At 20:53:38 on 09.02.10, Angelalain wrote:
Our youngster really needs to start work now. He's so bored, causing trouble in the field etc. Theres no grass and its nasty out there, but in the stable he's more likely to start some horrid stable vice. Oh for a school, or at least a bit of good ground and better weather!

At 23:13:49 on 10.02.10, Jojo78 wrote:
Hi everyone, I've got 2 youngsters. The older of the 2 I began breaking to harness in the summer last year. I turned him away around the end of October as I felt that, as he was still young, it would be good for him to go do "pony stuff" and mature a little for a few months. It's done him the world of good, and he's still in great condition. I'm gradually bringing him back into work now, and he should be driving by the end of spring. I think that whether or not you turn a horse away over the winter should all depend on the individual horse. What works for one horse might not for another. I start schooling my younger pony in this summer, and I'll probably turn him away in the winter, but obviously I'll have to gauge whether or not it will do him good or not. It's all swings & roundabouts in the equine world!

At 07:58:26 on 11.02.10, Flicka wrote:
Yep I do agree with everyone who talks about giving youngsters time off. For instance we started our youngster at three last year and then after a very short period of work where she learnt the basics she was turned away again as she needed to do more growing. She'll come back up again this spring but will again only have light work. I don't like to do too much too soon with youngsters-their bodies and brains need to take it easier especially if we want them to have longer working lives. When I talk about long breaks not being so good for horses I particularly mean those that are really fit like hunters, eventers, and pt2 pters a lot of whom(not all) at the peak of fitness are turned away for, well in the case of hunters the whole summer. They need a break,yes,of 1-2 months and you wouldn't want to keep their fitness up to the standard it has been but just a ticking over fitness. I was watching Horse and Country TV the other night and Clayton Fredericks said he was talking to Mark Todd and asked him why it was his eventers seemed to go wrong so easily and Mark Todd said well his advice was not to wait until Jan to bring them back into work but start Dec 1st instead.

At 08:22:04 on 11.02.10, Angelalain wrote:
I totally agree with you Flicka. What I feel they really don't need is rugs off, shoes off, in the field and abandoned until August! And I do know of people who do that (probably not very sucessful ones)But equally, don't you know people who don't ride for weeks (generally can't be bothered) and suddenly get a bee in their bonnet and the poor horse is ridden every day for a week and taken to a show!!! Our nags are never really fit, but their never really unfit either (except Fox whose on box rest) I hope that is the best way for them.

At 08:26:52 on 11.02.10, Flicka wrote:
When I was head girl at a livery yard we had a client who had a really lovely, young and potentially talented horse which she hardly rode, then she would book herself into a cross country clinic, ride the horse for a week or two, do the clinic, and then drop the horse completely leaving us to deal with a horse who was really wound up and difficult to handle. As I think Sue mentioned, it was like having a motorbike parked in the garage!!

At 12:14:16 on 11.02.10, sophieandcallum wrote:
Completely agree that if people are in serious showing and they turn them away until the next season starts is silly. But I think in my pony's case it did him the world of good. In the last year I taught him to jump, he did cross country for the first time, he improved in schooling a HUGE amount and he did lots of showing too. He had a pretty full on year but didn't once have an 'off' day. So because of his on/off lifestyle before I bought him this was a bit of a shock to his system he had 14 months of full on work....the only proper work he has done in his life!

At 22:03:33 on 21.02.10, Em28 wrote:
Really interesting reading different opinions, what I guess everyone does agree on is that it depends on the horse and circumstances. I currently ride an older event horse, who to let him get unfit through the winter would have been very detrimental. With older horses in competitive work I feel it is best to keep them going to keep muscle tone and reduce risk of injuries. On the other hand I can think of the horse I was riding previously to this. I brought him back into work at 13yrs, after many years of doing nothing in the field. He was spooky,flightly etc. However, he learnt to trust me and was much calmer after a few months, but still lively. Then he had the best part of a year off due to my pregnancy. When I rode him again, he was fantastic a changed horse! I got straight back on him and went out for a gentle short ride, no spooking, bucking trying to bolt etc! What I didn't work out was, did this time off allow him to reflect? (like turning away a youngster), or was it because he was a year older?! His owners thought perhaps he had thought he had been punished by not going out and had missed it so much he decided to behave! Obviously did him good having a break.

At 03:20:36 on 23.02.10, Tora617 wrote:
Hey, Flicka I agree with you about your message regarding letting young horses out to pasture to be young. My mare was halter broke at 9 months, put out to pasture and I didn't work with her until she was almost two. I did green break her just before her second birthday, but I was so slow and easy on her... she was put out to pasture after 6 weeks of training and had almost another 9 months off before I rode her again. I didn't even ride her full time until she was 4. I am so glad I gave her time to be a horse. She does get all winter off, with a few rides (if the day is nice) in between. But generally we ride only from April to October (sometimes we can sneak in November). I live in Canada and we have very harsh winters in Manitoba, and I do not stable my horse. She actually lives in a 40 acre pasture and has to be called in whenever I ride her. I love it because she is with a herd of 40 other horse (which is her natural habitat) and when i ride her, I know that any bad habits she devolops has nothing to do with being locked up for too long or being too bored. But this works for her because she has always remembered every training step we have ever taken. If she was a mare who forgot everything during her breaks, this would be the worst senario for her. I think riders need to be cognizant of their horse's needs and personalities to decide how long the break should be for their horse. I also had a gelding who was so deveoloped at such an early age, he really couldn't handle time off and his body would get so sore. I was only 16 at the time and didn't know that his body couldn't handle that time off. He was jumping 4 feet by the age of 4 (his previous owner trained him relentlesly) and I still believe that was his downfall. He was put to sleep this fall at the age of 16... what a shame.