# How often does a young horse need to be ridden?



## secretmolly (Aug 16, 2009)

I have a 2 year old Standardbred x Tennessee Walking Horse mare. She has been under saddle for about 10 months (I didn't start her that young, bought her just a few months ago). I am bigger/older than the girl that had been riding and training her, so I decided to give her more growing time. I gave her several months off, and have just recently started riding her again. She is GREAT considering her age, with a very calm and laid back attitude. But she is still a young horse that is learning, and every now and then will throw a fit and buck a few times. When we ride often, she usually does well, but if I give her some time off she tends to have more trouble settling into a ride when we start riding again. What should I be doing with her? How often should I be riding her, and for how long at a time? My goal for now is just to have a steady, reliable trail horse. It is a very slight possibility that we will start showing her eventually, but for now I just want a good trail horse. Any advice? Thanks!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I really wouldn't want to put any consistent or hard riding on her until she is well over 3 years old. I like to ride my young horses every day. How long depends on how they behave and how their training is progressing. Some days I will spend about 20 minutes working circles to perfect their turns, keep their mouth soft, and teach neck reining. Other days, I will take them on a couple hour long ride through the country (usually done at a long trot or lope) then come home and spend about 10 minutes on arena type work. I just sent a 3 year old filly back to her owner and after only 11 rides, she was neck reining pretty well, was confident in w/t/c and had a fantastic stop.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

2yo been ridden for 10 months??:evil: Sounds like she's lucky to have found a new home! I agree with previous - I would be doing very little/light riding if any for another year - at least - maybe 2 or 3, depending on her physical maturity. Also remember that while saddle fit should generally be checked every 6 months or so, for a growing, changing youngster, I'd be checking & adjusting fit every 3 months or so max.

I'd be concentrating on your relationship, desensitising & 'attitude training' for now, which will no doubt keep you busy without riding.


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

I would not ride a horse at that age - you could seriously damage its bone structure which is still growing. I wouldn't start to ride a horse until it is rising 4 - I may get a younger horse used to someone on its back but only to be sat on for about 5-10 seconds once or twice a month, I certainly would not put a saddle on a horse at that age.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

As she is already broken I would put her out until she is about three and a half if I were you, then bring her into consistent work. 

When a horse is just beginning its ridden education its very important that you are consistent in your training. Once you make the decision to bring her into work then commit to being regular and consistent. For a few months make sure you have time to work with her every single day. That doesn't necessarily mean riding, you may take her for a walk in hand, teach her some yielding exercises etc. I personally don't like lunging horses until they are over four, although free lunging I do a bit of.

Once she is in work I would do probably 15 minutes of ground work (yielding, backing up - whatever you do) then maybe ride for 10 minutes. As your horse gets used to carrying a weight on its back you can begin to ride for longer periods. I'd make sure to do the groundwork every day, and ride her at least 4 -5 times a week. Try and ensure that you work with her everyday for at least 30 minutes outside of your general feeding, grooming, saddling etc. once she is in work. 

I think she is way too young to be ridden regularly now. Sometimes people break in two year olds and ride them for a week or two and then put them out for a year. You don't bring pleasure horses into regular work until they are older, at least I think thats what is best for the horse, physically and mentally.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Agree with Saskia about consistency of training - of whatever age horse. 

I disagree with the idea of 'turning a horse away' to mature. Sure you can, but why not have fun with her now, teach her to have fun with you, get her used to all the other stuff she's going to have to deal with & learn, rather than waiting another year or 2. After all, you're still going to have to deal with her for hoofcare, worming, possible emergencies, etc anyway, so a strong, ongoing relationship is always a plus. Not to mention the physical aspects of giving her regular exercise, which paddock ornaments rarely get anything like enough of.

Regarding working with her every day, while this might be desirable if your aim is to get the horse going as quickly as possible(which you might be keen for if she's been just stewing in the paddock for a long time), it's by no means necessary - aside from not being practical or possible for many people with commitments besides their horse. Obviously the more training, the better she'll become, whatever the time frame. So I wouldn't feel you need to do it intensively, unless you want to.


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## secretmolly (Aug 16, 2009)

Thanks to all for the advice! I don't have a round pen, so what kind of exercises could I be doing with her? Do I have to have a round pen?


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

I don't have a round pen atm, don't see much point. Corners don't bother me & can be handy, IMO. I have a smallish(about 20m across) yard that I regularly use, but mainly for the convenience of the horses staying close when I'm busy doing something else but going to come back to them. I do sometimes make a portable round(ish) pen from elec fence posts & (disconnected) tape, if I'm wanting a pen in another area or in situations that the horse may be distracted when I want to play! The main point of me making it rounded is because it seems less pressure on the posts when the tape is taught(to deter my horse who 'respects' the boundary so long as I'm around!). 

I prefer to 'work' with my horses without 'strings attached', especially to begin with, wherever it's safe to do so(often in their paddock). I find that if they know the _can_ just walk away, they're more likely to stay, even when under some 'pressure', and of course it keeps me on my toes, because I have to approach things in the right way for them to _want_ to stay & play with me.:wink: I've found Carolyn Resnick and also Alexander Nevzorov are people you can look up that have a similar approach to mine.

Regarding _what_ you can do with her, basically your imagination's the boundary! For starters, think about all the things she needs to be good at asap, such as hoof care, general handling & manners, desensitising to various things & situations(like travelling). But I believe creating a good, willing attitude is by far the most important lesson, so that she _wants_ to play your games, trust you, learn whatever you want to teach her.... Especially for that purpose, I find 'clicker training' principles(google it) are invaluable & teaching fun stuff like tricks are helpful, not only for the horse's education, but also for yours, in practicing getting precise & specific about aims & timing.


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## SavvyHorseman (Sep 4, 2009)

Absolutely develop her on the ground for a while longer. Teach her to back easily, to hold her foot for you, to turn and face up, to yield off of pressure and to send when you give her a direction. 

This will ensure that she understands her responsibility to you well before you get on her back. 

Good luck.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

You don't want to be too persistent. It stresses them out and really irks them. I would ride maybe like every weekend until she's totally comfortable with you on and when my horse was three I rode every day for a month doing nothing strenuous.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

i have an every other day rule for riding until they are 4. i also try not to ride young horses more than about 30 or 40 minutes at a time unless i have to. also walking is really hard with a rider for young horses, so 'just walking around' for hours isnt a good idea


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad (Jul 2, 2009)

I ride all the babies I start twice each day to build routine.. Even if it is just for 5 minutes. I bring them out of the field, cross tie them, groom them, tack them up, ride them again even if for only 5 minutes and then reverse the process. They learn routine and I keep this up for a few weeks. Then I drop back to once a day for say the next 2 weeks and then it is 4 times a week which I maintain for all their lives or while I own them.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Harlee rides horses said:


> You don't want to be too persistent. It stresses them out and really irks them. I would ride maybe like every weekend until she's totally comfortable with you on and when my horse was three I rode every day for a month doing nothing strenuous.


I disagree. I prepare the horse, and do it in such a way that it isn't really stressful, and make sure to reward them for their 'good' behaviour **& attitude** & not overdo it - anywhere from a 10 second 'ride' to a 10 minute ride is common for me when starting a horse, and I agree with RiosDad, that the more the merrier! They might get 10 very short rides a day even.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

I agree with Loosie and RiosDad. Riding them once a week isn't much benefial at all - it prevents proper muscling which is neccesary to prevent injury, and it makes it harder for them to retain it.

I keep my sessions short and often with youngsters. If I'm working on something and they pick it up consistantly within 10 minutes, good for them, that's it for this session. They're just like children and they have a short attention span. Constant reward for doing the right thing is neccesary. I want to end every session on a good note and if that means rewarding good behavior by ending the session after 10-15 minutes instead of pushing into something else and having them shut down on me after 30 minutes, so be it.

I think it's much more beneficial for youngsters to be worked/ridden every day for short sessions as opposed to once a week for a longer session. You'll definately get farther.


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## SportHorseLove (Mar 3, 2011)

I know I'm a few years late on this one  but I found this while searching for how often I should ride my own young horse. 
I wanted to comment because I noticed a few people advising this member to turn their horse out for a few months or a year and then go back to riding the horse.
But horses, unless lame or pregnant, need to be consistently worked with and turning this horse out would probably cause it to lose its manners and former training...though we all agree it was ridden far too early. Youngsters especially need constant attention to raise them well just as your kids would. You are their leader, and from birth they should know to trust and respect you.
One book I am using with my 2 1/2 almost 3 yr old horse is Horse Training In Hand - A Modern Guide to Working from the Ground, which is actually not only for young horses, but horses which could benefit from more training period. As well, 101 Dressage exercies which MANY western riders use as well because it's all about balance and making things interesting for your horse's training. And the third book which I have found priceless is The Elements of Dressage. Yes I'm a dressage rider, but all of these books are about our relationship with our horse. 
I get my young horse out 5 days a week at the very least on the lunge line and double long lines, with or without the saddle and bridle on her, and we usually end with a good long walk as a reward because she loves it, but also to properly cool her down and let her stretch out and just be a baby. I get on her about once a week (which I am progressing to 2 and 3 days a week as she gets close to 3) to reinforce the ground training. She had been out to pasture for about a year before I got her, and had such bad manners running over me and breaking lead ropes pulling back because she hadn't been taught to stand tied.
***And something important to keep in mind - whenever working with a new horse, young horse, etc. while ground training, wear a helmet. These horses can strike out or knock you down at any time, become frightened of something in their new environment, and wearing a helmet while ground training, and especially while riding, is essential to our chosen sport. It has saved many a lives, and not wearing one has caused many avoidable deaths and severe head trauma.


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