# Riding 2yo to much?



## Sekaya123 (22 December 2015)

I have a 2 year old that i ride about once a week for about 1-2 hour(s) at a time. My trainer said it was ok to do that but she has been known to lie ALOT......i am finding a new trainer soon lol. I am 5ft2 i weigh 100lbs and she is 13.2hh. when i ride her i put boots on her and only sometimes i trot on her. Is that bad for her in anyway? Should i stop riding her and wait untill she is older or just shorten the rides?
                                                       What do you think?


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## Jnhuk (22 December 2015)

Are you joking? I wouldn't be riding a 2 year old at all.

http://www.webertrainingstables.com/riding-young


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## jrp204 (22 December 2015)

Put the baby horse back in its field and don't sit on it for at least a year! Your trainer is possibly a trainer in stupidity?
OP, be prepared for lift off!


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## 9tails (22 December 2015)

Any riding of a 2 yo is too much.


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## Exploding Chestnuts (22 December 2015)

don't feed the troll


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## madlady (22 December 2015)

Bonkers2 said:



			don't feed the troll
		
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Why not it is almost Xmas 

OP - really, you need to ask if you should be riding a 2yo!


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## Meowy Catkin (22 December 2015)

Bonkers2 said:



			don't feed the troll
		
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I don't think they are a troll, I think they are in the US (look at how they stated their weight in lbs and not stones) where it is more common than here to back at 2. Doesn't make it right of course.


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## lizziebell (22 December 2015)

Hi Sekeya, ignore the blunt rude posts above. Many of us are in the UK and here we tend not to start riding young horses untile they are 3 or 4, the exception being for racing thoroughbreds. Jnhuk has posted a link to an interesting article detailing what problems you can get from riding horses at such a young age.

I will agree though that you probably need a new trainer as I see from another of your posts that your trainer doesn't think a 2 year old will grow more, and this is something a good trainer should know.


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## epeters91 (22 December 2015)

I replied to your last post and I will reply to this one. Put that baby back in the field and let them develop properly.

Here is a picture that gives an idea of at what ages bones fuse and stop growing:






You need to find yourself a new trainer and go learn about horses properly from an experienced qualified teacher or go to your local equestrian centre. At this point I feel like the best thing you could do is sell the poor pony to someone who knows how to care for it or find a livery yard that is knowlegable and can help you learn whilst making sure your youngster gets the care they need.


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## epeters91 (22 December 2015)

You can see in the picture that at your ponys age it's knees, hocks and tibias haven't fused properly yet, riding for an hour to 2 hours could really damage your pony if you continue to ride her so young. I have a 3.5 year old filly who does a 20 minute hack here and there or 20 minutes in the school in walk and a little trot, shes ridden once a week sometimes not at all depending on weather. I would never expect her to work for 1-2 hours at a time.


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## applecart14 (22 December 2015)

As others have said, its not the weight issue, its her age.  You will get all sorts of complications in later life.  Find something else to ride in the meantime, do plenty of groundwork with her if you want to, as this will benefit her and keep her mind occupied.  But please stop riding her.


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## Damnation (22 December 2015)

It is never ok to ride a 2 year old.

I suspect you are a Troll in which case, carry on.


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## Alec Swan (22 December 2015)

jrp204 said:



			..
OP, be prepared for lift off!
		
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Damnation said:



			..

I suspect you are a Troll in which case, carry on.
		
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That,  or an idiot!   A good post OP! :wink3:

Alec.


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## Orangehorse (22 December 2015)

I don't think this is a troll, this is a question from the USA.   My sister lives there and says that once a horse has lost its baby foal tail, it is generall regarded as ready to ride.  Ditto many, many USA trainers I have come across.  There are ridden classes for 2 and 3 year olds with full double bridles.  This is shocking for UK riders.

OP, as you can see from the excellent chart above, the bones have not yet stopped growing and fusing.  Even if you were just having a sit on, 1-2 hours is far, far too much for a young horse.  If you want to research more, go to Dr. Deb Bennett's website Equine Studies Institute.


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## Princess16 (22 December 2015)

Noooooooooooooooo !


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## Sekaya123 (23 December 2015)

well i was told not to ride her until she was 3-4 but my xtrainer said that it was ok and that she would be fine because she was done growing but now i know that she was very wrong....


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## Sekaya123 (23 December 2015)

hi everyone! I just wanted to say sorry for how stupid this post was.....and no i am not a troll...this was a real question! The trainer that i have been with since i got my pony has taught me everything i know about horses but im just finding out that most/all of those things are lies. I will not be riding her again until she is 4.


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## Princess16 (23 December 2015)

Sekaya123 said:



			hi everyone! I just wanted to say sorry for how stupid this post was.....and no i am not a troll...this was a real question! The trainer that i have been with since i got my pony has taught me everything i know about horses but im just finding out that most/all of those things are lies. I will not be riding her again until she is 4.
		
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Glad to hear it! I sincerely hope you report said trainer !


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## Cortez (23 December 2015)

Princess16 said:



			Glad to hear it! I sincerely hope you report said trainer !
		
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To whom? It is not illegal to ride 2 year olds (even in the UK). The majority of TB racehorses are broken and ridden hard even younger..........

P.S. I am not suggesting this is in any way a good thing BTW. Much better to leave the pony until it is older.


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## applecart14 (23 December 2015)

Sekaya123 said:



			hi everyone! I just wanted to say sorry for how stupid this post was.....and no i am not a troll...this was a real question! The trainer that i have been with since i got my pony has taught me everything i know about horses but im just finding out that most/all of those things are lies. I will not be riding her again until she is 4.
		
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Well done Sekaya123.  No question is ever a stupid question.  You sound like you will do right by this mare of yours.  In the meantime keep up the handling, grooming, picking up feet, putting on/off boots, leading in/out trailer, long reining, walk down the lane in hand, show her lots and lots of things, tarpaulin, bags, balloons, fillers, pigs, sheeep, cattle etc. Keep her mind occupied but let her be a baby still so nothing serious.  You could try doing some perelli or monty roberts type of things.

You will end up with a kind, well rounded individual who will be virtually bomb proof and has a good education prior to re backing.  Enjoy


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## ester (23 December 2015)

It is possible to be American and a troll .


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## Princess16 (23 December 2015)

Cortez said:



			To whom? It is not illegal to ride 2 year olds (even in the UK). The majority of TB racehorses are broken and ridden hard even younger..........

P.S. I am not suggesting this is in any way a good thing BTW. Much better to leave the pony until it is older.
		
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I meant more in the way of word of mouth if she has lied about advice given for welfare of horse. why a trainer would do such a thing is unethical in my opinion . Why would anyone pay someone who isn't doing their job properly would you ?


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## ycbm (23 December 2015)

Seekaya there are lots of lovely people on this forum who can give you plenty of ideas of fun things to do with her while you wait to ride her. Why don't you post another thread 'ideas for in hand training of young horse', and people will be happy to help.  For next year, most people I know would be happy to see a three year old ridden gently for 20-60 minutes several times a week, but certainly not for one to two hours once a week.


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## paddy555 (23 December 2015)

Sekaya123 said:



			l  I will not be riding her again until she is 4.
		
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I think that is very wise. I never back mine until they have had their 4th  birthday. I think 3 is too young to back a horse
 and best to wait till 4.


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## Tnavas (25 December 2015)

It would really be wise to let this young pony be a toddler and be allowed to grow, strengthen and develop out in the paddock with its mates.

The lessons learnt so far will not be completely forgotten so in a couple of years you can bring her in and start the breaking process again. Allowing your pony time to grow and for joints and bones to mature will help keep her sounder and healthier in years to come.

It may be hard but you will reap the benefit in the future.

You will find lots of truthful information in Pony Club books, all written and published by people who know what they are doing.

There is one called 'Training the Young Pony' - I know it was originally a UK Pony CLub publication - don't know if they still do it, but as a teenager I broke and schooled a few using it as my bible.


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## Natch (25 December 2015)

Glad you came here for help.

While you are waiting for your baby to grow up and not riding your horse there is loads of bonding stuff you can be doing, as well as book reading to get as much knowledge as you can so that you can make your own decisions about what's best for your horse rather than relying on an expert who sadly turns out not to be. 

We have a charity called The British Horse Society over here. Have a look at the books they stock on their website and order a few (some are cheaper on.amazon, and second hand etc). Any books they sell will be a reasonable authority worth reading.


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## Haffie (26 December 2015)

Sekaya123 said:



			hi everyone! I just wanted to say sorry for how stupid this post was.....and no i am not a troll...this was a real question! The trainer that i have been with since i got my pony has taught me everything i know about horses but im just finding out that most/all of those things are lies. I will not be riding her again until she is 4.
		
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i thought 3yo was the normal age to start with light work, 15-30minute gentle work (not jumping etc).  I just wanted to say, because there's a lot of people who only have negative stuff to say and it's probably hurtful but also kind of depressing if you've got to wait another year....  anyway, I just wanted to say that there's actually loads of awesome stuff you can do with her without riding her!  Most people don't do it because riding is just such the obvious thing to do but there's lots of things you can do with her from the ground   She's still young so it'll be a bit like training a puppy and you'll need to be patient, but take a look online at cool stuff you can do with your pony from the ground.  Even though I ride, I also love doing stuff like having ponies follow me around the riding school, weaving in and out of cones and going over jumps and etc. just by them following me without bridle or head coller.    I think Monty Roberts calls it join up, i haven't actually watched him do this admittedly, but I think it's having the horse connect with you, give you it's attention and follow you around.  You could have your pony doing some very cute, very simple stuff in the ring by following you around which is very fun for you and doesn't involve hurting her back.  Then by the time you are riding her, you'll have a great relationship with her.  I've not done it myself yet, but clicker training can be a great way to train ponies to do tricks as long as you start simple otherwise both you and pony will become frustrated.


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## ILuvCowparsely (26 December 2015)

Jnhuk said:



			Are you joking? I wouldn't be riding a 2 year old at all.

http://www.webertrainingstables.com/riding-young

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^ this I would NOT be riding a 2 year old at all  * use them up and wear them out* comes to mind.


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## Tnavas (26 December 2015)

Baffle, in reply to your question.

Sensible folk who want their horse/pony to have a long, healthy life wait until the summer of the horses 3rd year to break them in. Then they may ride them, in straight lines, eg on short quiet hacks for 15 or 20 mins.3 times a week. Though this has become harder as traffic has become heavier. 

We used to back, then 'Ride and Lead' the horse out wearing a lunge cavesson and lunge line, while rider had reins to cavesson and bit. After 6 weeks where horse learnt to walk and trot, turn, slow down and halt the horse was then turned away until autumn. Then it came back in, had a refresher before being turned away for the winter. 

In the Spring of its 4th year it came back in and began basic schooling, large circles 30m size to learn to turn and start supplying work and moving around the leg. Trotting poles and small cross poles were introduced late summer, when the horse was fit and under control (hopefully). During this time the horse would be hacked out, taken out and about with a friend or two and maybe to a show for a look around. 

My boss, coach and mentor would not allow horses to compete until they were working well at the level above and starting on the next level at home. Eg to compete at prelim dressage, we would have to be working at Novice to a good standard and starting on Elementary work. She also insisted on a year at each level before moving on to the next. 

If you look back in time the majority of Grand Prix dressage horses were in their early teens before they started competing at that level. Now we see 6 & 7 year olds working at that level.

We now hear time and time again of horses receiving hock injections, having kissing spines separated - I know I'd far rather take more time and have my horse for longer.

OP there is an organisation called 'Horse Agility' which have DVD's of how to teach your horse lots of tricks, all involving trust and a bond between handler and horse. Great fun.


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