Horse Training at a Given Age

The training techniques employed during horse training depends on the age of the horse. What if you had a foal, a yearling, a weanling, 2-3 year old horse, or above 5 years? Read on and you will find out.

Training a Foal

Upon the birth of the foal, you can now introduce lessons of good manners and respect. Make the lessons brief to avoid stress. Most of the time, the foal is napping, playing, or nursing; allow the foal to spend time with mares. When you see a foal kick, strike, or nibble at people, let him know that it’s wrong so that he won’t develop a habit. You can already introduce lead training gradually. Some owners prefer not to tie the foal and just allow it to roam free.

Training a Weanling

After weaning, the weanling is ready to learn on its own. You will notice that the weanling has socialization skills but this depends on how weaning was done. Immediate weaning can cause the weanling to have unreasonable behavior. Find an older horse to keep it company. It’s also natural for weanlings to sleep and play most of the time. You will notice them snapping or champing. At an early age, the horse is already learning to be trustful and obedient. Make sure that you give adequate food as overfeeding can also harm them. you can already start short training sessions. Train it for standing still when being groomed, trimmed or cleaned. Routine lead training sessions are also vital.

Yearlings are more commonly called as filly or colt. By this time, the yearlings are fully weaned and more independent. Less hours of sleeping can be noted and they prefer to stand during rest time. They are curious and so you can give them play balls and other safe toys. You need to teach the colt to be more obedient, lead quietly, and acquaint it to the vet. You can start training sessions round the pen or in lunge line but just make it short. Don’t overwork the yearling to prevent joint injuries. After a year, you can introduce the saddle. Ground manners can also be trained at this age.

2-3 Year Old Horse

At this age, you can already teach the horse to be driven or ridden. If you want to breed horses, this is the perfect time to do it. The ground manners should be excellent by now and you can introduce loading a trailer. You can do round pen trainings or perhaps light vehicles.

Above 5 Years

Horses more than five years old are completely matured. You can now join them in competitions. Some horse trainers prefer to train horses at this age which means that the horses are left on their own for the first five years. The decision to start training is up to the owner. To some, it is easier to train when the horse is still young while others prefer to train matured horses.

The decision is yours. Now that you know what you can do for the horse at a certain age, you can either start training immediately or you can wait until its maturity. Extreme care should be observed in case you choose to train early. You must be patient, dedicated, confident, and hard working. These are the qualities required for horse training.