Stock breeds such as Quarter horses, Appaloosas, and TB’s grow faster and their knees usually close earlier than lighter breeds. So waiting until that age isn’t necessary for these breeds, most of the time.
I really like your work, but starting a 2 year old is plain cruel even if you don't do much ridden work with them, their bones need to grown and they need to mature , they are babies.
Hi Fen, glad you like my work. Thank you for that. As far as starting a 2 year old- if you really feel so strongly about that, here is what I suggest you do. Go do some research on the subject and come back armed with some data. Then start a RU-vid channel with your real name and identity. Supply us with some kind of verification that you are an experienced horseperson. List the reasons, backed by evidence that starting a 2 year old is harmful to the horse. Tell us at what age you believe it would be appropriate to start a horse. I believe this would be a much more effective and honorable approach to persuade myself and others of your opinion, rather than anonymously accusing me of being cruel to horses. I am putting myself out there (in the public forum) in an effort to help horse owners and their horses to find better ways of doing things. I consciously make an effort to not belittle other's methods. I merely present methods that work well for me in the hopes that they will help others.
He is such a baby. It is great to see him progress and learn to balance himself. I have a 2 year old here and thought I would leave him till he is 3 before doing too much with him. I plan to break him to harness first and drive him for a year or so before backing. Of course, plans may change. I just felt mentally he is not up to doing too much more than basic handling manners at this point in time. Do you have an age preference or is it more an individual horse thing with you? I agree wholeheartedly about the hind end "dissenguageing" thing. It seems to me to have come out of the USA over the last 25 years and now it is used around the world. I find horses trained this way are sometimes quite difficult to deal with. Swinging the hind end away becomes their default manoeuvre if they are confused with anything you ask them on the ground. Quite frankly, having the horse spin to face me is the last thing I want, especially if I want the horse in harness.
I like to start them when they're 2, but I don't ride them that hard during their 2 yr old year. Sammy is actually a coming 3 yr. old. He was foaled in May so was a late colt. He's pretty small, but feels bigger than he looks when you're on him. I plan to ride him steady, but will try to keep it pretty easy until the 2nd half of the year. I think driving is a real good thing for a colt. I've heard the 'don't back them until much later in their training' philosophy but I personally don't agree with that philosophy; in fact I start backing my colts right from the start and feel it helps their stopping and really just about everything. Glad you're enjoying Sammy's progress and we hope you keep tuning in and Happy New Year from Texas!
