Conference noted::equitation

    
    I usually wait until my young horses are 3 before starting them under
    saddle.  And if I do start them as 3 year olds, I don't use them much
    at all.  In many instances I have waited until they are 4.  (I work
    mostly with Arabs and Arabian crosses and use them for anything from 
    western classes to jumping to Park.)  I wait because I messed up a
    few in my early years by working them too much too soon (massive
    leg problems that could and should have been avoided).
    
    However, I do lots of ground work before then and may have driven them
    as 2 or 3 year olds.  Then when I do start riding them, they are very
    educated and balanced.

    I agree that you can cause a lot of problems but expecting too much
    of a young horse, but I also think that you should get them used
    to the basics early.  I think that 2 is the right age to start them
    with lounging, saddle and bridle, but never much at any one time.
    In other words, work with them no more than 15-20 minutes at a time.
    The lounging should only be to get them used to some voice commands
    and later moving with the saddle and bridle on.  Don't lounge a
    young horse to condition them as going around in circles can really
    hurt their legs.
    
    At 2 years, they are still pretty awkward but they can get used
    to discipline.  I am currently training a 2 yr old TB/Cleveland
    Bay colt that is over 16.1 hands.  If I wait another year or two
    to teach him about the bridle, I am afraid that I could never reach
    to get it on.  He also has a tendency to ram his weight around since
    he has not had much discipline yet.  Again I do not want to wait
    until he is bigger.  At the current time I am just doing ground
    work with reining.  I am not sure when I will get on for the first
    time - probably sometime this summer.
    
    When he is 3, I will expect a little more, but nothing intense.
    
    Those are my theories, but they have worked for me.
    
    Diana
    

    It depends really what sort of horse you have, how willing it is
    etc. Most people (if they have large horses) tend to leave them
    until they are 4-5 years old as, it is thought larger horses
    need more time to develope etc..
    
    I have always started my horses of at 3+ years. For backing 
    that is, as I am quite light and I have always had big horses, and
    this does make a difference.
    
    For lunging etc I think this is very important, becuase it doesn't
    matter how young you start teaching manners and respect, as you
    will have a much easier time when preparing for backing.
    
    Good luck
    
    
    Jayne
                                      

    I was always told you wait for the knees to close. On a baby the
    knees feel kind of spongy as the joints are still forming. My vet
    says when the knee joint has less than 1/2 inch of soft area (you
    can actually feel it with your fingers) the horse can be started
    lightly under saddle. This will vary with the breed and the individual
    horse, but I have never had a problem using this method. On the
    animals I have worked with, this generally works out to around 3
    years old for QH and Appys.
    
    Sandy
    

    No one has mentioned maturity and I have always found this to be
    the final determining factor.  A horse which has not matured in
    attitude as well as physically should not be started at as young
    an age.  My belief is that if the ground work is complete and the
    horse is worked with from the time of birth starting to ride in
    the fall of the third year or spring of the fourth is best.  It
    gives the horse a chance to grow and mature yet not run wild and
    untrained.  It forces us to work more on basics that many times
    get overlooked if you begin to ride too early.
    
    I guess each horse is an individual and must be looked at as such.
    Isn't it odd how similar this is to children and the determination
    as to whether they should begin school at a predetermined age.
    
    Karen
                                           

    I break the TB's in the late spring of their 2nd year - after xrays,
    of course. They learn basic manners  walk, trot, canter and go a
    on a few east trail rides.  Then they get the summer off and we
    start serious training in fall.
    
    The warmbloods are mature later, so they don't get broken until
    the 3rd year.
    
    FWIW- Lippizans get ridden about the same time as warmbloods - 
    even the Spanish riding school rides them in the 4th year. They
    don't get to do the upper level and air's above the ground until
    they're 7.
    
    -maureen
    

    Some further thoughts - I think that conformation plays a big role
    in how long a horse will last in soundness - more than whether or
    not they were ridden lightly when they were 2 or 3.
    
    I had a TB/Tennessee Walker gelding once who I bought when he was
    3 and a half.  In the next year and a half, I showed him hunter
    and open jumper plus spent a season of fox hunting in Eastern PA
    with him.  Since then, he has been used for pony clubbing and has
    been shown extensively in hunter classes.  One owner campaigned
    him in New Hampshire and got year end high score awards in
    Non-Thoroughbred Working Hunter and Amateur Owner Working Hunter.
    The horse is now 25 years old and still being used for light riding.
    I guess he was just put together right to stand up to such a life.
    
    A horse should get some conditioning when they are young, and not
    left totally idle.  I went to a conditioning seminar 8 years ago
    that was put on by the magazine EQUUS.  One of the presentations
    showed X-rays of the cannon bones of two horses, one that had been
    conditioned properly and one that had been left idle.  The one that
    had been conditioned properly had a cannon bone that was bright
    white in the X-ray, and the other horse had a light gray colored
    bone.  This showed that the density and strength of the cannon bone
    of the conditioned horse was much greater than the other horse.
    I think these horses were 6 years old when these X-rays were taken.
    
    Hope that this has not confused anyone.
    
    Diana