Too much, too young?

[tina]

Another little debate,

should a 4 yo be show jumping 1m 10/1m 20 + on a regular basis, i.e. 2-3 times a week?

[maximum]

personally i dont think so. they are not mature enough in their body but I know it happens all over. Still does not make it right.

[tina]

There's one thing we agree on then lol

I hate seeing pictures of people with young horses being jumped over big fences, personally Blake didn't jump anything bigger than 2'6 until he was 6 rising 7 and at age 17 he can still go out and jump decent fences

[maximum]

It really anoys me when I see horses advertised as 3/4/5 year olds and they are either shown jumping decent sized fences or they are ' jumping 1m + at home and showing loads of potentail'

yeah until they are 8 and are knackered! what the heck is the rush? its the modern world all has to be done today if not yesterday.

[brigadier]

Me three agree!

[haffyfan]

No, no, no...they need to be babies and be given time to mature and develop slowly. Why the rush?

[only1wu]

Quite agree. Pressure comes on from all sides, though. There's always someone ready to tell you that your baby should be doing more. You've had him all of 6 weeks and not jumped 5 feet yet. That sort of thing.
Saw a lovely lesson recently where a very talented 5 year old jumped 3 ft 6 over one fence. He built up to this gradually and was praised to the skies. The instructor said "Don't expect him to do this every day or over a full course, but now he knows that he can do it".
He & his rider left the arena looking like they had won the Hickstead Derby.

[Becca]

It's silly cos i bet these people wouldn't send their 4year old child out to 'show potential' to run a marathon or jump hurdles!

people just want to make loads of money quickly, they aren't bothered about the long term. Sad the way people are sometimes

[racaille]

The poor babies!
My chum, who owns the club, likes to pretend that she's tough. But she has just bought an unreasonably expensive 3-year-old (he's well bred and very pretty) simply because she couldn't bear to think of his life as a competition pony. He was backed at two (poor beggar) and was destined to start hard work straight away. So she pays all this money for him - and turns him away. It's not good business sense but he's going to stay out in the field for a good while now. Bless her.

[haffyfan]

May 12, 2008 8:51:38 GMT Becca said:

It's silly cos i bet these people wouldn't send their 4year old child out to 'show potential' to run a marathon or jump hurdles!

You'd be surprised Becca what some people except of 4/5 year olds!!! Pushy parents....

Let horses be horses and children be children I say

[kateflashy]

thats how i got ali cept he was being trained for dressage just because his full brother competes at advanced leval they decided he should start there he was totaly stressed and didnt know how to be a horse it took over a year before you could pick up a contact without him going into panic or ride in a indoor school he was 7 when i got him and apart from his breeder hed been in 5 different homes his breeder actually bought him back and donated him to me to get his head back together

[Blonde Donkey]

Bracken was broken as a 2yr old and was ridden with her head tied in to make her look like a show pony and it has left her with mental scars. Sunshine will not be broken until later this year and will not be jumping until he is about six because his legs aren't great as they are

[duckles]

Totally agree with everyone. Not only is it a horrible cruel practice but very short sighted as the poor horse usually picks up loads of physical and emotional problems from jumping too much too soon. Of course the person doing it does not usually care as they have already sold on the horse at some enormous sum because he is jumping a metre or 1.10 as a 4 yr old

[midori]

I hate to see horses and ponies pushed like this when they are so young, it only leads to problems for them (joints, tendons, etc.,) when they are older. From animals I have known I have deduced that this is one of the prime reasons for a horse to go permanently lame .

Cheers, midori

[ceej]

good god no.

[tina]

I know one girl who has a lovely 4yo and she says it the horse that will take her to the top and get her noticed. Shame it will be knackered by the time it's 8. I can't even bring myself to reply to her posts as I'll either say something or feel a hypocrite by saying how lovely it is.

Blake's sire was a good dressage horse and his brother was at Grand Prix level, but I didn't start his dressage career until he was 14/15 YO lol.

When we evented I built him up gradually and yes at age 7 1/2 he was doing the Riding Club classes (3'6) at BE (this was before they lowered the heights and brought in intro and day tickets and was how you had a go before joining lol)

It just really annoys me to see a 4 yo jumping 4' several times a week and through grids which mean it's working even harder due to the gymnastic nature.

Touchwood the only problems my horse has ever had has been through kicks and things beyond my control. So far he has never been lame through work and as I've had him since he was 5 and he's now 17 is pretty good going I think .

[abi]

it really annoys me when they do that, and cause of the height theyre having to clear the technique is often a mess, but it'll turn on them when the vets bills come round in few years!

[Maes Seren]

I was talking to my friend whos just got a freshly broken 4yo mare and shes going to do burghley YE on her apparently... But me and a couple of friends were discussing this and the stress theyre put under is immense and you wont find many if any horses who go round BYE and then proceed to event later in life.

Its awful really. I plan to get a yearling, or perhaps breed Gem, but id do things with it, as and when it tell me too, when it wants to do more. Gems was 6 when she was broken... yet in the 2 years that her last owner had her, she was pretty much ruined ... at least ive managed to undo all that awful work.

[tina]

Yes you look up a lot horses that are doing young horse classes (BSJA) when they are 8 and only a small percentage are still going strong

[midori]

A lot of these horses who are in work too young are sold off as 'too old' just when they should be coming into their prime, by which time they are often basket cases mentally as well as physically. I think there should be regulation as to the working of young stock, ie, what should be allowed at certain ages, and competitions made to be 'age -aware' for animals overworked too young.

Cheers, Midori

[zoon]

My yard sells a lot of young "competition" horses all of which are 4 or 5 and jumping discovery and newcomers on a ticket. The yard owners must be blindfolded - no one buys the horses and they have no idea why. Poor neddies are doing the work my 12 yr old was doing and they wonder why most of them keep going lame???