How old should a horse be to start training?

horsegal08: How old should a horse be to start training?
I am looking at a very nice palomino foal. He will be 1 this May. How old should he be before I start training him for trail riding? When should I start? How much should it cost me? What do you recommend me doing? I have never trained a horse, but I do have a lot of experience with horses.

Answers and Views:

Answer by happy dude
i beleve it,s 3 years old.

Answer by mosey joe
depends on the horse normally 4-5 years old

Answer by SC
I would start training from the day the horse was born. There is lots of stuff you can do even when a horse is too small to ride. You can train them to lead, be trimmed, hold up their hooves for the farrier. You can also spend lots of time desensitizing them to new experiences (sounds, sights, smells). I also like to have a foal ponied on trail rides so that he experiences the trail long before he ever has to have a rider.

Answer by Cresha B
You can start training your horse at birth. When our foals are born, we put halters on them right away. You can practice leading them around, picking up there feet. Handling them is really important to build up trust. You can place light weight saddles on them as well. I don’t recommend trying to ride them until they are at least 2 years old, due to the fact if you are to heavy you could harm there growth plates. In the mean time you could do what is called ground training. You can find books on this at your local book store.

Answer by brittaf4
you should start playing with his feet and getting him use to the lead immediately but a saddle should NOT be placed on him until he is at least 2 years old! their backs are still fragile before then and starting too soon can cause him to be bow backed and have problems. You can however go on trail rides with your other horses and drag him along, get him use to the sites and following other horses. The cost will depend on his temperment and learning attitude. Some horses learn better than others, just take your time with him and don’t lose patience and fully commit to training him how you want him to be–don’t give in to him 🙂

Answer by Beth K
Technically you can start training a horse under saddle at the age of two. However, many people prefer to wait until at least three or older. Young horses can be easily injured by overwork, and may lack the mental capacity to accept training. Your colt was born late, so I would wait to start training him until at least next summer. You should be very experienced before attempting to train your own horse.

That being said, you can do a lot to get him started off right. Work with him a lot to get him used to being handled. Teach him to stand tied and to accept being groomed and touched all over. Lead him alongside a steady older horse on some trail to get him some experience. Start some groundwork with him to teach him respect and attention to you.

Try looking into some of the DVD’s by Clinton Anderson, Curt Pate, Craig Cameron, Van Hargis, and Chris Cox. They are great trainers that offer a common-sense approach to starting a colt. Even if you send your colt to be started by someone else, the information will be beneficial to help you learn what to look for in a trainer, and what to expect in your trained colt. Just because you only want to use your colt for trail riding doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be trained to move off your leg, allow you to control his forequarters and hindquarters, know his leads, etc. I see far too many people and horses hurt with something like “well, I didn’t teach him ___________ because he’s just a trail horse.” It doesn’t work that way.

Trainers’ fees vary with experience, area of the country, time, etc. For example, many trainers will charge for 30-day increments, others charge a flat fee for the horse to learn certain skills, etc. Also, it’s worth it to pay more for a trainer to actually RIDE your colt 30 times than to pay for 30-days’ training when the colt spent four days a week standing around in the pen and was only worked with ten times. Visit trainers and make sure you are comfortable with the methods they use and with the results they produce. Let the trainer know your expectations. Do you want the colt just broke enough to allow himself to be saddled, mounted, and ridden or do you want him more ‘finished’ since you aren’t experienced with training younger horses? The more you expect, the more it will cost. Also look into trainers who get their young horses out and ride them in open country and on trails. A horse that spents all his time in a round pen or arena won’t be nearly as broke as one that has seen the world a bit.

Take the next year or two to learn all you can, do your research, attend some clinics and symposiums, and visit trainers to find one you are comfortable with while your colt has a chance to grow up and mature. Good luck!

Answer by Horsetrainer89
You can start ground working him any time now(round penning, lunging, long lining, and ground driving). I start ground work as soon as they hit the ground. I break mine at 3. I have found they are mentally and physically ready at that age.

Answer by Lizzy P
Start right away. Train him undersaddle and work him from the ground. You can train him to bend, turn and back using groung driving tecniques. get min used to walking around and over obstacles, and staying calm amid distractions. If you can, ride another horse on the trails and pony the yearling so he can get used to narrow trails and scenery. By the time he’s grown out, he’ll already be an old pro.

Answer by <3 connor <3
3 years old. But really it all depends on the horse.

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Answer by annabelle j
i wouldnt start backing him until at least 3. work at a young age can do more harm than good and can effect their growth. however at one he should be able to walk nicely on a halter and be handled well. you could continue this doing a lot of ground work and building a good bond. i had a foal and taught vocal commands-stuff like left, right, circle, silly things that are actually quite good. training horses these little things really helps establish whos in charge and is good practice for the harder things later on. the foal shouldn’t really cost you more than $ 1000 at 1yr unless it has good bloodlines.
maybe you should get a professional to start the process and ask if you can watch after a month or so ask if you can assist and once the horse can be sat on and can do the basics you could then do the rest. it may seem boring not to train your own horse from start but it could be disastrous if you did something wrong and you could be left with an unridable horse who you still have a huge bond with. if you buy a foal young i think it should be kept with other horses as it is important that they learn how to behave around horses as well as people.
good luck.