I'm looking at a 3 year old Warmblood. At what age is it safe to start her training under saddle?

Question

I'm worried about causing problems with her hocks, if I start her too soon. She's a Percheron/Thoroughbred cross.

Answer 1

you can start her now, but take it slow and give her plenty of time to get used to what your asking of her. If you try to fill her head too quickly she might get a bit frazzled and confused. Wait until you can both do one thing with great ease, then move onto the next thing. One other thing that I think is really important at her age is fun. Make sure that she is enjoying being ridden. Don't forget to take her to the beach or the trail every now and then for a bit of relaxation time.

As far as hocks go, as long as you don't go too hard too fast, she should be ok. Don't do too much jumping either, I'm told that puts alot of pressure on the hocks.

Good Luck :)

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

If I were you I'd wait another year or so, I have one that's 3 - have turned him away for another year, and another that's just turned 4, who's just started under saddle, albeit not much, need him to take it nice and slow (have backed and broken him, and turned him away for a while - needs to mature)- too many people jump on horses young, train them hard, back and leg problems manifest themselves a lot later, and it's people like me that end up dealing with them. I suspect your mare hasn't stopped growing yet. Whatever work you do with her take it nice and slow, too much too soon can cause lots of leg and back problems.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

3 years is usually safe to start saddling and breaking a horse to being ridden. Actually, you should probably have started at 2 with saddling and blankets, but 3 is definitely not too early.

Answer 5

Yeah, thats usually a good age to start. I don't think you would mess up her hocks by doing that, thats how old my horse was when he was trained..,..