Training Young Horses

Uses

• Horses are used for a wide range of different disciplines, each of which requires unique training based on some common foundations. Some popular disciplines include dressage, Western and English styles. These are all "under saddle," or riding disciplines, and should be chosen based on the owner's training and the horse's natural inclination.

Age

• A horse should not be ridden until it's close to physical maturity, but young horses can learn everyday handling and ground manners from the day they're born. Riding generally begins at two to three years of age, with heavier activities like jumping waiting until the horse's bones are set at four to five years of age.

Ground Manners

• Ground manners refer to a horse's behavior on the ground, as opposed to under saddle. These include teaching a horse to accept the halter and lead rope, walk calmly next to the person leading it, stand in the cross ties, stand while being groomed and stand for the farrier. These basic behavior steps provide an important foundation for a well-mannered horse, and owners should start handling and training young horses for ground manners as early as possible.

Saddle and Tack

• Training a horse to accept saddle and tack (saddle, girth, bridle, and options like breastplate and martingale, which go across a horse's chest) comes at the end of ground manner training and is a logical step after grooming. At this point a young horse is gradually taught to accept saddle pad, saddle, girth, bit and bridle. Owners need to use ultimate patience during these steps, as these are unnatural actions for a horse and take some getting used to by the horse.

Riding

• Once a horse has learned to accept grooming and tack, and is old enough, it's ready to learn to accept a rider. This step can be challenging and dangerous, and is best turned over to a professional. Once a horse is saddle broken, or ridable, it learns vocal and physical cues for simple gaits like walk, trot and canter, and is ready to move on to more complicated disciplines, such as learning to perform dressage moves, barrel racing or learning to jump.

Considerations

• At a certain level, many horse owners choose to turn their horse over to a professional horse trainer. Professionals are experienced and qualified, and generally train horses and people on a full-time basis. A horse trainer will train the horse for a specific discipline chosen by the owners, and dictated by the horse's breed and inclination. Some breeds, for example, work best as Western horses, while others are better for English disciplines and even show jumping. Other breeds are bred for dressage, parading and trail riding.