# Breaking in a youngster



## Ponyjumpergirl (1 February 2015)

I may be having a new 4yo mare on loan soon and shes been backed and tured away for the winter. The owner says she just needs breaking in and bringing slowly into work again. Ive not broken in a horse myself before but ive watched other people at my yard do it and ive ridden 'problem' horses before. My horse before used to be naughty sometimes but we got him already broken in and ready to ride. Im just looking for some tips so i dont teach her any bad habits or anything. Any advice??


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## Magnetic Sparrow (1 February 2015)

I would recommend getting help from people who are experienced in breaking and riding away. Every horse is different, but it's so easy to store up problems for the future if you get it wrong.

My advice would be to try to be calm, consistent and try to see everything from the horse's perspective. My number one tip would be Never start an argument you think you might not win.


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## Pearlsasinger (2 February 2015)

I am wondering why the owner has chosen to loan this horse to someone who has no experience of breaking in and riding away a youngster.
My cynical head tells me that it is possible that the mare proved difficult under saddle and the owner has decided to find some poor unsuspecting soul to try again.
Take care, OP, unless you know this horse and owner well.


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## Exploding Chestnuts (2 February 2015)

Pearlsasinger said:



			I am wondering why the owner has chosen to loan this horse to someone who has no experience of breaking in and riding away a youngster.
My cynical head tells me that it is possible that the mare proved difficult under saddle and the owner has decided to find some poor unsuspecting soul to try again.
Take care, OP, unless you know this horse and owner well.
		
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This was my thought, ask her to send it to a yard for breaking for two weeks, go along and see what they think.


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## SpringArising (2 February 2015)

Pearlsasinger said:



			I am wondering why the owner has chosen to loan this horse to someone who has no experience of breaking in and riding away a youngster.
My cynical head tells me that it is possible that the mare proved difficult under saddle and the owner has decided to find some poor unsuspecting soul to try again.
		
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Sounds about right.




			The owner says she just needs breaking in and bringing slowly into work again.
		
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She's made it sound very simple, so why can't she do it herself?

I really strongly suggest looking for something else. Find something that is ready to go. Having a youngster and breaking them in is challenging enough, especially when it's not your horse and you'll be paying for the privilege!


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## nianya (2 February 2015)

SpringArising said:



			I really strongly suggest looking for something else. Find something that is ready to go. Having a youngster and breaking them in is challenging enough, especially when it's not your horse and you'll be paying for the privilege!
		
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I agree, training is plenty challenging and quite frankly she'd be paying someone else to do it right if it mattered to her.


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## Pinkvboots (2 February 2015)

I agree with the others why would you take on that hassle? You sound quite young op find a loan horse that you can just get straight on and have some fun with, starting young horses is not always easy I have had horses for 25 years and have only really backed one and luckily he was easy and I had lots of good help, I wouldnt do it again though I would send them away to a professional now and get the job done properly.


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## Goldenstar (2 February 2015)

nianya said:



			I agree, training is plenty challenging and quite frankly she'd be paying someone else to do it right if it mattered to her.
		
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I agree , I think it's a bad deal to test pilot some else's just backed horse for no payment and without owning the horse at the end .
This is a dodgy thing to consider unless you know who backed the horse , exactly what they did and where they got to before turning away .


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## gnubee (7 February 2015)

Sounds like a pretty rubbish deal for you. Part of me would have loved to try backing one in this scenario before I got my own to do as if it all goes wrong you can send it back. But in that case you don't learn anything from the mistakes you will inevitably make in your first backing and how to do it better next time.
There is a very good chance that you will need to bring in professional help at some point in the breaking process, and are then effectively ploughing a large amount of money into training someone else's horse which will likely be sold in the event that you do successfully get it going consistently well.

In most cases the first backing isn't the difficult bit -  its new to the horse, they are likely too unbalanced under a rider to try too much funny stuff, and you don't ask for anything difficult. The problems come later. 
It is completely different to 'riding through' problems on an experienced horse. An experienced horse has the buttons broadly in the right places so you know if you continue to apply cirrect aids and increaase the level of those aids a resisting horse is just being naughty. With a youngster there's a lot more judgement to apply about whether a horse doesnt understand what you want or is just resisting.
As an example, my youngster who I could probably pass off as a young dressage horse in walk - will extend and collect, bends well, yields off a leg etc. -will not trot under saddle. Even on the lunge. Her brain can't seem to get round the idea that it is a thing you  can do with a rider sat on top.  I can guarantee if you sit on her and escalate leg aids like you would do for a schooled horse, she would end up in a corner on 2 legs. Not because she's naughty per-se, but because she wouldn't understand why you were kicking and her default response to confusion and frustration  (backing up ) hasnt yet been sufficiently over ridden by an understanding that leg on means go forwards. She understands when shes calm, but its not yet an instinctive response for her.

I am now making very slow progress on this issue, having tried a wide variety of techniques on the ground and in the saddle.  I think that  the key difference between riding a naughty horse and backing one is thinking of ways to explain to the horse what you want without using aids they don't fullly understand. The nnext step if progress stalls again  is the full range of re-checks on back, saddle, teeth etc. and getting a professional trainer involved. There is a significant cost involved with this step, but because it is my horse who I anticipate many happy years of riding, I will do it if I cant safelly resolve the problem myself. I would be much less willing to take these costs if the horse wasn't mine and I was taking on the costs without expectation of long term benefit.


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## maj (7 February 2015)

this person will loan a horse to a person that's never backed a horse before ???? if it sounds wrong it is wrong --- responsible owners wouldn't put their horses on loan  to be backed by an inexperienced person - the horse could be ruined 
its the same old jargon - 4 or 5 year old horse - backed turned away to mature crap - they've tried to back it and they cant - when you start backing you continue the process to ensure the horse is educated properly - you don't take a break halfway through the process 
stay well away!!!!!!


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## Fun Times (8 February 2015)

OP I know it must feel like everyone is raining on your parade, but this has genuinely got alarm bells all over it. Please either stay clear or insist you see the horse in work at a professional yard for a few weeks before you commit. Also, is tbis person expecting you to invest time and money improving their horse just so they can sell it? What sort of support are they offering you in terms of paying for you to habe professional training with the horse? If the answer is none, I think they are taki g the pi $$.


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