Can Any One Of You Tell Me If There I Any Horse Show That Do Stallion/Colt Halter Classes North Jersey? My stallion is 1 year and 4 months old and i really wanna get him into the halter classes. I already have been riding him out on trails, he loves it, so forward and willing. He is the best little thing. almost 14 hands or more. Im registering him when he turns 2 with the grade horse association.
His Father and Elvis hang together 247, Boaz relies on him.
Then go ahead and contribute to the mass amount of unwanted horses.. And come back when your horse ends up personally lame at six. Posted via Mobile Device
He may be a big boy but he's still extremely young to be riding. I also have a yearling colt who with a pedigree that reads like a who's who of cutting legends and has great confo to boot but he is getting the snip as soon as the weather cools down because in this market there is no sense in keeping a stud prospect even when they have many things going for them. My colt is a good sized boy but I wouldn't dare risk his future soundness just because he was okay with someone being on him. Mine is willing to do whatever I ask but just because he is willing does not make it okay.
I can say from experience that starting them that young will damage them down the road. I have a mare in my pasture that was a 2yo wp futurity champ that was started at about 18 months. She has popped and cracked with pretty much every step she has taken since she was about 5 years old. She is also the only one I own that requires joint supplements and has arthritic changes.
There is no doubt you love your colt but you need to be his advocate and do things right by him. As oh vair oh said, there are a lot of things you can do with a yearling short of riding them. I would focus on those things and let him enjoy being a youngster until he is of mature riding age.
Yeah he is young, but this wont effect him. When i wrote im already trail riding him, i meant he has been out and riding but i did not say i ride him every other day. 1 every two weeks the most.
Then what's the point? You can't even teach him much by riding him once every two weeks. There really is no excuse but impatience and uneducated training.
yes true and Crazylegs: you say you ride him for max 15 minutes when you ride him.. that's also doing nothing but ripping up his growth plates and what not..
I can't understand this line of thinking. If you have no intention of breeding him, why keep him intact? He would live a much happier, less stressful life as a gelding and have a better prospective future should something happen and you have to sell him.
I may be wrong, but it seems you don't quite understand the information being put forth. Horse are not born full size-fact. In order to get bigger, bones mus grow-also fact. In order for a horse bones to grow height wise, they are born with these things called growth plates in the bones on top and bottom. The way these plates work, is that the cartilage on the end ossifies and adds a little more length to the bone. At a certain age (depends on breed of horse as well as which bone it is) the cartilage from the growth plate is "used up" and the bone has reached "full size" and is considered "closed" like people have been stating. On average the growth plate in the carpal joint (front "knee") close around 2.5-3.5 years old. If there is weight on the horses back (whether the back is able to support if or not) that will put quite a bit of pressure on the carpal joint. If there is pressure on the growth plates in the carpal joint before they are "closed" this can cause them to wear away. When they wear away there is little protection and bone may begin to rub on bone, which can create many health problems such as arthritis. Also this can stunt or stop their growth in that area as there is no more growth plate to grow. Hope this helps you to understand what may be going on inside your yearling every time you get on and walk him for 5-15 minutes.
I wish I could take that 'stallion'.. and geld him.. and put him on pasture for a while.. and continue to have a great horse for a long time. instead of 6 years..
The OP obviously knows much more than our combined experiences. To think that ALL of us are wrong, even though we are all putting out the same information.
Sometimes too much love is the worst thing for a horse. Human emotions cause more harm and pain to horses than they care to believe. EGO, PRIDE, IMPATIENCE.
HAHA yeah... I know. I thought maybe if I made it simple she'd understand, because the medical/scientific/proven whatever facts aren't working. Posted via Mobile Device
poor boy.. i just wish some people didn't think that they knew everything.. I mean no one said that he wouldn't make a good horse.. just that riding him so young is going to effect him ALOT.. I'm sure he will make a good horse. but if it keeps going he only has a little time left.. he is just a baby in my eyes.. I have a filly the same age as him.. it kills me to think what might happen if i didn't own her..
Trust me I understand, I had to sell my colt who is the same age as this one. He was well behaved and well cared for. I thought I was selling him to a knowledgeable person, and she is but not for babies. She sent me pictures of her daugher (11) on him. I was ****** but there's nothing I can do. Posted via Mobile Device
A forum community dedicated to horse owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, grooming, reviews, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!