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Long Range Plan?

973 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Kaifyre 
#1 ·
I have an arabian filly that will be two in the spring and is growing like a weed. And I am away from home (and from both her AND my gelding) so I am getting to thinking about what I want to do with her. I have options. Important to note is that I will be starting a three year program that will leave me with very little free time from next summer through to the summer of 2020. So any substantial riding by me just isn't gonna happen before she's five. Period. She's my endurance prospect at the moment, so that's even much better as they have minimum age limits anyway and if it all works out, I want her sound for the next 25 years.

She already leads, ties, loads, likes people, stands (though somewhat impatiently) for the farrier, can be dewormed and given shots, handled/groomed all over, etc.

I am trying to decide if I should spend a bit of time training her this summer or not. Would it be better to get some knowledge in there and turn her out again each summer, wait on everything until the end when I will actually be able to start conditioning her, or move her to the same facility as my gelding (stall board) where I can work with her regularly?

I'm not too keen on stalling her- I'd rather not even stall my gelding TBH, though he doesn't seem to care one way or another when he's in steady work. It seems like an unnatural situation for a youngster, and the drawbacks (reduced exercise, reduced herd time, increased exposure to ammonia and dust) outweigh the couple of sessions of training a week I *might* be able to fit in once summer hits.

If I am not going to be riding her, and she's not a problem now for basic care, should I make a point of training her before she's five? Is there any advantage to training a bit at a time with breaks in between as opposed to starting from zero with a four or five year old?

Luckily I have my gelding, who I can ride every day or hop on after six weeks off and he's the same eager boy. It's amazing to me that he can do that.
 
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#3 ·
I think keeping up on basic manners is important. Not crowding you, leading well, standing tied, allowing her feet to be picked up, etc etc etc are all very important skills in my opinion. Every horse, no matter how old, should know these very basic things. I also prefer my horses to know how to round pen or lunge, basic voice commands, etc. But understand if you're not going to be putting this horse in steady work those really aren't necessary. I've broken in a lot of colts over the years and to be honest I've never noticed a huge glaring difference between breaking a horse that hasn't been touched in a while and breaking a horse that has never been touched. As long as there are no horrible bad habits to undo, I don't think your horse will suffer for being left alone a few years. Realistically speaking, a horse with basic knowledge will really only save me a week or two over a horse that has no training whatsoever. So really once you go into steady work with this horse it will only be saving you a little bit of time. I see no issues with leaving the horse where she is now.

-- Kai
 
#4 ·
Good to hear that neither of you think it will end up causing trouble if she just spends time being a horse. I can always change my mind later if I end up having more time to work her, but I guess I worry that I'm not doing right by her if I am not actively teaching her something 'right now'!
 
#5 ·
Right? lol I bred my mare years ago and during the last trimester I only hand walked her for exercise, I thought I was going to go insane hahaha! That's the year she learned how to do tricks, since I couldn't bear to NOT do anything to her .... lol

-- Kai
 
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