![]() The more things the young horse is exposed to, the better off he will be. ![]() You can take them up and down hills, on trails, over streams, along roads, wherever you can. One thing that all young horses can benefit from is going for lots of walks. The statement that some breeds of horses mature faster than others is no more based in science than the statement “going outside without a hat will make you catch pneumonia.” There are so many things to do with your youngster before you ride him, there is no need to rush him to be backed before he is three years old. Horse breeds that are stockier (such as draft crosses, quarter horses and Paint horses) or warmbloods (which develop even more slowly) have additional stresses on growing joints. Furthermore, horses shed their first set of baby teeth between ages two and three, at the same time as wolf teeth can erupt, making bitting uncomfortable for them. Its attention span ranges from five to maximum twenty minutes (and that only in very particular cases), after which point it can get tired, overwhelmed, and likely to misbehave. For more information, here is a handy chart), and it is still actively in one of the fastest-growing phases of its young life. The growth plates in almost all of the young horse’s joints are still open (those in the spine do not close until between ages 5-6. A two-year-old horse is the equivalent of a twelve-year-old child, mentally and physically. This cannot be stressed strongly enough – no horse will be hurt by taking things more slowly and starting them a bit later. For further details on how to work on these manners, there are great instructions in Training your Foal: Raising a Foal from Birth to Backing and Bringing Up Baby.Īnother important factor is the horse’s physical and mental maturity. He needs to know that he is not allowed in a human’s personal space unless he is invited, and he should quietly and automatically be ready to move any part of his body away in response to pressure – turns on the forehand and haunches, backing up, dropping the head, picking up the hooves are all important skills to have. Leading and standing tied (under supervision!) are invaluable skills for a young horse to have as well. He should know that nipping, even in play, is absolutely unacceptable, and he should not turn his backside towards people, even if asking for scratches. Your young horse should have impeccable ground manners before you begin to back him.
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