Possibly Getting a Yearling - What is a safe age to start training for jumping/agility?

[Sageycakes]

I have experience with miniature horses, and I may be getting a yearling of my own soon - ideally, I'd like to train him to jump in hand. We wouldn't be doing any shows, this would be just for fun, but I'm mainly just curious as to what a safe age would be to start training/prepping him to jump? I wouldn't want to cause any harm by starting him early, and for the first bit we would just be building muscles over poles and going for walks everyday on the trails.

What does everybody think is an appropriate age to start his training?

P.S., he is already halter broke and leads well.

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

You can actually start training him for obstacles and going over a small jump NOW. It's not recommended to make a young horse do heavy exercise until their "knee" joints are matured/no longer separated.... It varies from horse to horse, when they are done growing, but usually by age 3. In AMHA or AMHR shows there are two different types of jumping classes. One is called Hunter Jumping and the jumps are lower and all set to a specific height. (The focus is all about STYLE.) Then there is the Jumper class which is all about how HIGH the horse can jump.... That one your colt should NOT do until he's fully mature. In fact, I think there's a rule about it.

 

[Cayuse]

Beyond obstacles and ground poles I would wait until he was three. I have seen horses started too young with wrecked joints.

 

[Minidreamz0581]

Ground poles and obstacles are fine for a yearling, but I agree with Cayuse...you shouldn’t jump a mini until he or she is at least 3. Waiting is hard, but it’s far better in the long run to have a horse with nice sound legs. There are a lot of fun, yearling and two year old safe obstacles to enjoy while you wait

 

[EvaMKV]

No matter what is the age that you are planning for your kid to start I would be extreme attention for her or him to not get injured. The There are many people who also underestimate their physique and start this kind of activities at a very late age! I'm also at a critical age being 60 and every time I go for a horse ride I feel quite safe since my life insurance Life Insurance Rates By Age, Product & Gender: 2021 Charts | LIB covers accidents of this nature. You never know what can happen and most of the tracks that I follow have trees and bumpy roads.

 

[GraceandPoppy]

I agree with everyone else. As I have a yearling and got her as a four month old, I want to do in-hand jumping with her too. So, I did some research myself and it sounds like three is a good place to start truly jumping. My 4-h shows only allow 3 year-olds and up in the jumping classes. Ground poles and very low jumps are ok now though.