Starting a young horse

[Grace67]

What age do you start your minis driving training? Just curious as I see different ages in many sales ads and wondered do they develop skeletally more quickly or slowly than full size horses?

 

[targetsmom]

Normally I would say the earliest I would start one would be the fall of the year in which they were 2 (so they would be 2 1/2 years or older). But this year I started one at barely 2, and she is doing better than the 3 year old I started late last summer. That one was just bred and is on "hold" for now. The 2 year old I just started is very mature mentally and physically.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Like targetsmom says it depends on the horse. I have started them as young as the fall of their 2 year old year but I have a gelding who is 5 who will be hitched for the first time this summer. He just wasn't mentally there (no focus ... a bit A.D.D) previously and I couldn't get him to be consistant in his responses to handling from day to day until now. I have started them at 3 and 4 as well, depends on th horse and what else is happening, sometimes I just got too busy so they waited a year.

 

[Grace67]

Thanks for both your responses. I was speaking with a person the other day who bought a 2010 weanling and she was ground driving him last fall then hitched him to a cart by December 2011 and is now showing him in driving classes 2012 so he's just barely 2. That seemed rather young to me physically even if the horse is mature mentally? I guess I'm just old fashioned in that I want a sound horse around for a good many years and don't see the need to rush them into starting their riding or driving careers too soon and having soundness issues crop up. If I were to purchase a weanling Fall 2012 what's the timeline for starting them in ground driving and eventually to cart? I know all are different but give me a basic idea if possible.

 

[susanne]

It's done all the time, but I would never actually hitch any horse to a cart until they are three. Even if they are emotionally mature enough (which is not always the case), their knees are not closed, so who knows what long-term problems are being created.

In the show world, horses of all sizes are often trained for driving as two-year-olds and shown at three, but these horses are driving in a groomed arena and frequently retired for breeding after their third year.

There is so much in-hand training and ground-training that can be done early on that I don't understand the need to take any chances.

 

[targetsmom]

The pinto association allows 2 year olds to drive and jump so we see it done quite often. Some people seem to think if the rules allow it then it must be good. Note that I am only ground driving the 2 year old shown above and am in no hurry to hook her to the cart or get her into the show ring, even though I COULD. The 3 year old I started last fall (now 4 years old) was showing me that she wasn't quite mentally ready for this. I am hoping to get the 2 year old into the ring when she is 3, which means I might hook her to the cart this fall and then give her some time off over the winter and start her back in the spring. She is entered in the 3 year old AMHA driving futurity for 2013, so I don't want her to be too far behind her potential competitors!

 

[paintponylvr]

This is a subjective question depending on many things to me. Personally, everything we've done with our foals leads to the basics of driving - starting with in the first weeks of life...

If you just mean when do you have them ready to hitch, hitch up to cart for the first time, drive with weight in the cart (I'm heavier than some of my 2 yr olds so I haven't driven them with me in a cart!). I personally feel that most minis and Shetlands may not be ready to pull a cart, with a driver, on the road or cross country for any length of time until they are 3 yr olds and that they have to be properly conditioned - meaning build up to the work. I don't have an official arena - so when they are actually pulling me in a cart - they have to be ready physically as well as mentally to handle different terrrain as well as traffic with the cart and my weight.

I have a 3 yr old 1/2 shetland filly - that while she's big enough and has been conditioned by line driving, ponying from a ridden mount, and lounging - she's still not responding to the bit and to whoa the way I want and her mind just isn't there. While she's maturing physically - I don't want to be in the cart while her mind is still trying to grasp what I want her to do. I refuse to hook her at this time... After 60 days of ground driving including being hooked to a drag (my friend did this against my wishes - thinking she was helping me out), she has the summer off right now. I may pick her up later this fall/winter and do more - depends what I'm doing with the others and wether or not I sell her before then. I'd hope that if I sell her, the new owner waits until she's mentally mature to hook, but you don't know...

My first Shetland filly was started with ground driving and w/i 30 days she was hitched to a cart and pulling both my 4 yr old daughter and myself - at about 18 months of age. We had a 1/4 mile driveway with a turn around at the house (Vet Clinic - not where we lived) and at the tobacco barn that we used as a feed/tack room that added some more distance. The round around the barn was well grassed and "spongey-firm", the drive way was hard pack sand. The filly LOVED it. We didn't spend hours doing this, didn't do any cantering at the time and actually didn't do it for very long/many times as during the winter when the weather bad she wasn't worked at all.

These are the only two pics I have of her driving as an 18 month old.

Then in the late spring of 1998 as a 2 yr old - we started her under saddle - that filly would come when my 4 yr old daughter would whistle - you'd see a little head pop up over grass and weeds and here the "little rabbit" would come! Then Sierra'd slip her bridle on, belly across her back and they'd do the "jack rabbit thing" together. Then when tired, Sierra'd slip off her back and lay at her feet (like you see pics of cowboys doin') and sometimes Stuff would even lay down beside her... Stuffy was raised like an orphan as her maiden dam didn't want her - she spent her 1st 20 days in our kitchen at nite and rode to "day care" with my children (my parents' place). When we moved to NC, she was not quite a full yr old - and when we started riding she often was led along with the ridden ponies... So she saw a LOT OF TERRITORY - both on a lead line and while turned loose and allowed to follow on her own - including stream, pond and road crossings.

"Little miss busy body" is 38" at the withers and I'm thinking of hardshipping into AMHR (not show halter quality, but has produced some REALLY NICE foals for us, 2 of whom I may also be hardshipping into AMHR and showing in harness in the next few years) - still going strong at 16 yrs of age. She still enjoys getting out and going - under saddle, loose or ponied and in harness. She doesn't have perfect conformation and we've never "bridled her up" - she travels just fine with her nose out in front of the verticle - but will hold contact, stand quietly and back up on light pressure (oops - the other day she was gaping her mouth instead of giving and dropping into back up mode - need her teeth checked, she didn't get done last year)... For the most part she's strong and can pull either me or my now 18 yr old Sierra w/ or w/o passengers. When we go to Southern Pines and it's been a while since she's been out - she DOES get tired and winded - some of the trails are deep sand and the cart is HARD to pull. We rest as needed and try not to let her get too out of shape - however it's not uncommon for someone to say - o can I drive the one that's broke - and we pull her out even if it's been months since her last hook.

Different harness and driver, but same cart as 1997....

 

[Grace67]

Thanks paintponylver, great pics and lovely mare! I think you hit the nail on the head, some horses might be mentally willing at a younger age but maybe not physically mature enough and those need to be thoughtfully brought along so as not to incur injuries or soundness issues.

I guess I was questioning this particular person who was driving and competing her young gelding who is barely two but she may be driving him very conservatively at home and in training, I don't know what her regimen is. Another friend has a very nicely bred young colt who comes from a line of very successful all around performance horses and I've been pondering the idea of possibly purchasing him as a weanling but then I'm aware I won't be driving him for a good 2-3 years. I don't agree with starting riding horses too soon either but its nice to be able to do other stuff with them for a few years until they're ready physically and mentally.

 

[Katiean]

I have trained several horses at this point. My mares were all 3 and older when I started them. The reason is they were older when I got them. I started a home bred the year he turned 2. He wasn't an actual 2 until July so he was young. All I did with him that year was ground drive. We did the same at age 3. This year we actually hitched him and he is now 6. He drives like an old pro.

 

[paintponylvr]

Thanks paintponylver, great pics and lovely mare! I think you hit the nail on the head, some horses might be mentally willing at a younger age but maybe not physically mature enough and those need to be thoughtfully brought along so as not to incur injuries or soundness issues.

I guess I was questioning this particular person who was driving and competing her young gelding who is barely two but she may be driving him very conservatively at home and in training, I don't know what her regimen is. Another friend has a very nicely bred young colt who comes from a line of very successful all around performance horses and I've been pondering the idea of possibly purchasing him as a weanling but then I'm aware I won't be driving him for a good 2-3 years. I don't agree with starting riding horses too soon either but its nice to be able to do other stuff with them for a few years until they're ready physically and mentally.

AH! I can understand the concern and I had to read it thru a couple of times not to take offense (at the driver your describing).

Over the years, my experiences and training abilities have changed and so have the horses. When I was in my teens, I was comparatively tiny and the Stock horses we started under saddle - Arab, QH & Paint - were much heavier boned and had more substance than most of the full size horses I see today. We often started them RIDING at 18 months of age BUT only rode them about 30-60 days then they were turned out until the following full year and worked another 60-90 days, then when 4 - started with more/harder work. Our place was only 5 acres, but some of the ranches I started colts for had "paddocks" that were 100 acres and pastures that were many more than that (CO, MT, WY & NB). Those "babies" were raised outside, no barn except when "brought up" and started under saddle. Even the short ones (13 hh - so pony sized), were well able to take my 100 lbs of weight and a heavy stock saddle w/ addititons at that time... I don't weigh that amount any more, the horses have changed (at least the ones I've had since 1995) - with not being in those type of raising situations AND CONFORMATION has changed a lot! My arab filly is 4 this year and I'm finally thinking that she MIGHT be ready to really start under saddle - but due to some physical constraints and her "silliness" - will have someone else do the first 60-90 days then I will take it from there depending on her personality. I'm not into riding since I discovered driving the ponies and she is for sale... I didn't even consider starting her younger - she wasn't there mentally and was built like a will-o-wisp (very refined) and I am ....BIG.

Feel the same way about starting the mini's now. I don't have a problem with line driving them and last year my youngest daughter literally "played" with a 1/2 shetland (related to the filly above) and had him wearing a harness and ground driving at 5 months of age. The lines were only hooked to the bit 3 times that I'm aware of (during some lessons she was getting from a draft horse teamster) and he was ground driven a total of maybe 15 times (?). This year, we've been busy with school, jobs and working other ponies so he hasn't been harnessed and ground driven at all. Even if he was, he is at a very gangly stage and I wouldn't personally consider hooking him to a cart - even if he was mentally there (& he might be!). He's very different from his full sister - more curious, more even going, less bothered by new things, less re-active to anything.

I don't currently have any two yr olds that I would consider driving with me in the cart - due to my weight, the cart (s) I have and the terrain we have available. BUT that's not saying that it's a bad thing for someone else to do! On one hand, 2 seems young, but maybe it's not... In my situation, I can't imagine starting them that young and getting them into the showring. Kudos to you for wondering.

Thanks for the compliment on Stuffy. She was often considered a stuffed animal...LOL. When I need a break from life and just don't feel like dealing with the other ponies or babies, I take her out myself, LOL.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Good discussion here. I'm another that says "What's the rush?" Driving a mini is not the same as driving a full-sized two year old due to the difference in the relative weights of the horse and his load and as such, what would not bother me in a full-sized horse is something I'm very much against with the little ones. Pound for pound they are incredibly tough but it's not fair to make a young, growing animal haul their own weight in my opinion. I taught my yearling the basics in-hand, introducing him to the voice commands and ground-tying and ponied him from my cart behind my older horse, and as a two-year old he learned about the harness, bitting, light lunging, and gained more knowledge of what I was asking in the in-hand work. He was still very spindly and mentally immature on some issues so I did not even consider hitching him although I'm a light person myself and he could probably have done it without strain. His three year old year we resumed training but some family issues caused a delay in his progress so he was not actually hitched until August and was in a pair shortly thereafter with my experienced horse to gain miles. We pushed hard for a competition in September, did well, and the pair went on winter vacation immediately to let him process everything he'd learned so quickly. This spring as a four year old he's starting his first serious driving work where we focus on the driving itself and not the how-to-pull-a-cart part. He's grown up and ready for it now but I'm still taking things at his pace and being happy with small steps as I reinforce what he's learned and introduce him to new things. He's mentally ready but physically tires easily and needs a lot of Long, Slow Distance work to build basic fitness. At five years old I expect he'll finally be ready to really start driving like an adult with no holds barred, and it will be funner and safer because of all the prep time we've put in. I can't wait!

Leia