how young is to young

Ok i need advice..i am a competive trail rider i have a three year old paint in training and he will be home in two weeks and my plan is to slowly start getting him ready to compete in rides end of next summer or beggeing of summer after that so two years.. my friend tells me i should not even start conditioning him tell he is 5 or 6 cuz he is to young.. i have done lots of research and talked to alot of ppl but still am unsure..so is three to young to start working up to our dreams?

I think so.
In Aus, you are not even allowed to compete until the horse is 5, and even then at restricted distance and pace. I would be very suprised if they dont have similar regulations where you are.
I honestly dont think you need to start conditioning any sooner than 6 months prior to the first ride, and this conditioning should be done in a progressive manor. This will give you more than adequite time to get your horse ready.

Spend the time between now and then giving your horse a good education on the flat, coupled with very easy rides out.

find a friend, or someone you get along with and hit the trails. don't over do it. you and your horse need to work up to longer rides. don't compete 'til you are both ready. horses need to grow up in body and mind. you will need to learn a few things too if you don't already compete. there is no substitute for experience of the trail for your horse. it's how he will learn to be a good trail horse.

I have beed doing endurance rides for ten years he is just a new mount.. my last horse was 8 when i got her and already trained and been in this sport for 2 years so we just had to learn to work together and see how each one of us did our things lol so i never went in with a "green horse" so this process is diff for me.. So than i should just do some pleasure rides for this year and have fun getting to know each other and working out the kinks and desantizing (sp?) sounds good to me thank you for the help

The age here is four but i am not concerd with the rules at the moment just what is best for my horse and i to be safe and make a great team..Thanks for the great advice

As long as he is a good size it should be ok to do short sessions and not over do it...they are still growing till about 5. My colt was very small and didn't fill out or grow much until he was 4 so I started him at 4.5...depends on the horse just don't do too much on him or you will hurt his joints. Do you have a picture of him you can post?

Yes i do but right now i am still haven a hard time fig out this site lol. I set a pic of him as my profile pic and it says it is . but when i look at my posts there is not a picture there lol. I will get one up of him some time today. He a big stocky boy for his age 15.2 and solid..Any tips on how to use this site easier would be great. How do i play the carrott game and how do i set a profile pic and i do i post pics of him in a thread ...HELP lol

I think horses should be at least 4 years of age before med fence work, then work from 4 -5 over med fence work and work your way up to larger fences throughtout the 5th year.

The OP is not jumping - she is doing distance riding.

I did start my mare at 4. With the rides monitored by vets, they will keep a close watch on your mare. One easy 25 a month should be ok.

mls= thank you that is gread advice. we have a vet that comes in our barn every month and she said he was solid and ready to be worked..so i will slowly work him and have her keep checking him and talk to her about our process. This summer will just be him and I getting that trust and relationship with each other.. My boyfreind has a amazing off the track Tb that is a great trail horse so they are my riding parteners hoping that her cool and calmness will help him adjust to the new "scary" things. I just want to do this the proper way and the best way for him.