20/06/2025
What age is best?!
We hope everyone is staying nice and cool during this weekend’s heat, and with it being nearly 30’ where we are already- all the horses are done first thing and having an easy lunch time ☀️
But these ‘easier’ lunchtimes (despite the yard renovation and constant water top ups!) have given us time to reflect on our advice we put out there, and perhaps we’re not honing in enough on open advice regarding the age and strength ideal for a young horse to be backed…
With times moving on within the equine industry, and the research is trickling out and becoming more accessible, it is now quite well known the earlier you start riding your horse (1/2/3yos) the more likely they are to have physical and often mental issues later on down the line 👎🏼
In our opinion, letting a horse “be a horse” (in the fact of leaving them out in the field with no purposeful human contact) until they are older (4/5/6yo) isn’t actually the best way of achieving a more sustainable outcome for a horse. So how do we recommend to do it?! 🤯
Relevant groundwork that does not over strain a horse physically or mentally can be one of the most beneficial factors of preparation for a ridden horse. Starting with headcollar or halter training with a foal, teaching them what ‘pressure’ means, how to respond accordingly to appropriate/light pressure and teaching them the reward behind the cue can be the absolute best start to a horse’s life!
At the yearling and 2yo stage, introducing different techniques (no not lunging or long reining!) can be super useful for understanding what type of brain they have, where they may have the most insecurities and to develop a better understanding of the life ahead of them! 📝
If you for whatever reason are adamant that your 3yo needs to be sat on, we would recommend absolutely no more than lightly backing, followed by a chunky holiday (6months-12months), and that is only if they are strong enough physically and emotionally mature enough to understand what is going to be asked of them! At this age, it is actually more beneficial to do all of the backing preparation groundwork, such as teaching accurately what leg means, what reins mean and ensuring all coping mechanisms are in place to ensure it’s not a massive shock to their systems when they are actually backed, which in itself can take weeks if you haven’t already done it!
In our experience, a mid to late 4yo is the golden period for most horses to have their very first sit on. We usually recommend still only lightly backing a 4yo, giving them a holiday, then bringing them back into work slowly. This ensures appropriate time frames for physical and mental thresholds, no horse enjoys struggling, this is the main factor behind sourness, which can inevitably create “behavioural issues”! Doing smaller batches of education with age/strength appropriate work loads is a kinder and less stressful situation to put a horse in, and holidays for horses does not mean they forget everything- in fact it’s the opposite as they process things better!
Most horses over the age of 4yo we are happy to work with, however it is still very much possible that a 10yo is too weak to ride/back! Muscle development is one of many key factors to ensuring your horse will be strong enough to be backed, and guess what?? Groundwork will help with that as well!
Older horses are at risk for a harder adjustment to ridden life, especially if they have been broodmares, injured or just spent years moving in their own preferred posture and engagement, however this is very much straight forward enough to overcome with time spent in backing preparation groundwork. ✍🏻
The main takeaway from this should be-
🦄 The more mental preparation you do earlier on, the less stressful the backing process will be
🦄 Smaller batches of the backing process with holidays in between are super underrated
🦄 3yos should only be starting their backing education by being lightly backed if they are absolutely strong enough!
🦄 4yos are a better age to start backing than 3yos due to being mentally and physically more mature
🦄 If a horse is underweight, underdeveloped or has injuries creating physical restrictions, regardless of the horse’s age, the situation requires much more care and professional advice regarding the matter 🥸
This being said, we take every case on an individual basis, no 2 horses are the same! We do absolutely refuse to back or ride horses that are not ready, despite the fact we know there is every chance that they would end up at a different yard 🙃, but the more knowledge and advise put out there the more improvements within the industry can be made!
Our inbox is always open, as is our comments, so if you have any questions or personal experiences within the matter please do give us a shout! 🥰
