|
|
Veteran
Posts: 220
| To start a horse on barrels? |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 503
| 4 or 5 depending on their physical and mental maturity. |
|
| |
|
 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
  
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | LuckyNGG'sGirl - 2014-01-09 3:33 PM
4 or 5 depending on their physical and mental maturity.
Same here. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 591
| Depends what your goals are for that horse. Do you want to run them in the BFA in the juvenile or not until March of their 5 year old year? I don't have a problem running one as a 4 year old. I have seen just as many people blow up a 4 year old as a 6 year old. It's all in how you treat them, applying pressure and backing off at the right time. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 101
| I am sending my 3 year old to the trainer this spring. She is not being run just getting a good start. |
|
| |
|
 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | It just depends on the maturity and background of the horse. My 21 year old is the first horse I trained on barrels and I didn't let him grow up enough before I patterned him so he doesn't have a very good foundation. Luckily, he just figured it out and never needs to be tuned on. He's not much fun to ride, but he is a super consistent 1D/2D/3D depending on the arena barrel horse and I hope I never have to retire him. My rodeo horse (12 yrs old) was started on the pattern as a 4 year old and he was mentally ready for a job at that point. Even battling through soreness issues from time to time, he's never quit trying to work and get better. He probably could have been a futurity horse in the right hands - you could pressure him and he handled it even at a young age. My youngest horse (10 yrs old now) is one that would have been blown up if someone had tried to start him on a futurity timetable. He literally has only been on barrels since late November 2012 but already has some 1D wins to his credit and would have a lot more 1D runs if I could ride him right. By the time he saw the pattern, he was mentally grown up enough to handle some pressure, but not nearly as much as my rodeo horse at a younger age. Clifford still acts like a colt sometimes and he's so sensitive that I think starting him on barrels at even 5 or 6 years old would have been a disaster.
You really have to consider each horse as an individual. I prefer a little older horse - 5 or 6 I think would be ideal - just because they're generally ready for some pressure and a job. I want one that is ready to go to work and isn't going to fall apart away from home or because a bird flew off the fence. Basically I don't want to deal with a spooky or scared colt. |
|
| |
|
 Best of the Badlands
Location: You never know where I will show up...... | For me it's not the age, it's how ready is the horse? Meaning how broke and how good of a foundation does the horse have? As well as mental and physical maturity. I've had 2 and 3 year olds loping the pattern and I've had some I didn't start until well into their 5 year old year or later. |
|
| |
|
 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Ideally I like to start them on the pattern at 3. But if they aren't ready, they aren't ready. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | I started my mare as an early 3 year old on the pattern but she is very mature and can handle anything I throw at her even when she was a 3 year old. Never doubted her.
My gelding though...he was broke as a late 3 year old and then I got him. Let him go for a year. As a 4 year going into his 5 year old year I sent him off to start the pattern. He came back trained on the barrels but mentally could not handle the pressure of running plus he picked up some bad habits so I backed him down and rode him for awhile. Gave him some more time and put him on the back burner to focus on my mare. He is 7 now and I'm just now getting back to riding him. He just didn't mature that fast. Every horse is different. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 956
Location: Washington | Whenever they have a solid SOLID foundation, then I will take them to the pattern. If they don't have a solid foundation I don't care how old they are, they won't be going to the pattern until they do. But usually around 4-5 for ours. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I will not start loping one on the pattern before their third birthday, and I mean their actual bday, not Jan 1, regardless of how broke they are. I just want them to be physically able to handle it. I started riding my now 4yo at 2 and he had a super nice handle on him well before 3, but I just kept getting him more and more broke exposing him to more things. Walked/trotted the pattern a bit, and he was more than ready for it come three years old.
If they're not ready come three, they don't start the pattern. I had a 6yo calf horse that was really broke as a calf horse, mentally and physically mature enough to run barrels, I wanted to put a pattern on her but she wasn't soft enough, so I took plenty of time getting a better handle on her, softening her up, then the pattern came so easy to her she was in the 3D at shows within a month of seeing barrels. |
|
| |
Folks on-line