company. We expect to pull them out once or twice a week and just ride them. Simple. Usually we don’t even go into a trot. Just the basics: I pull on this rein you move, I put my leg on you move etc….

We are not working them, we are riding them. Letting them know that when we are on their backs they have a responsibility. It’s fun. We see how many little things we can do and how they react. They learn trust. They learn respect. They learn confidence. They also learn how to still be a horse. I find this sets them up to go and learn and become amazing well adjusted individuals. They still get their full turn out, they get ridden, they get groomed, and they get to be a horse. So when that precious 4yr old year comes along, they can start going into a consistent training program and start showing they are more than ready for it and they are happy to do the work because riding is fun!

Sometime I hear “but my horse is going to be big and I am worried about OCD or hurting his joints.” Isn’t it easier on you and your horse if you have control of them when they are still small than waiting until they become a big uncontrollable monster that you have to work the heck out of? The longer you wait, the bigger they get, the more powerful they become, the harder it is on their joints. Now instead of just hopping on and going out for a little ride in the field you are lunging and working your big wild 4 year old for hrs (who probably still hasn’t finished growing.) It is like a kid who never had to clean his room, then all of a sudden he turns 14 and mom and dad say, “now you are old enough to start cleaning your room. The kid is going to say why would I now? I never had to before? I hate you mom and dad!!”

As I said everyone has their own ways and ideas on what is right and what is wrong. But my favorite is this. “I have a 3-4 yr old and I have done all the ground work and now I just need someone to get on.” I really don’t get that statement. If you’ve really done all the work why don’t you just get on then? So basically you have worked with your horse for 4 years and you can’t just get on? We work with ours for one year and then literally we just get on. So what did you do to your horse that 4 years of work and you still can’t get on? Maybe you should try saying “I need some help. I have a young horse who needs some work, I’ve done this and this with him but I really need someone to help me make him into a saddle horse. “

It is OK to ask for help. Just because you have a horse doesn’t mean you have to know everything about horses and starting them. Don’t let it go on for too long. Think about starting them young so you can grow with them. You can have some fun before you decide to turn them into a show pony.