13/08/2026
What’s it got to do with you anyway? 🤔
Backing 3 and 4 year olds is still considered completely normal in many circles. What I also find is the pressure & harsh comments some owners are put under to rush their young horses because
“they’re three/four now you need to be riding them”
Why do some people feel the need to go out of there way to make owners with youngsters feel that they should be doing more with their young horses simply because of their age.
The horses musculoskeletal system doesn’t magically become fully mature because they have reached their fourth birthday.
The skeleton doesn’t mature uniformly. Different bones, joints and growth plates mature at different rates, and some of the structures we ask to carry a rider and withstand athletic loading are among the later developing structures.
And please don’t think that just because the horse is standing at 16.2hh with 9.5’ bone and built like a Russian tank, that means they are somehow strong enough to withstand the demands and repetitive strains of being schooled and ridden.
Size and substance do not equal skeletal maturity.
The loading, repetition, conformation, management, surface and training matter.
And this isn’t just something I’m saying.
We have scientific research. We have veterinary literature. We have people such as Becks Nairn, Sharon May-Davies, Yogi Sharp, Gillian Higgins, helping to educate horse owners through anatomy, biomechanics and dissection work.
I’ve also had the privilege of attending a couple of whole horse dissections, and seeing what is actually happening underneath the skin which has fundamentally changed the way I work with your horses.
When you see the structures, joints, tissues, fascia, muscles and attachments for yourself, it changes the way you look at the living horse.
You can’t unsee it.
So if you are one of those people who repeatedly asks someone with a 4 year-old:
“Why aren’t you riding them yet?”
Can I respectfully suggest you mind your own business.
Perhaps, instead of asking why they aren’t doing more, ask yourself whether you actually know enough about equine development and musculoskeletal loading to decide & comment what someone else’s horse should be doing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking your time.
And personally, I’d much rather see a young horse developed slowly, appropriately and with consideration for its physical maturity than rushed because somebody else thinks it should be doing more.
So to all the people who have been told to “ get it ridden” Remember this is your horse. Your timeline. Your responsibility.
Please stop feeling pressured or shamed by people who have zero knowledge or experience of a horses musculoskeletal system.
You do you 🙌
