Three year olds workload?

[heathera]

Had an interesting conversation with our vet yesterday about workloads for three year olds.

What do you do with yours?

She did say she would always advise turning them away for a total break in the winter between being three and four.

[greydales]

I've always gone by how well the horse/pony takes to work as to what I do with them - but at that age I would definitely be lunging in all three paces. Longlining to get them used to rein contact, mostly in walk and trot but canter if they offer it.

I use side reins on the lunge but not any of the other gadgets - to get them used to a gradual contact, starting loose but not overtightening.

If the horse/pony is going under saddle then I will do most work in walk and a bit of trot, around 10-15 mins. If canter is introduced then I'll be looking to get the transition then just a few paces, always ending on a good note and with something they can cope with. Once they are getting a bit more established with what's asked of them, I'd introduce 20m circles but I wouldn't ask them to go round and round for ever!

Hacking would be really just to get them used to the outside world and would be mainly in walk, some trot and perhaps a canter to see how they react! Around half an hour to start, I definitely wouldn't keep them out for hours.

Jumping I wouldn't do on a hack, I'm not confident with jumping and would want a competent jumper to school them anyway, but I wouldn't start at three. I would jump them on the lunge without a rider. S/J and XC definitely not!

For me three years old (or whatever age you start them) is all about introducing them to the basics in small manageable amounts but most of my work would be in the slower paces as these will be the foundation of future work - if you get it wrong in walk and trot then there isn't much hope for the rest of it ;D. I don't feel any need to work them for ages, if I get quality stuff in ten minutes then I'll stop there. And I don't work them every day either, but that's just me being lazy .

I'm guilty of hardly doing much at all really so I only get out of mine what I put in - but whenever I do something, I try to make sure it's quality work even if it is only ten mins!! For instance Cherry has hardly had any schooling but I don't think she's done too badly! ;D

Modified to add, I am not one of those who thinks you HAVE to start a pony or horse at a particular age. All the things that I do, could apply to whether they are three, four, five or even later!

[Anna]

Nothing of ours is done to a strict regime, they do what they are ready for as and when they are ready. In terms of our current 3 year old in work, nothing has been started until the last couple of weeks, we've three to do this year and they'll get done when they get done.

William was started about 3 weeks ago, he was rebitted (literally stood in a stable for 10 minutes with a snaffle on a few days in a row to make sure he was happy with all that), then he had a roller on and very loose side-reins just so they have a feel on the bit NOT tight in any shape.

Will was lunged twice to get the voice aids and then went into long-reining, he also had moved onto a saddle rather than a roller very quickly. We always lunge once or twice with the stirrups lose so they get used to things moving by their sides. Will was long-reined in the school and then around the gallops for about 10-15 minutes at a time. At the end of those sessions we lean a light-weight rider over and step by step the rider will swing her leg over, sit up, walk maybe a few steps, get off etc. By about 10 days (not continuous 10 days but 10 days of work), Jill was up on Wills off lead, steering and moving him forward. Since then he has done a walk, trot and even a small canter on the gallops moving in straight lines, he hasn't been back in the school since we were happy he was going to be ok and now Jill gets straight on him in the yard. We're going to put a second rider up on him today to get used to different people on him, and next week we will get another pony walking beside him, trotting beside him and maybe a walk down the road to see some traffic but thats about 20 minutes tops. Then we'll pack him up until after Christmas time. He works for about 25 minutes at a time aorund the gallops and at home.

We try to a good all-round backing so he's walked over mutiple surfaces including hardcore, woodchip, over some plastic pipes that were on the ground and over things like all-weathr groundsheets without an issue. Its normal to him to do that so it simply isn't an issue but its all good groundwork for him to do.

Thats about it, he will go over a pole on the ground before he's done and maybe a teeny cross-pole if we fancy it. Thats it, nothing prolonged, any "schooling" is done out in straight lines or on gentle curves.

We may have started him earlier in the year but we are busy enough in the summer and can't afford the time during the summer to do him for a prolonged period of time, we try to be consistent in the work once we start.

We've two fillies to do too this year and both are ready but its time, so we'll start one once Wills is finished and then the next following that.

[mrsp]

Blimey. I didn't start 'doing' grown up stuff with Pearl til she was 4 and she was pushing 5 when I broke her in......

[Debbie]

I'm much the same as Mrsp. Very little done with Blossom at all apart from minding where my space is. Her world was turned upside down just before her 3rd birthday with the advent of Galahad. So she went from thumbsucking babe to full throttle sulking/raging teenager in nanoseconds. I sent her to the neighbors for 30 days proper backing with a trainer who weighs 150 lbs soaking wet (if that) who's incredibly well balanced and has very light hands.

Whilst at the trainers he worked her for roughly half an hour, sometimes 45 minutes. First week was on the ground only with lunging and learning about cues from the reins.

When I was a teen, the vogue was to lunge the youngsters, but now that I'm older I don't think its a good idea. I tried to do groundwork in the form of introducing odd things to Blossom in her pasture, walking over poles, dragging lightweight poles behind me, etc and going for walks inhand with her, but I didn't ask her to lunge for me. She's had a sticky stifle whenever she's had a growth spurt, so I didn't want to place even more strain on her limbs.

When I was a teen, I did work a greenbroke appaloosa. He'd done tons of shows with his mum and then by himself as a yearling, and the background showed! He was mostly a straightforwards chap to do, so I continued his education under snaffle. His sessions consisted mostly of walk with the tiniest bit of jog, no more than 3 minutes jogging tops. We worked primarily on getting straightness, and good turns, transitions and we were getting the foundation of neckreining down. Also introducing him to bareback riding and double riders at the walk only.

Really I feel its down to the individual as to the timeframe. Blossom was such a baby she was easily a year to a year and a half behind what I'd taught my appy filly. But in contrast, Galahad was a working boy well broke and neck reining beautifully at age four.... meaning all that training had to have been done as a three year old.

[mickey]

It would depend on the pony- Ozzie was fairly mature bodywise when I got him as a 3 year old compared to some. I wasnt actually aiming to back him until maybe september october but he was bitted no problems, had a saddle on again with no problems and it was during a saddle session someone said "just get on him and stop worrying about it" and that was that- Ozzie backed no issues!
We then went back a step and did a lot of long reining in between odd walks around the school and he went from there.
He was also then hacked out- a quiet walk with another pony around a stubble, he offered trot so we trotted, he offered canter so we cantered.
Its all been done with what he's happy to do.
He has done a few sessions of cross poles, all small to add some variety and did 1 clear round as a preparation for performance show.
He's now 4 and is currently doing walk trot dressage tests and hacks out- probably wont jump him again for a while, this winter will be getting out doing walk trot tests and hopefully move him up to prelim with the aim of improving his ridden work by the show season next year.
He doesnt do a vast amount each week- maybe 3 rides a week, usually max 30 mins unless its a steady hack.
He did go round a xc course as a group of 7 horses- he only did 1 little log and splashed in the water but he loved it and behaved impeccably- for me its all about getting him doing things and him having fun.

[harleydales]

Harley was backed at three and half, and I rode him away that year, just gentle hacking, walking and trotting, then turned him away in the October for the winter. We did a bit in the school but mainly out and about getting him used to going in straight lines and seeing things. In fact I've turned him away most winters since then for one reason or another - I believe they need a break like we need a break from work.

Gadget-wise I only ever lunge (and not much of that) and long line. I don't like side reins and other gadgets on babies as I think they need to be able to use themselves to balance and the artificial aids may restrict this.

Harley couldn't canter properly until he was 5!! So everything we did was walk and trot. Most of what we still do is walk and trot!!

We did some pole work but no jumping. I don't think they are ready for it that young. It maybe depends on the pony and the breed, but it's not for me.

[heathera]

The vet said a short amount of gentle schooling in walk/trot for 10-15 mins once or twice a week would be OK as long as it was kept relaxed but she emphasised NO jumping at all on three year olds.

Hacking up to an hour maximum in all three gaits. The basic idea was not to use gadgets or lunge too much but just to let them learn to carry a weight on their backs in a relaxed way in all three paces before giving them a total break again.

[mickey]

It's got me thinking- I think Oz has been lunged 3 times? In fact he was backed before he was lunged as Im not a fan of lunging youngsters unless it's necessary (Ie to get rid of excess energy to avoid a floor-body meeting)
I must stress my decisions would be based on the pony in question.
I remember looking at photos of Blossom at the same age as Ozzie and she looked a lot more babyish and immature (Debbie- no offense meant, but she's sprung to mind!) so it would really depend on the pony.

[greydales]

I think lungeing depends very much on how you do it - I've lunged some of mine since age 2 and can't see that it's done any harm. Lunging usually brings to mind a horse or pony going endlessly round in small circles but I don't lunge like that (I often lunge in straight lines), nor do I overdo it with youngsters. It's been the best thing for teaching them the vocal aids, imo. I don't think anything I've done with mine has damaged them, anyway!

[Debbie]

Absolutely no offence taken at all Em Blossom was very babyish and immature, even though she was the same age as Ozzie. It wasn't just physically either, mentally she could only do maybe 5 to 10 minutes tops. Then she'd get that "My cup is full" look and go off to doze and mull things over for the rest of the day.

[mickey]

:wavey: thanks Debbie
Oz was ready mentally and physically- I do wonder if all the showing he did as a baby with his breeder has helped him mature mentally that bit faster? He certainly takes things on board well without the tantrums I expected!
He did a fair bit of long reining to get vocal commands- I still think of lunging as going round on a small circle

[Debbie]

I bet the showing did make the difference for him, especially being exposed to it all with his mum. I noticed that when I rode away Smokey the three year old Appy. Like you say, I was expecting some reaction from him, but he was so incredibly laid back and could have cared less. I'm positive it was from all the showing they'd done with him as a foal and yearling. He simply thought it was all a normal part of life, so why fuss?

[Debbie]

Ahhhh, that's a lovely photo of Drums. Thanks for sharing it Heather