[SwiftArrowEquus]

I've been taking lessons since 2018 and now my mom has finally allowed me to start looking for a horse. She found an AQH filly. Should I get a weanling?I have been working with my trainer's (well now former trainer as I am finding a barn to board a weanling) gelding for a bit. We already put in an offer and will be picking her up in the fall I'm asking for some advice of what to do now. Training methods that I might not know of yet as I helped retrain an adult not a baby... =D

 

[SwiftArrowEquus]

Since Rifle (the filly) is registered in AQHA I would like to do halter showing too...

 

[Knave]

It sounds like you already bought her. So, I don’t really see what the question is.

My advice is that kids tend to mess up weanlings if they don’t have a lot of management. So, work closely with your trainer. Listen attentively to what she says you need to be aware of, and actually follow that advice.

 

[Knave]

Okay, I misread the post. I would say to find a trainer to work with you. Weanlings are much different than older horses. Even if you had completely started the older horse and he had been untouched, the way you handle a weanling differs. So, you will need to take advice from someone who can see what you are doing and talk you through the process.

The other thing that will be difficult is the wait time. Now you will not have a horse to ride for almost two years, depending on when you find it appropriate to start the filly. Getting on a horse who’s never been ridden before takes knowledge. Of course, there is a first time for everyone and only one way to gain experience, but having someone walk you through all of those steps would be a major benefit to the horse.

 

[knightrider]

I bought my daughter a weanling when she was 10. My daughter started riding at 9 months, before she could walk. She got her first horse at age 3 and rode all the time. There was never a time that my daughter worked with her filly by herself. I was always out there, guiding her when she would do training sessions. The hardest part, as @Knave said, was waiting. She hated waiting. At age 2, her filly looked strong and grown, but I made her wait until her filly was 3 to ride her. My daughter did a very good job of training her filly, who soon will be 10. We have now had the mare for 10 years. It can be done. But not by someone who doesn't know what they are doing. Then it will be super hard.

It still can be done. My friend was 9 when she convinced her parents to buy her a 9 month old colt. None of them knew how to train a colt, and it was very rocky and hard. They made a lot of mistakes. But that colt turned into a very talented jumper. He was a registered quarter horse. My friend showed him at FITS in Florida and all around Texas doing open jumpers. I hope you are as successful as my friend and my daughter. I wish you the best.

Here is a picture of my daughter and her filly.

And now grown.

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

There's no reason you shouldn't get a weanling, as long as you have someone who knows what they're doing to help you with handling and managing daily training of the foal. It's very different than working with adult horses and it's what sets the tone for how the horse will be as an adult. If you have a good trainer, or you have a parent, or even a sister or brother who has trained a foal 'from the ground up' to help you, then I'd be all for it. It would be really educational for you to watch the horse grow and develop and pass through all the stages of their growth and see how the respond during each phase. All good training for you and teaching you how to interact and get a point across using several different techniques and learning how to teach a non-verbal student.

 

[My Salty Pony]

I bought my daughter a weanling when she was 10. My daughter started riding at 9 months, before she could walk. She got her first horse at age 3 and rode all the time. There was never a time that my daughter worked with her filly by herself. I was always out there, guiding her when she would do training sessions. The hardest part, as @Knave said, was waiting. She hated waiting. At age 2, her filly looked strong and grown, but I made her wait until her filly was 3 to ride her. My daughter did a very good job of training her filly, who soon will be 10. We have now had the mare for 10 years. It can be done. But not by someone who doesn't know what they are doing. Then it will be super hard.

It still can be done. My friend was 9 when she convinced her parents to buy her a 9 month old colt. None of them knew how to train a colt, and it was very rocky and hard. They made a lot of mistakes. But that colt turned into a very talented jumper. He was a registered quarter horse. My friend showed him at FITS in Florida and all around Texas doing open jumpers. I hope you are as successful as my friend and my daughter. I wish you the best.

Here is a picture of my daughter and her filly. View attachment 1131109

And now grown.

View attachment 1131110 View attachment 1131111

@knightrider, love the pictures and how these two (your daughter and filly) matured together, great story..

 

[dustyk]

I agree totally with the advice you've been given. The only thing I would add is to find someone you have faith in and listen to them. Be careful about taking advice from too many people, thats a good way to cofuse the issue!!z

 

[Zimalia22]

Since Rifle (the filly) is registered in AQHA I would like to do halter showing too...

Unless things have changed in the halter world, there is NO WAY I would mess up my weanlings by getting them ready for halter. Bigger is NOT always better.
Let your weanling grow as nature intends, not forcing a yearling to be around 15 hands. 17 hands and 1800 pds is not what I would want in the slightest as a mature horse.
I've probably already offended some with my answer, but the main use for aged halter geldings is the can. I used to know some folks that raised halter horses. I asked about a mare when I was at their place, I honestly figured she was in her late 20's to early 30's. The mare was 12. I was shocked. They are literally burnt up from all the grain.

Keep your eye on later performance. Skip the halter stuff.
You'll be happier and so will your filly.

 

[QtrBel]

How experienced is your mother? You said former trainer so who is on board to mentor you as helping with refreshing a trained horse/putting rides on a horse basically trained but green is very different than starting a horse. It's a little late to be asking the question when you've appeared to have already made the decision. My first question would have been what are your goals as you won't be riding any time soon.