Hi. 

I have a 3 year old APHA barrel prospect that was started lightly late in his two year old year and had a short break after getting started under saddle. Since then he has had a solid 6 months of riding and building a good foundation. He is going great, rides out nice, has started to get a good handle on him, has been hauled some to see the sights but is still young and I am wondering if it would be a good idea to give him a couple months, +/- , off for him to grow more and mature before moving forward in his training. He is 16hh and still growing. I know some people who work there youngsters right through without a big break and others who say its a must. I guess my only reservation about giving him too much time off is that he was rank when he was started under saddle, I mean break in two rank, and is still super fresh even with 6 months of riding if he gets any time off, even a couple days. I still lunge him before I ride him. He only does little crow hop bucks occassionally when you lunge him and he only does it for a sec then he is totally fine and rides out perfectly. I guess I am just worried about regression back to a bronc horse if he gets an extended vacation. I am sure the benefits of the time off would be worth it or would it? Just looking for thoughts, other experiences and confirmation that it would be what is best for him. TIA 

I always give my young ones time off during their training years. Might be only one month, might be three, but always at least one break a year. 

Thank you @loney va barrelxr.

I talked to a few others and they also recommended the break. He has been off since 6/29. I think I will give him July off and pick back up in August.

There's quite a few that will give them a period of time off at the hottest point of summer, here some do July or August. But I think its very beneficial, I try to give my horses of all ages 2 weeks off every 3 months. I used to give them all winter off too, but I have a heated indoor now so I can't use the cold as an excuse anymore. I wouldn't hesitate to give yours some time off, you can always lunge for a few days before you get abck on to get some fresh off. 

With a colt that tends to be a bronc I test the amount of time he can handle off. If I give him a couple of days off then he wants to buck me off, next week he only gets one. When he's good for a few days consistently, I'll give him a day or two off. If he's good when I step on him, I'll work him those same amount of days and give him one extra day off and see how he handles it. And so forth.

It's a good system if you don't want a bronc ride for the most part and smart horses figure it out.

But depending on the colt and his maturity rate,starting them to get the work ethic installed along with a solid foundation then giving them a big let down really can bring them on fast and they come out better than when you got off them.

I've seen it backfire too if the foundation isn't there and especially on a colt that's been snuck around.

Thank you!

I actually rode him yesterday. It was two weeks total that he had off. 

I lunged him for about 15 minutes, working on our normal ground work stuff. He was really good, other than bucking a couple times mildly, when I asked for a canter. I got after him and he was super good. 

I got on him and he was wonderful under saddle, didn't skip a beat. 

Thank you. 

Yeah, this winter I actually plan on sending him off to a barrel trainer since I don't have access to an arena. I have to haul him every time I ride. Its a total pain but is what it is. The weather is so ****ty here in the winter and I don't want to loose progress so I decided sending him to a trainer who can ride him through the crappy months of the winter would be good. 

He had two weeks off and I just rode him yesterday. He bucked a couple times mildly when I lunged him, then when I got on him he was really good and rode out nicely not skipping a beat. He's got a pretty good foundation on him and I was pleased how he was after the two weeks off. He was pretty relaxed. I think he enjoyed his mini vacation. 

Thanks again. 

I don't start mine till they are 3