It is something very special to buy a horse when it is still young or even a foal. Untrained and completely inexperienced, young horses need a lot of attention and knowledge, but ultimately it makes us riders very proud to work together with our beloved animals to become a great rider-horse team. However, any horse owner who plans to break in the horse themselves should first ask themselves critically whether they have the necessary riding skills and whether they have the time available. In any case, you should work hand in hand with a trainer to find solutions to even minor problems together. After all, it's about laying the foundation, which is essential for the horse's further training. Another option is to give the unbroken horse to a professional who has the necessary routine and experience in breaking in young horses. Often, just a few months are enough, and you can then bring the horse back and continue training it together with a trainer.
If our horse was born in a loving hobby breeding program, the chances are greater that it has already had frequent contact with humans than if it was born on a farm with hundreds of horses. It is also important to know how carefully the foal was handled. This is because a horse's first impressions and contacts with humans shape its personality.
It is nice if a foal is already learning to wear a halter. Perhaps it can already be led on a rope alongside its mother, who trusts her human. Skills such as giving its hooves and allowing its whole body to be touched are also part of the foal's ABC.
After the wild time our horse spent as a yearling and two-year-old in the herd on the pasture, things are slowly starting to get serious. Hopefully, our horse knows the farrier, the veterinarian, is used to being led in a halter, being groomed by us, and maybe even knows its tying spot.
During walks to the paddock or across a riding arena, it may have already had one or two exciting encounters outside the group. This allowed us to see how our horse deals with unfamiliar situations and what kind of character it might show us when working. Our horse should be physically mature and mentally resilient before we start breaking it in.
At three years old, we can start getting our horse used to the equipment it will encounter as a riding horse. It will probably already be familiar with the indoor arena or outdoor arena from previous winters. It will have to get used to a bridle. This should be properly fitted and not rub or pinch. Accepting the bit is a small challenge for some young horses. It is therefore advisable to choose a very soft bit. It is also a good idea to check the horse's mouth, i.e. its teeth, beforehand. Are there any tooth hooks or wolf teeth that may need to be removed?
At first, it is sufficient to let the bridle be worn for only a few minutes until the horse feels comfortable. The next step is to lead the horse with the bridle. At the same time, the young animal can learn to walk on the lunge. It is advisable to start lunging in a round pen, a fenced-off area of the riding arena, or with an assistant in a larger arena. It is sufficient to start with a halter. Later, the bridle can be placed under the halter and the horse can continue to be led by the halter until it has become more and more accustomed to the bit.
A lunging girth and an underblanket can be used the first few times the horse is allowed to run free. The horse will probably buck (more or less depending on its temperament) until it gets used to the situation and the new equipment. You can then put the saddle on the horse while it is on the lunge line so that it gets used to the weight on its back.
In a third step, auxiliary reins (fastened very loosely) can be used to ensure that the horse has to step a little through its neck and is slowly brought into a stretching position. This also trains contact with the horse's mouth. However, it is advisable to always consult an experienced trainer.
It is important that each training session is kept as short as necessary – 30 minutes is usually sufficient – and ends with a positive experience for the horse.
It's not quite that simple when it comes to mounting and riding a young horse that hasn't been broken in yet. Trust and good groundwork are essential. Those who break in a lot of horses can continually refine their techniques and try out new things. Every rider has their own approach. Some prefer to work with a helper, while others prefer to do everything on their own. For the first time, it is advisable to choose a quiet and enclosed area.
You may want to work the horse on a double lunge line before you mount a young horse for the first time. This will give the horse a feeling of "going on the reins."
Here are a few thoughts on how to proceed for your first real ride:
Very important! "Problem areas" and critical situations must be avoided at all costs during the breaking-in phase. Horses remember the good things and trust their riders. But unfortunately, they don't forget frightening experiences so quickly. After all, we are riding flight animals and instinct remains instinct.
But take heart. Breaking in a horse is wonderful work. And there is nothing more beautiful than experiencing a former foal as a trusting, graceful riding horse after successful basic training.
Kidney disease is relatively rare in horses, but its symptoms are often nonspecific and therefore not always immediately recognized, meaning that treatment is often delayed. In many cases, kidney disease is a concomitant or secondary condition of other diseases.
This disease, often mistakenly referred to as feline leukemia, is caused by the feline leukemia virus. However, since the virus causes many other serious symptoms in addition to malignant tumors of the lymphatic tissue, the name is somewhat misleading
They are cute, lively and can provide lots of fun. But first, a word of warning: ferrets are not for people with sensitive noses. There are not many ways to mitigate the strong smell of these cute and sometimes cheeky pets.
Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease is also known as aseptic (= without the involvement of pathogens) femoral head necrosis (= death of the femoral head) and describes a non-inflammatory growth disorder in young dogs. It mainly affects miniature dog breeds and small dogs between the ages of three and ten months.
Since the liver has a very high regenerative capacity and functional reserve capacity, most liver diseases in horses initially progress without visible signs of disease and are only diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Kissing spines is a condition that causes the vertebrae to grow into each other. It is a change in the horse's spine. This results in a significant narrowing of the spaces between the vertebrae in the thoracic and lumbar spine, often in the saddle area. The diagnosis requires riders and owners to be vigilant and provide the right training.
Leukosis is a tumorous disease of the hematopoietic system and, unlike in dogs or cattle, is relatively rare in horses. Lymphatic leukosis is the most common form in horses and develops as a result of the degeneration of cells in the immune system.
Just like us humans, our pets may also require surgical or diagnostic procedures that cannot be performed on an awake animal. Most operations and some diagnostic procedures, such as endoscopies or dental treatment, require anesthesia (a medically induced state of sleep), which carries certain risks even in healthy animals and during routine procedures. We will explain what you need to bear in mind before and after such a procedure in order to minimize these risks and what complications can arise during anesthesia.
Tooth fractures are relatively common in dogs and are usually caused by playing with stones or sticks, biting, or accidents. This can result in small, sharp chips in the enamel or larger defects that expose the pulp (nerve and blood vessels). If the pulp cavity is exposed, the tooth should be treated as soon as possible to reduce the risk of infection and preserve the tooth. The incisors, canines, and fangs are primarily affected. Young dogs are particularly at risk because their teeth are still developing and are therefore much more unstable than those of adult dogs.
Lens dislocation, medically known as luxatio lentis, is an eye condition in which the lens becomes detached and displaced from its natural position. By obstructing the flow of aqueous humor, this condition can quickly lead to a dangerous increase in intraocular pressure. If not treated in time, it can result in blindness.
The weather is beautiful this weekend and you are going for a long ride on your horse. But right at the start of the first gallop, the horse suddenly becomes very stiff and starts sweating unusually heavily. It hardly wants to move and is pressing its back down. However, these signs seem too severe for simple muscle soreness, especially since you haven't done anything with the horse in the last few days. Avoid any further movement of the horse and always contact a veterinarian immediately in such cases, as the symptoms described above are very painful and may be the first signs of a cross-ties. As this muscle disease occurs frequently after horses have not been worked for one or more days with the same feed ration, it is also known as "holiday sickness" or "Monday morning disease." However, horses that are worked regularly can also fall ill. Young horses of heavy breeds are particularly at risk. This disease was greatly feared in the days when carriage and work horses were heavily used. Today, it only occurs sporadically, mostly in easy-to-feed horses with good nutritional status.
This condition, which has been known since the Middle Ages, is a movement disorder that exclusively affects the hind legs of horses. When the horse is being presented, one or both hind legs are bent excessively and jerkily so that the fetlock almost touches the belly and is then brought down again just as abruptly. The staccato gait is reminiscent of a rooster strutting, which is where the name comes from.
