Deciding When to Train and Ride Elsa

I have said it before and I'll say it again. Just behind the dog world, the horse world is the WORST about destroying itself. Anywhere you look it's one person tearing down another. It's one person telling everyone how great they are and how "abusive" others are. It's just the name game. "Responsible Breeder"

"Backyard Breeder"

"Neglectful"

"Abusive"

"Greedy"

The list only goes on. The thing is, 90%+ of this name calling is all complete crap. "You can't be a responsible breeder if you can't take back your foals at any point in the future." Even a modest breeder with only 4 or 5 mares can breed 50 horses plus. So that notion of being able to take back any and all horses they've bred at any point in time is just ludicrous.

I don't get the fascination of tearing down others so viciously. It's one thing to be proud of yourself, it's another to tear down another to make yourself appear better. And it is HORRIBLE in the world of horses and it doesn't help anyone. Most certainly not the horses.

So why do I say this? Because one very hot point of debate in the horse world recently has been when to train them. (And I promise I'll write something later on deciding when to breed them, it's just as hot a subject). So here's my thoughts on when to train a horse to ride and drive.

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Traditionally, horses are trained to ride at 2 years old. That does not mean they wait until the second birthday, it usually means they wait until the horse's second spring after birth to start training it. Some people train sooner, and I don't agree with that. The horses are still too young and too underdeveloped. Just looking at the difference in Elsa from a year ago until now is pretty amazing.

The thing is, science is always moving forward and finding new things out. Horse's growth plates don't all seal until 4-6 years of age. Now this has led some people to believe that horses shouldn't be ridden or worked at all until 4 years, on upwards to 7 or 8 years of age. That is completely idiotic. Thing is, to most horses, we're not that heavy. Rule of thumb, don't carry anything over 20% body weight. To a 1500lb horse, a 150lb person is no more than 10% body weight. 200lbs is only 15%. Take into account draft horses like Elsa that are built sturdier and much heavier, you are looking at the ability to carry very large loads without overexertion. Now to be fair, that is mostly meant for full grown horses. But that doesn't mean a younger horse can't have weight on it. Just as a child carries a backpack full of books, a horse can carry a person, especially if it's only during short periods of time. So when will I train Elsa, and what for, and why?

Elsa from the get go has had ground training. Essentially, how to behave around people, on the lead line, how to pick up her feet, and pretty much learning to trust people and not spook at everything. Now that she has reached 2 years old, we've stepped up that training. This year will be a year of a lot of firsts for Elsa. We're working on new cues, learning to move from pressure, she'll be introduced to a saddle and blanket, and quite possibly a headstall, bit and reins/long lines. But no, I will not be riding Elsa this year, I do however plan on training her to drive. The saddle and whatever else I piece together will be what I tie things to to get her used to the sensation of pulling something behind her. (I don't foresee having the cash to buy a new driving harness this year) Now some people will wail "That's wrong! It can hurt the horse!" No, not really. Not unless I try and make her pull a few thousand pounds while she's out of shape. 1) Horses don't actually pull carts. The way the whole thing is set up, they are actually pushing it. They push into the collar, which then moves what they're attached to. Pushing is easier than pulling. 2) Those growth plates I was talking about, are affected by downward pressure, aka vertical pressure. A driving horse is having pressure applied horizontally. So driving doesn't affect the growth plates.

Plus this only gets her all the more prepared before anyone actually tries to ride her. It also helps get her in shape. It's a win/win all the way around.

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Elsa will be trained to ride at 3 years old. She will be in shape then, and her growth plates will be closed enough to equal that of a teenage

human. (Think about this, teenage girls regularly go to the Olympics for high impact and strenuous spots such as gymnastics.) I also know that Elsa will be in a fine state of mind (aka mature enough) to handle it. Even more so after being trained to drive first. No, I can't see the future, but I already know how calm and mature she is now. And everyone remarks on it, just the other day she impressed the horse specialist vet with how well she took her shots. And no, I'm not going to tack on "But only lightly" or "But only a little bit!" No, I plan to ride her on hours long trail rides.

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What brings this on?

For the hundredth time, I saw someone post this on Facebook (And I see this a lot every single year and it seems to have only become an issue/point of belittling since the study came out a couple years ago): (Paraphrased) "Hi, I have a gelding. He is going on 3 now. I am thinking about training him. But I'm thinking about maybe holding off for another year. And then I'll only ride him a little bit. What do you all think?" I don't even bother to read the comments anymore. It's always the same thing. "I really think you should wait until at least 4 years old." "I wouldn't dream of riding my horse until they were 5." "I waited to ride my horse until he was 5 and was happy to do so." (And of course you always have the one crazy) "My horse just turned 8 and only now shows signs of being mature enough (mentally) for someone to ride him." (No lady, you are lazy with a disrespectful horse and you probably don't have any idea about how to train a horse or even basic horse behavior. In fact, you should only own old horses who are too tired and lazy to act up.....leave the young horses to more responsible people) If this crap keeps up, it's not going to be sociably acceptable to ride a horse under the age of 10 anymore. The point of having a horse is to ENJOY it. There is only so much you can do on the ground, holding a rope, on your own property. Fact is, the only reason I am waiting to ride Elsa until she is 3 is because she's a draft, and it generally takes them longer to physically mature. So long as you are not riding your horse everyday, all day long, and doing strenuous work like jumping or sorting cattle, you're not going to hurt your horse. I can see it now, this woman trains her horse to ride at 4 but refuses to ride it more than 10 minutes a week because she's been led to believe that any more will hurt her horse and make her less of a person. That's INSANE. GO ENJOY YOUR HORSE. So long as you're taking it nice and easy, and not over doing it, and not tearing your horse down, WHO CARES what others think? These people are throwing away YEARS of time with their horses. They're throwing away half of it's riding life. Most horses are retired in their late teens, and most don't live past their early 20s, so go enjoy them! It doesn't take 5 years to teach a horse all it's ground lessons, and you don't have to wait 5 years to safely ride it. So just be smart, and go do everything you can with your horse while you can. That's what I plan on doing. I have lots of big plans for Elsa, and I'll be damned if I put them off for years simply because someone who thinks they're higher and mightier than me believes that it might be cruel to do them any earlier. (First photo courtesy of Lynda Sharp Fletcher from Facebook on North American Shire Horse Friends group.)

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