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RE: Re: [RC] "dont let my young horses canter" much until age 6! - heidi

Isn't this too extreme? Surely this "growth plate" issue,etc also applies 
to humans,or other critters. Young horses gallop in the pasture all the 
time. A horse that can't be cantered is pretty useless.If we have to wait 
six years...


It's not too extreme if you want to have a hardy horse
into its 30s.  With today's medical knowledge and abilities
that is not all that uncommon.

Back when horses seldom made their teens and were used
as tools rather than toys, horses were started as soon as
possible to get the maximum use out of them.  They died
before chronic physical issues had a chance to run their
course.


Actually, "back when horses were tools" people took far better care of
them, and tended to have the patience to protect their investments in
good ones.  In yesteryear, horses working into their early 30s was not
all that uncommon.  They were generally not started until 3 or 4, and
not expected to go into full work until they were 5-7.  People
understood that "maximum" use of the horse as a "tool" meant taking
good care of him--which included not jeopardizing the later years of
use by using him too early.  This was firmly impressed upon me by the
old-timey horsemen who were around when I was a toddler.  It was when
our culture got to be such an impatient "throw-away" society that it
became the norm to start 'em at 2 and expect them to be "finished" at
3-4.  And "finished" they are under such a regimen--as you say, Marv,
often even before they reach their teens.

One of my favorite stories is of the horse who was the lone survivor of
General Custer's infamous last battle.  He lived to be well into his
30s--and that wasn't uncommon back in those days when horses were vital
to one's ability to work and travel.  The "use-'em-up" mentality really
came about when they became an expendable hobby commodity, sadly.

Indeed, with our more sophisticated medical knowledge, we should have a
better understanding--the old-timers got to the same conclusion by
simple observation of what happened if they didn't wait.

Heidi


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