My Lil Tack Shop

"10 Tips For Breaking And Backing A Young Horse"

Written by Rachel Harding

When I started writing my tips for breaking a

young horse I thought I must be mad, what did I

know? There are loads of experts out there all

offering advice and I was just a humble horse

owner, not a trainer etc. Then I decided that if

my story helps anyone to have the confidence to

work with their own horse then I believe they will

find it a rewarding experience and it will be

beneficial to both the horse or pony and

themselves.

Backing, Breaking and Training a young horse. Well

its something that we are told is best left to the

experts and to some degree I agree, as you can do

a lot of damage to a horse at such a young age,

but with the right support and information I do

believe you can make a good job of it.

Its easy to say leave it to the experts but for

most of us our horses and ponies are part of our

family. We are the one's who are with them every

day and the one's who have built up mutual trust

and a bond with them.

I took a break from owning my own horse for about

15 years. Then found myself, in my naivety, being

the proud owner of a 2 yr old filly. I fell in

love with her, what more can I say, but she was

16.1hh and very powerful. A lot could have gone

wrong. I did contemplate sending her away when the

time came, to have her professional broken, backed

and schooled. There were several problems with

this idea though. Number one was the cost, I just

didn't have the money to do that as the quotes I

had attained were extortionate. Number 2 was this

was my horse, I had spent hours and hours in the

stable with her, bonding, grooming and just

sitting there gaining her trust. I didn't want to

send her away and lose all that. I knew she

trusted me, she would follow me around the paddock

like a dog, if I ran she would trot after me.

Quite scary when you have a 16.1hh thoroughbred

chasing you. I had never read a natural

horsemanship book, but I realised that this was

just what we were doing.

I also discovered she had never been walked off

the yard, boxed, lunged or had a bit anywhere near

her. I figured it was going to be a long drawn out

process.

In reality I couldn't have been more wrong.

Although I did take things very slowly I found

backing her to be extremely straight forward.

I used a lot of common sense, sought loads of

advice from local tack shops and the people on the

yard, and read as much information as I could find

including everyone else's tips on breaking a young

horse. A lot of the techniques and equipment had

evolved from when I had had my last horse. So I

had to learn what to do with it again.

The things I learnt and my 10 tips for breaking a

young horse are:

1./ Spend time bonding with your horse or pony,

don't just rush into breaking it. You will need

time to build up mutual trust.

2./ Learn your horses moods. Learn their normal

behaviour and pick up when something is wrong.

3./ Spend time before you try to back your horse

getting it used to basic commands, both on the

lunge and long rein. Stand, walk, trot will be

invaluable once your horse is first backed.

4./ Introduce the bit slowly - don't just expect

to put it in your horses mouth and leave it there

for hours. Try a few minutes at a time over

several week and get a bit suitable for a young

horse. I used a copper key bit.

5./ Introduce the saddle without girth, stirrups

and leathers to begin with and remove again after

a few minutes.

6./ Before you even think of putting someone on

your horses back get the horse used to wearing the

saddle and bridle on the lunge or in hand.

7./ When lunging the first few times in tack make

sure stirrups and leathers are not flapping around

and spooking your horse.

8./ When you do introduce someone on their back

ensure you are the one who is talking to your

horse, after all you are the one who is built up

the trust.

9./ Try to get someone light to be the person who

first sits on your horse. Start with them just

lying over your horse and then gradually sitting.

Make sure every movement of the rider is slow a

fluid. Again make sure this isn't rushed and is

done over weeks.

10./ Take backing your horse or pony slowly, take

the lead from the animal. If they are looking

stressed or anxious or are really misbehaving

stop. There is generally a reason.

It took me about 2.5 months to back my horse from

only ever having a head collar on to gently

hacking out with me on her.

I introduced everything bit by bit and talked to

her constantly. It might seem a long time to some

people but I was left with a well adjusted horse

who doesn't get stressed or act up very often. She

takes the lead from me and will attempt new things

because I firmly believe she trusts me.

Make sure you are safe at all times and that

someone is with you if necessary who is more

knowledgeable but don't be afraid and take the

lead.

There is no excuse when horse breaking to be

cruel, and remember animals including horses are

not born bad, they react to what we as humans do

to them.

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activity which may subject the participants to

possible serious injury. My Lil Tack Shop &,

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