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bellapie
3 year old training
Nov 9 2007, 4:34 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 9 2007, 4:34 PM EST
hi,
i have a 3 year old PRE(spanish bred) gelding, he was gelded yesterday!
i was just wondering if you have any ideas of what i can be doing with him. i ride him for a bout 20mins a day 6 days a week. are there any easy exercises i can do that will be interesting and help him learn but not be too difficult for him at this early stage.
also when can i bring him back into work after gelding, i have been told 2 weeks is this about right.
thanx Do you find this valuable?    
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SLW84
SLW84
1. RE: 3 year old training
Nov 9 2007, 5:42 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 9 2007, 5:42 PM EST
Hi and thanks for posting your problem.
I have added a couple of replies onto NR which I hope you have seen.
Personally, I do not like horses even starting the backing process until the age of 4 as they do not mature fully until 5/6yrs. Anyway, he is backed so I will not dwell on this. I think two weeks is too short a period for recovery after castration. I personally would give him a month off, especially due to his age. the older they are, the harder the castrate would be, therefore a longer recovery period is needed. With him only being a 3yr old, if you must ride him, I would do your 20mins of LIGHT riding no more than 3 times per week and start to gently increase when he is 4yrs. Preferably, I would turn him away for the winter if possible and bring him back to work next spring. With regards to your riding, can you not just do a couple of free lunge sessions with him 2/3 times per week? By free lunge I mean on a large circle, booted up, just off of a lunge cavesson (NO side reins) just in walk and trot to keep him ticking over? Even some in hand work which will benefit your relationship with him and be very interesting for him.
To sumarise, i would definately cut down the amount of work you are doing, 20mins is fine in my view but not 6 days per week at such a young age. I would cut it down to a max of sessions per week or even better just give him the winter off to recover from the castrate and just be a horse.
I hope this helps. If you need anymore advice, please do contact me again. 0  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?