http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=10638958

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2963402368573.2122757.1367010351&type=3

A wee bit young for that...

The only thing I can figure out they are trying to accomplish is giving that horse a bad back by the time it is 4 years old.

Horses are like kids, no one needs a prequist for oneing them.
Such a shame as obviously there are people in this world who should not have either.

I get real wary of ads that thought 2-3 yr old horses that are broke the best, done everything and kids can ride them.

People fail to realize that it isn't only the physical aspect of a horse,but the mental aspect that has to matter also.

If/when I have time I think it's a great idea to saddle brush clip etc a colt like that. When I weaned my now 5 yr old all I did was walk out to him up a halter on and lead him to the trailer to take to the barn. Was a piece of cake cause he was the only colt we had and had been toying with him since he was born.

That said gettin on the colts back at weaning age is the dumbest thing I've seen this week! Sad that those people are so proud of what they're doin they took pics.

You gents are a lot more restrained than I was when I saw it the first time.
I agree, handling a colt from a young age can be a benefit, introducing him to a saddle, bridle and a whole bunch of other things when he's young can save a lot of effort later but getting on one that young is plain stupidity and worse was the pic of her mounting from the ground.
In my opinion that's a good way to give a horse bone and joint problems later in life and because it probably wasn't comfortable and could have caused pain it may even create problems when they try to ride it later. The only small saving grace is they kept the colt still and didn't actually ride it round as far as we know from what's been posted.

I'm with saddlesore on the "kid broke" horse thing. I've had many kids ride many different 3 yr olds I've had but never say a horse is kid broke. Some kids can ride the hair off one and some have no idea. I guess my gripe is the term kid broke. I know/ride with kids that can outride many adults I've seen. Just cause one kid can ride the horse don't mean it's a kid horse. Not all kids is equal just like adults.

My nephew is 5 and been on horses since he was a baby. He's by nomeans ready/able to ride by himself. Sayin that I can't count on one hand how many his age I've seen ride pretty darn well.

A cute lil thing people around here like to say is that horse is good for a lady......heck my wife starts most all our 2 yr olds. She's easy and patient with them. That don't mean my 23 month stud colt is lady broke.

I agree maarty.....very stupid foolish and I'm suprised people is that ignorant. Kinda like handing a 5 yr old kid a 300 mag to shoot.

After all the fun that boy had I left that horse with him to play with a bit. That horse has been a goodin for me at everything I've asked him to do from east tn to Montana Colorado and I think he will enjoy baby sitting for the time being.

I'm not on FaceBook so I can't see what was posted there and I didn't want to follow the rants on the New Zealand forum -- too quick to assume that the fault here is somehow "American" - so my thoughts are only on the photos I saw. So, perhaps I am wrong from what may have been posted elsewhere, but we don't see evidence of this woman "riding" the colt. She is only sitting on him for a moment. Now, yes, she's a fair-sized lady, but it's a stout colt and if she got up there for just a moment I would cut her some slack. We all do silly things sometimes and I've seen people do stuff like this before. Generally the person doing it is smaller. So, unless there are more photos I haven't seen, I think the posters on the NZ forum are overreacting, but again, I didn't read anything past the first page. As soon as a couple of them starting blaming Americans they lost their credibility with me. Sitting on the colt for a moment is not the same as "riding" a two-year-old. That said, the lady is probably too heavy to be on the colt at all. What amazes me as much as anything is the self-righteous overreaction. But again, I am only judging by the photos I see and if there are other photos of this woman still on the colt and riding him around the yard, etc... my grace would end.

So sitting on a weanling is better than riding a 2 yr old?......or did I misunderstand?

If that horse is as young as it looks from the picture those people should be horse whipped. A baby's bones don't fuse until their 2 yr old year, and the damage they're causing will ruin that horse for life. Not to mention a babies attention span is about 60 seconds.
At that age I might throw a blanket over their back (from both sides) when I'm grooming/handling it, but thats as much weight as I would put on a baby. The other thing, you see people do it all the time because they're scared to throw their leg over; hanging on the side of a baby is really hard on them. These people have no business with a horse, unless that horse is 3 or 4 and just looks like a baby, but i don't think thats the case.

We have a nieghbor down the road that has a TB that came off the track as a two year old.Which means it had to have been started at least at 18 months and probaly sooner. It has about 6" of sway in it's back.It is in the 20 yr old class. The gal that rides it is about 190-220lbs.When she gets on, she says the horse acts like it has a sore back, so she bought another more expensive pad for it.I tried to tell her to retire it and she acted like I was crazy
DUH!!!!

I have to defend NZ here. That is a UK forum not NZ, it was brought to my attention by a friend of mine because the pics were taken in NZ.

Okay, I apologize, no offense meant to NZ. Like I say, I'm not in the loop. I didn't have the patience to investigate the forum. (Don't mean to hijack the thread, but my wife and I watch almost entirely British TV and films through Netflix largely because of their understated approach to most things.)

Ok first I have no idea if the above responses was directed to my question or not?


Second my question was to the fella that acted like gettin on the mentioned colt was better than ridin a 2 yr old. I've yet to see a 2 yr old that couldn't take ridin. I've no idea about 190-220 pound women and don't plan to.........!!!!.......grin

No offense taken, and I know a lot of Kiwis who would have reacted the same way the ones on that forum did.
I remember reading something a while ago that said "Back forty or so years ago we were harder on animals and kinder to people" and I agree with it, it seems a lot of people have elevated animals above people these days and it does cause a lot of problems. Having said that I can't think of anyone forty years ago who would be stupid enough to get on a five month old colt.

Saddlesore the best i can tell, horses are the only thing that makes someone with 6 months experience turn their nose up at someones advice that's invested a lifetime. If that gals 200 pounds she should be walking anyway .
As far as the track goes, if people ever saw what went on in the alleys at the track there'd never be another horse race.

Don't they race 2 yearolds? and get broken legs ETC.

A lot of this is just the web culture. People post sexually explicit photos of themselves, poachers post photos of illegal deer, criminals want their 15 minutes of fame -- and 15 years to life -- by shooting video of their crimes. I suspect this couple got carried away. I've seen many people get on colts of this age but the person on the colt was able to reach the ground with their feet and keep much of the weight off. It's not necessarily wise -- it can be argued that it can be downright stupid -- but its hardly criminal. There are far worse practices going on -- like the actions taken to make certain breeds high step -- that should attract some of this vitriol.

Wouldn't doubt it. Kinda hard to compare starting a 2 yr old and putting one on a race track don't ya think?

Wouldn't argue about the actions taken to make certain breeds high step. When done correctly I have no problem with it. It's just many go above and beyond and it gets pretty cruel.

That said they could do away with all show race type horse events and I couldnt care less. I've no interest in spending a Saturday night at a horse show.

yes they race 2 year olds. They burn them up, break them down, throw them away and have another one in their stall the next day.
Race horse breeder are some of the best and the worst of breeders.

They will throw away some really nice horses if they aren't fast enough. And they don't give a $hit how much money they have in them either.

In that way they're some of the purest breeders of all; if it ain't fast it ain't nothing. Track rejects have made some dandy rope horses.

A gentleman I know based out of Ocala Fl. makes a decent living off those washed up or slow track horses. Picks up the ones that would make good hunter, jumper prospects for next to nothing and brings them up to the northeast to sell.

a friend of mine bought a tennesse walker that was a high stepper,He removed these shoes from him.they weighed 7 lbs each.

I'll talk about llamas because they mature at the same rate as horses. They're subject to the same foot, leg, and tendon damage as horses if worked too young.
Last year while packing I took along a young stud about 9 mo old. He just tagged along and was a general nuisance. This year as a yearling, he will carry a saddle only (about 5 lb). He wouldn't even get that but he needs experience in the middle of a pack string and I need to tie others behind him. As a 2 yo, he'll carry maybe 20 to 30 lb.
I have a 3 yo that'll get 40 to 50 lb this year. He's already the biggest llama I've got but that doesn't make his legs mature. He still needs to go light.
As a 4 yo, they can get a full load of up to 100 lb if they're in good enough shape to handle it. For most that are used only casually, 80 is better.