Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Training age - when to start a young horse

From: Heather

Hi Jessica;

The people who board my fillies are starting a two year old Arab colt under saddle. I think he is too young to start and way too immature, but they don't think it will hurt him. What factors do you use to determine if a horse is old enough to train to ride? I have seen two year olds that are definitely ready to be started lightly, but I have also seen some horses that don't seem ready until they are about four. Curious about all breeds, not just Arabs. Any advice would be appreciated, especially concrete reasons why starting that early can harm a youngster, so I have something to back me up. Thanks in advance.

Heather, Kali & Lady

Hi Heather! You're right, a two-year-old is too young to begin work under saddle with a rider. Many two-year-old horses are badly damaged every year by people who start their under-saddle training because they "just can't wait" or because the young horse is tall and "looks strong enough to ride."

As a rule of thumb, the earlier you start a horse under saddle, the shorter that horse's useful life will be. It takes patience to wait for a horse to grow up, but the horse that is backed lightly at three, begins more serious work at four, and isn't jumped until it is five or six is a horse that may well continue working into its twenties.

Racehorses and many show horses are started very young, but their careers are usually over by the time they are four or five -- sometimes much earlier. There is a saying in racing, "race 'em at two, can 'em at five," which is, unfortunately, all too accurate. The relatively few horses that are successful at the track are generally retired by the time a dressage horse or eventer is BEGINNING its working life.

Many trainers and owners look no farther than the horse's knees -- as soon as those bones have closed, the horse gets saddled and ridden. This is foolish. It's true that knees generally close between 18 and 24 months, but those aren't the only bones in the horse's body -- just the ones that close most quickly! The last bones to close are the spinous processes at and behind the withers -- in other words, where the saddle goes, and where the rider sits. These generally close when the horse is between five and six years old; in some breeds, especially the larger, slower-growing Warmbloods, horses may not attain full growth until they are seven or eight!

A two-year old doesn't have to sit idle -- it can be taught to show in- hand, to trailer, to longe at walk and trot (on a 35' or longer longeline, with a cavesson).

A three-year-old horse can be longed at walk, trot, and canter, taught to wear a bridle and bit and saddle, and backed lightly before being turned out for the winter. That horse will be ready to begin systematic training in its four-year-old year, and can go into full work when it is five -- and that horse may still be in full work at age 25!

- Jessica

Materials from Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE, The Newsletter of Holistic Horsemanship® may be distributed and copied for personal, non-commercial use provided that all authorship and copyright information, including this notice, is retained. Materials may not be republished in any form without express permission of the author.

Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org

Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.