# How much work for a 4 year old



## Daytona (29 September 2011)

I just bought a 17h 4 year old Oldenburg gelding , he is quite gangly still and the vet commented in his vetting he needs to mature still so make sure I allow him time to do this. 

What would you recommend work wise for a horse like this.

I unsure of what he had done before I got him but he appears quite green , he can walk , trot and canter and have popped him over a small x pole. 

Since getting him he has been using treadmill last week just 5 mins working up to 25 over next 10 days as he still getting used to it.

Also being lightly schooled for 20 mins a day , hacked him out for first time last night so will now keep that up. 

How much work would you do with a horse like this, I don't want to rush him etc or over do it

He will be using treadmill every other day for next month on the 25 min cycle , so what else on top if this.


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

Should of added he needs lots muscle build up and you can see he quite weak behind etc.

you can see him in my album on FB

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...set/?set=a.10150299951996044.341464.702376043

BTW this is my first young horse so new to what to do with them etc,


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## Miss L Toe (29 September 2011)

i would turn him out for six months. Feed him a scoop of grub every day plus ad lib forage.


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

MrsD123 thanks for your reply , why turn him out for 6 months..??

Did you look at photo of him ..??  Do you think he very under developed or is this something you would do with any 4 year old horse..???

sorry for all the questions but as i said im new to having a youngster ;-)  and i want to get this right with him


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## Meowy Catkin (29 September 2011)

What does he do on the treadmill? Walk? Trot? Canter? A mixture?

The bones that you really have to watch at his age is the spine. I wouldn't be doing any 'hard' work with him at all. 

I would do mainly hacking, mostly walking with short trots (not too fast) and maybe a canter if there's a good stretch of ground (preferably uphill). I would do a couple of short (again not too demanding) schooling sessions a week and pop a couple of jumps once a week, plus a day off.

This may seem rediculously slow but have a read of this article, it's very interesting. 
http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

ETA. I have to say that the suggestion of turning him away, is actually a very good one.


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## Boxers (29 September 2011)

I agree with MrsD123.

We have a 3/4TB who turned 3 yrs old last June - so younger than your boy, but looking at your pics very similar in shape.

He is Jay in my sig - the ridden pic is not very good, he is a much better shape than that now.

He is being turned away to a very large sheltered field with 3 other horses in the middle of october and I will not get him up and re-start him til about March.  

He needs to go and grow, mature and 'be a horse' before the hard work starts.

Jay was backed in June and since then my daughter has either schooled him for 10 mins or hacked him for up to 30 mins - probably 5 times a week.

Personally I think 25 mins on a treadmill is quite a long time, I would cut that out and just continue with the short schooling session and short hack.


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## Meowy Catkin (29 September 2011)

speighty79 said:



			MrsD123 thanks for your reply , why turn him out for 6 months..??

Did you look at photo of him ..??  Do you think he very under developed or is this something you would do with any 4 year old horse..???

sorry for all the questions but as i said im new to having a youngster ;-)  and i want to get this right with him
		
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FB wont let me see the photo. 

Please read the article, you will learn alot about the development of young horses and why it is a good idea to give them time.


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## amandap (29 September 2011)

Yes, my idea was that he needs more time to mature both mentally and physically rather than work. Is it true that bigger breeds mature later than smaller breeds?


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

he only walks on treadmill , on flat at moment but would be build up to it on a incline depending on how he is getting on , 25mins is the standard cycle i think 

Id rather take it slow and let him develop correctly than rush him and end up with a trashed horse later down the line.

Why i wanted to know is i often see young 4 year old horses at BSJA jumping in say NC etc and wondered if its a little too much, i was not planning on taking him to a show untill at least he was five years old , am i being too slow or are they too fast..?

What i want to know is what is the balaance i need to help him develop in ridden work but also physically

faracat - will read the document - thanks ;-)


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## Miss L Toe (29 September 2011)

speighty79 said:



			MrsD123 thanks for your reply , why turn him out for 6 months..??

Did you look at photo of him ..??  Do you think he very under developed or is this something you would do with any 4 year old horse..???

sorry for all the questions but as i said im new to having a youngster ;-)  and i want to get this right with him
		
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I had a quick look at the photo and it confirmed the vets comments, he is underdeveloped and will grow in to a really nice type, but there is no point in rushing his work, as his skeleton and muscular development needs more time, if you rush him because you want something to ride, you may end up with problems, at the end of the day, he is a immature in his skeleton, may be a slow maturing type, you need patience, I think you have a nice young horse, but in two years time he will be a lovely horse, and if you rush him, you will be more likely to have problems. both physically and mentally, mentally because he may have physical problems.
I would not say this is essential for any four year old, but he is a type who needs time.to grow.
At the moment I have a seven year old, and only now, after three years and six months!!!, does he "look the part", this is extreme, but I can assure you that no one who saw him the day I bought him would recognise him now.
I had a New Forest who was with me for 14 months, in that time he went from a strong youngster running in the forest to a nice child's pony, even though he was only four, at his first show [aged two] the judge remarked on his mature attitude, and put him up as  "Best in Show"
He was well developed, and was taken along at his own rate.


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## Meowy Catkin (29 September 2011)

amandap said:



			Yes, my idea was that he needs more time to mature both mentally and physically rather than work. Is it true that bigger breeds mature later than smaller breeds?
		
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From the article




			Ranger is not mature, as I said, as a 2 1/2 year old. This is not because Ranger is a 'slow maturing' individual, or because he comes from a 'slow maturing' breed. There is no such thing. Let me repeat that: no horse on Earth, of any breed, at any time, is or has ever been mature before the age of six (plus or minus six months). So, for example, the quarter horse is not an 'early maturing breed' - and neither is the arabiann 'slow maturing' breed.
		
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However it later does state that very large horses often need an extra six months for all the growth plates to fully close, compared to a smaller horse/pony.


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

MrsD - its funny you said that as my vet said the same, in two years he will be a lovely horse , 6 years old is when i will see the best in him.


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## CBFan (29 September 2011)

20 minutes schooling a day every day is a LOT for a baby horse... not just physically but mentally too. My boy (4 next week) is doing 20 minutes schooling twice a week with a half hour - 45 minute hack on another day and perhaps a 20 minute lunging session on another day. so a maximum of 4 days working per week. My plan with him is to turn him away at least for december, january and February, bringing him back into work again in March. The idea being to let him grow and mature both physically and mentally.

There is no harm in you continuing to ride him but I would cut the amount of work you are doing with him considerably and look at hacking more than schooling if you are able - I am reliant on one person to accompany me.

I would make sure he is getting as much fibre as possible with a good balance of vits and mins.


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## amandap (29 September 2011)

Faracat said:



			However it later does state that very large horses often need an extra six months for all the growth plates to fully close, compared to a smaller horse/pony.
		
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Yes thanks, that's what I thought.


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

CBfan,  i only had him a week and when i said 20 mins schooling in fact i just been getting on him and walking about getting used to him, not really schooling him, just wanted to be used to him and him know me before taking him out a hack, took him out last night though for his first hack, so now thats over and done with was planning on just lightly hacking him 2 times a week then maybe one 20 min session in school and that all in a week, but he was going to go on treadmill in walk also every few days

The reason we thought treadmill so he could slowly build up muscles with very low impact, ie no rider and soft on joints etc.

now unsure what to do - Give him a total rest for few months or just lightly hack him at weekends (as when clocks change its all i can do as work till five)  and maybe a short session in school mid week

Vet told me not to lunge him. he said he does not like young horses lunged as fells its too much on joints, so was not going to lunge at all.

As for food was planning on giving him orginal blue chip and alfa alfa and thats all , plus as much hay etc in stable at nights


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## Miss L Toe (29 September 2011)

You can go back to long reining and taking him all over the place to educate him without stressing him, as long as he is calm and happy, he will be fine, but he also needs to relax with his friends, and play games in the field.


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## Spyda (29 September 2011)

A really interesting post for me as your boy looks a lot like my four year old filly developmentally (mine is 16.2 and still growing, and was 4 on May 8th).

I lightly backed her in early spring and rode in walk and trot for about a month, then for one reason or another she's been out of work since April and I've been fretting like mad that I've not done anything else with her this summer. 

Mine's just about ready to come back into work after 6 months off and now, after reading this post, I'm actually quite pleased she's had a bit more time off to mature. 

Good luck with you boy. He looks lovely and so good on the walker. Mine would have a fit if I put her on one of those


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## CBFan (29 September 2011)

speighty79 said:



			CBfan,  i only had him a week and when i said 20 mins schooling in fact i just been getting on him and walking about getting used to him, not really schooling him, just wanted to be used to him and him know me before taking him out a hack, took him out last night though for his first hack, so now thats over and done with was planning on just lightly hacking him 2 times a week then maybe one 20 min session in school and that all in a week, but he was going to go on treadmill in walk also every few days

The reason we thought treadmill so he could slowly build up muscles with very low impact, ie no rider and soft on joints etc.

now unsure what to do - Give him a total rest for few months or just lightly hack him at weekends (as when clocks change its all i can do as work till five)  and maybe a short session in school mid week

Vet told me not to lunge him. he said he does not like young horses lunged as fells its too much on joints, so was not going to lunge at all.

As for food was planning on giving him orginal blue chip and alfa alfa and thats all , plus as much hay etc in stable at nights
		
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I think your plan for workload sounds fine - you did give the impression initially that you were working him every day in the school though which is what I was getting at. At 4 years old they tend to still have very child like attention spans so you need to keep things interesting! I think it's a brilliant idea to get out hacking and I know what you mean about getting that dreaded first hack out of the way! Well done for that!

I also agree regarding the lunging, but then there's lunging and lunging and 20 minutes a week really isn't going to do too much harm. It's all a matter of balance. I only do it if I have to. My boy is very laid back and sometimes needs a little reminder from the ground what going forwards is! It also adds a little variety to his workload.

Feeding wise it sounds like your plan is ok. Although i'd feed alfa-a with caution as it can heat some up and your calm, well behaved youngster might turn into a loon! lol!


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## Daytona (29 September 2011)

Any suggestion on what to feed instead of alfa alfa then, as I said no experience with a young one so advice welcome , yes was worried about first hack but he was a angel , he very laid back. First time on treadmill just walked on no bother and off he went , wanted to keep looking at moving floor but that was it. So defo want to keep him laid back and nit turn him into a hot head.


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## muddy_grey (29 September 2011)

My girl is doing loads of hacking (4yo).  This summer she has really matured though.  I am schooling her for about 20mins twice a week and then she hacks 3 days.  Some of our hacks are quite long, but we mostly stick to walk and trot with maybe one short canter. I think hacking is the best thing for youngsters.


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## Kat (29 September 2011)

My four year old has also been doing lots of hacking, mainly in walk as it is mainly lanes not much off road and I'm being careful of her legs. She is ridden most days but just hacking in walk (although it is hilly round here!). 

Now the nights are drawing in we will be doing a bit in the school but no more than a couple of times a week for no more than half an hour. She generally does something six days a week. We don't lunge her at all or use a walker, and she gets as much turn out as possible, in a herd, she's still out 24/7 at the moment and will be for a while longer.


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## Auslander (29 September 2011)

Good thread from earlier this week here with some really good stuff about baby horses


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## CBFan (30 September 2011)

speighty79 said:



			Any suggestion on what to feed instead of alfa alfa then, as I said no experience with a young one so advice welcome , yes was worried about first hack but he was a angel , he very laid back. First time on treadmill just walked on no bother and off he went , wanted to keep looking at moving floor but that was it. So defo want to keep him laid back and nit turn him into a hot head.
		
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hehe! I'd say hi-fi mollasses free would probably be a good one for him. It isn't pure alfaalfa and has a slight oil coating which will help with condition. I'm not a big fan of balancers myself but lots of people use them quite happily so just see how he goes on the blue chip!


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## Lisamd (30 September 2011)

Well I bought my boy as a very underdeveloped 3.5 yr old






20 weeks later he was placed 5th at Hartpury International in the BYEH 4 yr old (out of over 50 entrants!)


















He is now 7 and his early work hasn't effected him at all. He was also placed at all his 5yr old BYEH classes.

This is him now...












I think they tell you when they are struggling - this was the first 'real baby' I'd produced so just take your time to get to know him and then you'll know when he needs more/less work. Impy had 10 weeks off without shoes at the end of his 4th year and hated it, never been on holiday since!

With regards to feed - Impy grew up on Winergy Growth, he was a strapping 17hh when I got him so I wanted something that wasn't going to blow his mind but help him develop, it worked wonders.

Good luck and enjoy 

(sorry for pic overload but v proud mum!)


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## ecrozier (30 September 2011)

I found that riding mine the same number if times a week as his age has been a good guide so far! He was backed at 3 and we then spent that summer hacking up to 40 mins mainly in walk three times a week. Then he had 3 months off. Aged 4 I would ride him 4 times a week, aiming for 3 hacks and one short 20 min schooling session, started to jump him towards end of that summer once a fortnight. He also did a few walk trot tests. 
Aged 5 he is now ridden 5 times a week, usually 2x hack 2x school 1x pole or jump work, just starting lunging instead of one of the schooling sessions.
With OP's horse I would aim for as much turnout as possible, and hack twice a week and go in the school for say 20 mins once, and then treadmill maybe once? Then give him a break say nov - feb, and then march time start out again but could make it a couple of school sessions a week and start to introduce poles etc. 
My youngster isn't as big and was never as gangly looking, he's a fairly solid 16.2 and has been since he was 3, but I have been super careful with ground etc as well to protect his growing joints! He won't be in what I would call 'full' work until this time next year really, although we do now do a bit more canter and some lunging.


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## Daytona (2 November 2011)

Well I made my mind up and I am giving him a total break until March , time to grow and mature hopefully and will re start him then. He so laid back I don't think I will have any issues with him. Thanks for the advice guys,  Lisamd your one looks lovely.


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## Ladylina83 (3 November 2011)

Really interesting thread thanks


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