what breeds calculate the age in january??

I have a quarter horse paint that will be 2 in june of 2010 but I know some breed registries calculate the age at the begining of the year in January.
Dose any one know what breeds do this in? And do you start training undersaddle at that age in that perticluar breed catagory?
My horse has done alot of lunging work and has had a light synthetic western saddle on and puts around like theirs nothing thier what else could I start doing with him, He ground drives,trailers, clips, bathes, lunges has had tarps thrown over him and im starting to run out of things that I can desensitize him with any suggestions?

I know thoroughbreds do. Personally I do not like doing that for it they "turn" 1 at the beginning on the but were born in June they are too young to be started at "2"

QH is 1st of January.

So is Paint horse. 1st of January. I actually have one mare Cutter that turns 4 on January 2, 2010. She was born an Jan. 2, 2006. I couldn't of gotten any earlier to the new year. By the way gorgeous 2 year old. He is pretty.

It's usually all 'racehorses', which includes QH, TBs, Standardbreds, etc...horses used for racing, turn a year older on Jan 1, regardless of actual age.

It kind of depends on the month he is born, if I'm correct in my thinking. If your horse is born in September, it won't turn 1 until the NEXT January. I know my QH filly, born in August, isn't technically a yearling until this January, even though she is technically like, 16 months now. And then my Paint mare was born in April, and she turned 1 that first January.

I, personally, don't care. My horses have birthdays, and that's the day they change age. =]

I've not *YET* run into a breed registry that doesn't. Now, with minis they do wait until the actual birthdate to go permanent, but for showing purposes it goes by Jan 1st.

I have to agree. For showing and such all breeds use the first of the year.

Riccil0ve I have never heard that for any breed. If born in September they are one (for show type purposes) when they are four months old.


OP, if you are asking for training purposes - if you are planning to start backing your horse at 2 I would probably wait until he is actually 2 chronological years. If you were waiting until 3 then the couple of months early would not really matter but at 2 it just seems too early when they are not quite there yet.

That's not true. If that was the case then breeders would shoot for Sept, Oct, or Nov. Giving their horses an advantage in an age event. I was just talking about this very thing with a cutting horse trainer friend in TX last week. There have been times when breeders shot for a birth during the 1st week in January but end up in the last week of December thus having their foal "turning" 1 in one week or so. Many breeders shoot for foals that are born during the last week of January, or February or March.

The January 1st birthdate only counts for performance horses in age required events. I've had horses that were born in April, May, and as late as September. As long as there isn't an age requirement at a show, it doesn't matter. As for training, since I don't worry about age requirements, I go by actual age, not January 1st.

Wait a minute... You're trying to ride a ONE AND A HALF YEAR OLD?!

What age APHA considers him has no effect on how mature he actually is. Those cutoffs are for showing purposes only. So unless you're planning on showing him as a two-year-old in breed shows there is absolutely no reason to start him under saddle in January.

Please do your horse a favor and read this: http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_..._2008_pdf1.pdf