It can be a nervous time when your horse is almost ready, and you want to break it as soon as you can so you can have fun with him through different activities. Have you been curious as to at what age your horse can break? Read on.
The question is what age do you break a horse? Breaking a horse means that when will you be able to ride the horse or when the horse will be able to pull a vehicle. There is a specific time for every horse before it can start riding. If the time delay, it will be difficult for the horse to train later. Moreover, if it rushed then, it may experience some difficulties later in life.
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Different kinds of broke:
Saddle broke: Saddle breaking means that the horse can become a ride for a person.
Harness Broke: Harness breaking means that the horse can pull a vehicle now so that it can carry out some work.
Halter Broke: This term used for young horses. They trained in a way that the horse can wear a halter and walk on a lead rope beside a handle.
Dumb Broke: This type of broke indicates the beginning of the training. In this state, the horse can follow simple orders in the form of instructions, like it runs pauses or moves forward.
Well Broke: It means that the horse is well trained and can perform its activities properly. They can understand the leg and seat aids. They can play various kinds of acts on stage.
Death Broke: It describes that stage of a horse in which it is trained well and can be a ride for anyone. It is safe and obedient.
The perfect timing to break a horse:
There is no ideal timing to break a horse. It mainly depends on the horse’s mental and physical condition. The horse must physically mature enough to start riding. Two years old is the approximate age for a horse to start breaking. Some trainers start training their horses between 18 to 24 months of age. However, most trainers consider age 2 and a half or 3 to spring training.
1) Physical condition of the horse:
It is known as the essential factors to consider before deciding when to break your horse or not. If the knees of the horse have not formed or appropriately closed yet, then it’s harmful to the horse to start training. Not fully formed knees, when put under hard training, will pressure the adjacent joints. Joints of such horses will be damaged, and it affects them more in later life. It will also disturb even walking or running.
2) Consulting the veterinarian:
One should ask and discuss with the vet about when to let the horse start riding. The vet will monitor the physical condition of the horse. Listen to what the vet says and follow every detail carefully.
3) Start the training gradually:
Don’t immediately put a saddle on the horse and start riding it. Start training gradually and slowly. First, make the horse familiar with the field and take it for short walks. Then start exposing the horse to the riding equipment that are, saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales and breastplates. When the horse becomes familiar with the material then, start tacking up the horse. Next step would be to start riding the horse to make it casual with having a rider on it. Train the horse with a proper timetable and feed it on time as well. These tips will help in training the horse.
Harmful effects of starting racing early:
When training the horse especially for competing in a race against other horses, there are many health problems that the horses might face, if they not appropriately trained. Heavy training could be harmful to their health. When deciding to break the horse, the main concern is that it might damage their bones, joints, tendons and ligaments that put under strain during training. The horses can be considered wasted if it is no longer able to take part in the race because of injury. Studies have shown that musculoskeletal injury is the main reason for the horse to become wasted. A horse could suffer from musculoskeletal injury if it started training and racing at an early age of 2 years. Some trainers begin training their horses for a race when they are only 18 to 20 months. At this age, the skeleton formation of the horse has not completed yet. This can lead to some severe complications and injury later in life.
Training and body systems:
Training of the horses regularly will make their bodies adapt to specific essential functions of the body which are otherwise difficult to change. One of the primary examples is the cardiovascular system of the body. When the body undergoes physical activity, the body cells in the lung start making oxygen which is needed by the working muscles. When a sufficient amount of oxygen reaches the mass, then the muscles can perform correctly. Training adaption in bone and other musculoskeletal structures takes a longer time.
Word of Advice:
Hopefully, you’ve understood everything on what age do you break a horse? It also advised that you take extra care of your horse in the breaking process. The horse needs nutrition to help them in the process so feed them the required quantity of forage and the best quality.