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What to expect of 16 month old filly

6K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  loosie 
#1 ·
So just as the title says, I'm wondering what to expect of my 16 month old filly. I'll give you some information about her tho. She's a 14hh and roughly 820lbs Quarter Horse who is wicked smart, she picks everything that i teach her up so fast. She's like a SPONGE, and she's very observant (for example: she'll watch you open "horse proof" gates then figure out how to open them, or i walked her down the road 3 times then one day she got out and continued to walk down to road to the farm I walked her to before (3km away)
So she's eager to learn so much and I would like her to mature into a good cow and barrel horse but also very easygoing therapy and lesson type horse. I've been using her as a therapy horse a bit already too.

So far she knows:

How to be haltered
How to lead
How to be groomed
How to trailer
She is not head shy at all, I can stick my fingers right in her mouth
Good with dogs (even the super annoying ones how bark at her head non stop)
How to lift her feet
How to do stretches
How to tie
How to ground tie
How to be dewormed
How to be blanketed
How to turn off forehand
How to turn off hindend
How to circle at walk and stop instantly to "whoa"
You can spin ropes FAST all around her with no reaction
How to bathe
How to get a full body clip
How to have a saddle pad
How to have bareback pad
How to be saddled (lighter cinch I'm going very very slow for her)
How to walk over tarps and have them on her
You can play music loud and she doesn't care
I can ground tie her while she's saddled and has a tarp over her, than take the tarp off and fold it, and unsaddle her and she will still be standing ground tied all while music is going loudly (and she's only been ground tied 8 times, saddled 6, and tarped 3 times)
How to walk over cavaletti and small (6-12" jumps)
She's had a bridle on just not the bit part

I'm going to do some more refining on her ground driving, walking over bridges, side passing, and I'm going to start to make her circle in a larger circle so its more like longing and I'll start with trotting too, and weaving through pylon cones

When I first got her I didn't want to push her to be ridden by 2 I was going to let her take her time to be sure she's ready. But, I'm starting to get the feeling that she will be ready by 2.

ANY training advice, tips, opinions, ideas, theories, any thing really. I would LOVE to get.

Thank you!! :runninghorse2:
 

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#2 ·
I personally think less is more sometimes.

I find it easier to start a horse who only knows basic things like leading and tying, and maybe has been exposed to a saddle and pad.

Of course it depends on what you want as well. I have had some who were so gentle that all the "sting" was taken out of them. Like I'd try to spark one up and put them on a job and they just wouldn't care about anything, whereas a lot of the more sensitive horses who weren't gentled quite so much tended to take a lot more interest in things and react to them, and were easy to move around so long as they were taught to focus on you.

She is doing fine, I personally would probably leave her be until she is ready to start. She looks like she would be fine to start at 2, although be prepared for the forum to come unglued and bark about how terrible it is and how you should wait. I personally start all mine at two. It's all about how you do it, not the age itself.
 
#3 ·
Good point Sorrel, I also like to break my colts as late 2 year olds, give them a good solid 30 to 60 days and let them sit over the winter until their 3 year old year, then give them some more time that spring. I agree that it's how you do it, that's the most important factor.
As far as your filly goes RHR I also think she's well on her way now. If she knows how to do all these things and there are no holes or rough spots that need more work I'd just keep her kind of maintained until you go to break her. If she's one of those "busy" yearlings that need a job all the time have you considered trick training? Nodding her head, counting, giving kisses etc are all very nice things to teach any horse (not rearing though, I wouldn't do that just yet). To be honest your 16 month old knows how to do more things than most 3 year olds lol. It's nice to see someone invested in their horse's training enough to want to prepare them well, but it is possible to do too much too early. Not saying that's what's happening here, but it's a fine line you must learn to walk with a young horse. I walk it every day myself : )
She looks gorgeous though, can't wait to see her in work. Good job on her so far! : )

-- Kai
 
#4 ·
Hi, you mention that she's good lifting her feet, but not that she's had regular farriery?? This would be my no. 1 priority, if she hasn't yet seen a farrier by that age. Esp as she's still far from maturity, there's a great chance that even if she has 'issues' now from lack of previous care, you can get on top of it, to give her the best chance of a lifetime of sound, healthy feet. The longer you leave it, the more likely minor issues will develop further & become permanent.

Re riding her at 2yo, do learn about & consider very carefully, her physical wellbeing, not just mental readiness. As for eg. a horse's spine is nowhere near mature by 2yo, I do think this is generally too young to consider any weightbearing. So saying, if you're very light, and will just sit on her or do some very light riding for the next year or 2, then that's probably not a big issue.
 
#5 ·
Agree with Sorrel also.
I like to do basics on young horses, and then leave them alone to grow and be a horse
All I ever did (exception being when I showed young horses at halter, before being old enough to ride(
Lead well
Tie solid
Accept regular hoof trimming, including having foot in hoof cradle of my hoof jack, as days where I held a horse's leg between mine, in the farrier stance, is way gone
The are de wormed and given shots
Other then that, I wait until I am ready to start them under saddle. I don't practice trailer loading, as I am in the camp that if a horse lead with total respect, he will load, even for the first time
The only reason I would body clip a young horse, or any horse for that matter, would be for an early select sale or for a show. I used to body clip weanlings, that I showed at halter, taught them to sqaure up, to be bathed, blanketed, ect, but once I started to show horses ,only after they were ready to be shown under saddle, ceased to do that with my young horses
 
#7 ·
At two I would just take 5 or less minutes to weight test each side of her and lean up on her, just so she gets used to me there loosie not even walking for a couple months after 2, because I understand their bones are not mature.
I was actually watching a liberty demonstration Kaifyre and thought I would start to do some of that with her, because you guessed it right: She is a "busy" yearling who is ready to learn everything. She follows me, turns left, turns right, stops. She knew before how to bow and lay down on command, but she learning to do that just by a crop touching her cannon, and this is all being done with no lead rope.
 
#8 ·
IMO a foal - weanling - yearling - etc, only needs to know so much at any given time. Once they have the basics down (haltering, leading, grooming, and standing for the vet and farrier) I don't see any point in teaching them anything they will learn quickly when they are two and a half. Trailering might be an option if you feel there may ever be a time when there is a need for it. At what point do you stop training when the horse knows everything but is still too young to be ridden?
 
#9 ·
You've really accomplished a lot with her already. I'm kinda with the others (and not an expert on colt starting). Enjoy what you've done and let her grow up in my opinion. A lot to look forward with a horse like that.

Does she have any Blue Valentine in her blood lines by chance?
 
#10 ·
RHRHancocksDrifter said:
just so she gets used to me there loosie not even walking for a couple months after 2, because I understand their bones are not mature.
Good-oh. But they dont mature in a couple of months either. Horses arent skeletally mature until 5+ years old. I dont believe that means its necessarily detrimental to ride them at all before then, but i'd wait till after 3yo to do more than youre doing & only light riding/light rider till after 5yo.

Im of the camp 'the more the merrier' training-wise, so long as its non-confrontational, not going to blow her mind. Sure you dont NEED to, but the more you do now, the more solid the horse will be by the time shes 'started'.
 
#11 ·
She sounds like she may be ready mentally but doesn't look ready physically at all (though of course she has a bit to mature before 2 as well).

I agree with less is more. I treat all horses the way I want them to act, regardless of age. As a yearling I would expect her to be a mini adult horse and able to do whatever I would expect from an adult, minus work of course. Aside from that, hands off. I don't mess with my adults just to mess with them and I wouldn't a baby.

Tarps and such are pretty silly imo. If you have a horse with a good mind that trusts the handler you don't need any of that stuff. Start her right and you'll be able to do anything with her without "desensitizing".

You also list stuff like ground tying, then say you've done it 8 times. Well that's not actually ground tying is it? I understand you aren't necessarily listing her as 100% on everything just stuff you've done, but I would focus on the skills you have started to teach her.

I worry more with the quiet desensitized one's that when they have a blow up it will probably be big...

For your goals I'd try to get her used to kids/special needs people, people she would need to be working around that may be more challenging then say, you.

It may be tricky to have the "oomph" for cows and barrels when she's THAT quiet, but time will tell! Like what SorrelHorse is saying.

She's very cute :)
 
#13 ·
I 110% agree with you Yogiwick, I treat her like an adult and expect her to behave like one while I'm handling her. That was a picture of her at 13 months actually I should have said that, oops.
I have stopped it with the tarps to it was just so she didn't blow up when she seen one, and that she could walk over one because she would blow REALLY "bad" if I put one near her, I need her to be a horse I can trust for younger riders in the distant future.
Thanks for mentioning that about it could take "oomph" out of her for cows or barrels because that is what I'm going to want her put into. She is built good for barrels (WICKED FAST for them too and can do tight little turns) and I could see her being great in hearding cattle and penning because she and I are very close and she knows what I'm thinking and expecting of her.
I don't know if you know about Pat Parelli's "horseanalitly's" (if you don't I highly highly recommed looking into it because it has helped me train and work with horses SO much) but she is a left brained extrovert so she is calm playful and loves to run lots
 
#15 ·
I don't know if you know about Pat Parelli's "horseanalitly's" (if you don't I highly highly recommed looking into it because it has helped me train and work with horses SO much) but she is a left brained extrovert so she is calm playful and loves to run lots
Where's that 'hiding under chair' emoji?? Or the 'can of worms' one... ;-)

My experience & opinion of Parelli & 'horsanality' is... Firstly, I do think that Parelli had some great principles/practices/ideas. I still have a lot of respect for what he used to teach - the basic principles, that is. From looking into it over the years, I personally feel that somewhere along the line(something to do with Linda's input perhaps...), a lot of those principles have somehow got lost in transit, convoluted beyond belief... There is way more these days, of what I've seen of 'newer' Parelli stuff, that I disagree with strongly, than that I agree to. Of course, as with any 'program' designed for 'teaching the masses', a lot also gets lost/changed in interpretation too...

On the 'horseanality' front... having studied behavioural psychology & learning theory myself, when I first looked into this, when it was new, I did see some value in the information, how it explained to people how to recognise what sorts of 'mindsets' were likely to go with certain behaviours, reactions, etc. ****I do remember reading & recognising the huge importance of their telling people that *every* horse can fit into any of those 'quadrants' at certain times & while a certain horse may be more 'apt' to one or 2, that to lable a horse as one or the other, to 'stick him in a box' was a mistake. I remember wondering at the time how much that would be taken in by people, as 'we' tend to have a desire to classify things neatly...
 
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