Wednesday, July 29, 2009

How old do you think it is ok to be jumping a horse?

I have my own opinion on this and have practiced it for many years.
I have noticed over the years it is getting acceptable (even in the ring) to start them younger and younger.
I thought I would throw this out there and see what you all think?
I am asking both starting over fences and showing at the level you think is ok for their age?
Answers:
First of all let me say that different breeds of horses mature at different ages such as warmbloods.
RIDING A HORSE TO EARLY

We have all all heard people discuss at what age to "break" a horse. Personally I don't even like the term "break" a horse. Don't you think teach, or train is better? I am sure you have heard the term closed knees. You may hear the horses knees are closed now so we can train him. What does closed knees mean? And at what age do a horses knees close? What factors determine at what age a horse should be started, ridden, worked hard? To answer some of these questions I think we should not only look at the horses physical make up, but also at mental factors and enviromental factors.
As a foals bone matures bone forming cells, called centers of ossification appear throughout. Ossification is the process of hardening. Ossification spreads outward from the center until the entire bone, except areas of growth plates and the ends of the bones, has calcium and other minerals in it. As it osifies, it gets thicker and heavier. The growth plate is like a little plate sitting on top and at the bottom of a long tube. At the top and bottom edges of each plate, the connective tissue cells change and become bone cells. As long as that growth plate continues to produce connective tissue cells at a faster rate than they become converted to bone cells and are calcified, the bone will continue to grow in lentgh. Once the bone on top of the growth plate grows to meet the bone below the growth plate, the growth plate disappears, and the joint closes.
So when you hear people refer to a horses knees being closed they are talking about that growth plate. People focus on the knee because that growth plate in this bone closes later than the others, becoming fused at about 3 1/2 years of age. Only the bones of the spine close later than this. Around four or five.
Some people think they can feel or look at a horses knee and judge if the knee is closed. This is simply untrue. An x-ray is fairly accurate to determine if knees are closed but even then study has shown that complete closure may not occur for several months after they appear closed on x-rays.
Exercise is beneficial to a growing horse, it results in stronger bones and joints and lungs, if done in moderaition and on the right surface. Things that should be avoided are jumping, extreme speed, cutting or any activity that requires sharp turns and work that calls for weight to be shifted in an abnormal manner like sliding stops, or pulling heavy weights. The damage you do to your horse will show up years down the road. Hard surfaces such a packed clay are very bad on the young horse and can even lead to founder.
Comformation should also be considered for the young horse. Most horses have less than perfect legs. A little toeing in or out which causes the weight to be distributed unevenly can turn into major problems later. Therefore trimming the young horse before and during his development has more effect on a young horse than a matured horse.
A young horse is just like a young child, you can't exspect them to learn for long periods at a time. You will lose their attention span quickly. A little that is done right and ended on a positive note is better than a lot drummed into them to the point of confusion and ended in resentment.
For any young horse we should use the best surface to train him on. Really avoid jamming his legs into the ground with hard stops and spins and jumps. The same for lungeing in small circles.
We can use this time wisely as far as teaching him other things. Why not teach him to tie without pulling back? Despook him. Or when you go to a show or outing load him up with the seasoned veterans and just let him stand tied to the trailer.
Remember you want to have years of riding enjoyment from your horse so take the time to invest wisely now in letting him mature. The year or so you may wait now will pay off in more years of riding enjoyment. And if your planning on selling the horse you won't have a lame horse that you can't sell.
As for racing horses or using a horse at to early an age, check these out.
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-aetz2k8wa...
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-aetz2k8wa...
well, i think the age should be no younger than 4 or 5 years but if u think that u can get them good enough at a younger age then go for it.
I don't have any experience in jumpers, but I would figure at least 4 or 5. While these horses are still growing shouldn't be the time to put the most stress on them as possible, in my opinion. Even if he's a natural his body may not keep up through his career if "abused" in the beginning right?
my sister had horses and would not even ride them until they were up to her shoulder,,or about 24 months... it seems that when they are strong enough and you are not to heavy..tally ho!
It depends on the breed and the bone.
Generally I would not start jumping a horse over anything until he is at least 4 years and then only small jumps over cavaletti . Horses need time to develop mentally as well as physically and it is easy to stress a young horse as well as wreck bone and tendon through jumping too young. I would not start a horse over fences till he is around 6 years - fully grown and going quietly and happily.
Hope this helps
Cheers
I saw a program whereby they were "recruiting" horses to be rodeo bucking broncs. They said that they would not take any horses younger than 5 years because the bone structure needed to be fully developed. This way, the stresses of the jumping around would be less likely to cause stress fractures.
I never jumped my horse because when he was a newly altered colt (stallion to gelding status), he still had enough of his hormones in him, and he tried to climb a bob-wired fence to get to some females in heat. It left deep scaring on the back of each hock. I did not want to risk making him become permanently disabled, so no jumping was ever done.
I also firmly believe that the racehorse industry's "aging" procedure for horses is pressing too much too soon on horses that truly are not calendar-wise 2 yrs old yet. They need to re-vamp their aging measurement and not even race any horses before they are fully mature (muscle and bone-wise), which has to be older than 2 years!
060507 3:35
I think the appropriate age to start jumping is at 3. That is when they mature and their bones are done growing. I think for horses, the younger the better because you can sell them for more if they are young and fully trained. Also, I think it is better to start them out younger because then, you can start them faster and they will be younger by the time they get high in the levels of eventing or jumpers. But if you start them any younger than 3, it is dangerous because if something happend, their bones arent done growing so if they got hurt they would prob. have to be put down. What age do you think?
I think it should be 3 to start easy stuff and 4 to get more vigerous
I would never, ever jump a horse before the age of 4, preferably 5... even then, only small fences and move up slowly.
People seem to feel more and more pressured all the time to start horses younger, they're so impatient. And then people wonder why their horse is completely lame at the age of 10.
Well normally horses can be broken around 2-3 but sometimes thats even pushing the limit, because sometimes their bones are still soft. I think before you can jump you should have a good year or two on ground work and enough time so that there's NO DOUBT that the horse's bones have matured and hardened up enough. I wouldn't jump a horse too early in life-- as it greatly contributes to a lot of arthritic problems that could occur later in life. Personally, I never jump my horses until about 5yrs and even then I don't show them until 6-7ish.
I've always understood it to be 5 or 6 before they start jumping with a rider. However, a gal at the barn bought a 3yr old from a BIG name trainer in FL that had been jumping since spring of her 3 yr old yr. Granted, she was a big filly, but size has nothing to do with bone developement.
That's my thought anyway.
Many people (trainers included) do start training horses to jump very early. I have two friends/horse owners who have been vets for 20 years, and they both said that while a horse can handle the weight of the rider starting around age 2-3, they should not be jumping with a rider before the age of 6 (sometimes 5 is okay, depending on the vet's okay). Their growth plates are done developing around age 4-5, but this isn't why you should wait they said. Both of them told me that it is because a young horse's joints aren't completely ready to take that kind of jarring treatment and strain that jumping with a rider entails. So go ahead and start a horse, and get them ready for jumping, but don't rush going over fences until the horse is ready mentally and physically. Why hurry? Your horse will have many, many useful years ahead of them so be patient until the timing is right. Get your horse checked out by a vet and get their professional opinion before you begin any serious training of any kind no matter what discipline.
No younger then four. There bones and tendons need to become more developed before they start to work that hard. Same goes for racing.
Ive seen a lot of people not even break a horse to ride until its at least a 5yo. which i think is a great idea. it gives the horse more time to mature both physically and mentally.

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