Giving Young Horses the Best Start in Life

When it comes to training young horses, the work you do before they’re ever ridden is just as important, if not more so, than what comes later. Early education lays the foundation for a confident, well-adjusted horse who’s ready to cope with their ridden career. From groundwork to handling, even the smallest experiences shape their understanding of the world. In this article, I’ll share our journey and future plans with Diego, a two-year-old Blue Cross pony we’ve rehomed, and explain why these early years are such a vital part of his future success.

Rehoming a horse from the Blue Cross has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. Their team is refreshingly honest, almost to the point of trying to put you off. They tell you everything they know about the horse’s history and behaviour, including any quirks or negative traits, so you go into the whole process of rehoming with your eyes wide open.

Each horse comes with a detailed petfolio (yes, that’s really what it’s called!) that includes training and behaviour assessments, graded with a red, orange, and green system to show how they cope with different situations. For example, one horse we met had a red sticker for feeding time because they could get a little possessive over their food. That kind of transparency, I think, is invaluable.

We have recently welcomed a two-year-old pony called Diego to Wavendon Grange. He is a companion for our existing companion pony, Pumpernickel, who as many of you will know is also a Blue Cross rescue.

Pumpernickel is brilliant and a yard favourite, he's ridden regularly by my nephews and other small children who come to visit. We’ve also started driving him, something I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I do!

Anyway, back to Diego. We were specifically looking for a youngster who could not only be company for Pumpernickel when the other horses go out but also had similar nutritional needs.

Ponies are so different in that respect compared to our larger sport horses, and it’s important to manage their turnout, grazing, and feeding carefully. Sharing the “diet paddock” and our rollarium setup will work perfectly.

Rehoming a young horse like Diego also gives us the chance to play an important role in his foundation training. The idea is to keep him with us during these early years, introduce him to a variety of life experiences. He will then potentially go back to the Blue Cross to continue his training when he’s ready to begin his ridden career. After that, we may rehome another youngster.

I really love helping to shape the beginning of a horse’s journey. I also wanted to share what we are planning to do with Diego, I hope it will be useful to others who are looking to give their young horse the best possible start.

Skeletal Maturity and Exercises for Youngsters

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The Importance of Early Education

It’s easy to think you can just leave a young horse in a field until they’re old enough to be backed, but I think that’s a missed opportunity. You can do so much groundwork before then to help prepare their body and mind. Now, I’m not talking about lunging or riding, but small, simple things that are the foundations for future work and will make the backing process go smoothly when the time comes.

Movement and Routine

Turnout is essential for all horses – young and old. Making sure Diego gets plenty of time out so he can move around freely is the top priority.

We have several small paddocks and we even use our long gravel driveway as a sort of track system – it’s flanked by grass, so he can still graze a bit, but it offers variety both from a nutrition and surface perspective, encouraging movement, stimulating his feet and proprioception. We rotate turnout paddocks depending on the season and ground conditions, but none of them are full of grass.

I also think it’s important that Diego comes into the stable regularly. It’s good for him to learn how to be led, caught, stabled and relax inside. This will help him to learn that stables are safe places where he can lie down, enjoy some hay without competition and rest. These are all great life skills for a future riding horse.

Teaching a young horse to lower the head from poll pressure and voice command is not only really useful from a handling perspective but a good postural correction exercise too.

Simple Exercises

Every day on the way to and from the paddock, Diego will walk over a set of raised poles. Over time he will do more repetitions over the poles but only very gradually. As he progresses, I’ll add more exercises like teaching him to lower his head in response to poll pressure and voice cues. This isn’t just useful for handling - it’s great for building correct posture.

We will also teach him to back up, again just a few steps to begin with so he can learn about voice cues and the aids. While this is basic now, eventually it’ll become a strengthening exercise to prepare the muscles that will carry a rider. I’m keen to build that awareness and strength gradually over the years.

Pilates for Horses

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Making Everything a Learning Opportunity

Poles will be a regular part of Diego’s environment – natural logs, coloured poles, anything I can find to keep things interesting. This will include in his turnout areas, because there is limited grass he will get fed hay in the field. He has a hay ball, which is a fun challenge. Also, where we place hay nets there’s a semi-circle of logs so he has to step over them to get to the hay.

Walks are another part of his routine - just around the fields and down the driveway. These gentle walks are relaxed, pressure-free, and give us a chance to practice transitions, voice cues, and handling from both sides. Every outing helps build confidence and consistency.

Even during grooming, teaching him to move over, again using the voice and touch to help him learn and understand. This then leads on to doing a bit of hands on massage so he is used to being touched everywhere - something every future ridden horse will need to be comfortable with.

Further Life Lessons

There are lots of other things that we will plan to do with Diego, including loading onto the horsebox. Practising walking up the ramp and standing quietly and calmly inside. With time, we will go on short journeys too. He’s learning to accept the hose pipe and other odd bits of handling. These may seem like small things, but they all add up to a confident, well-prepared horse.

Right now, we’re only at the start of Diego’s journey. He’s still settling into his new home and routine. The next few years will be filled with opportunities for learning – quietly, consistently, and kindly.

Thank you to the Blue Cross

As I mentioned earlier in this article, Diego is the second pony we have had from the Blue Cross. We returned to the Blue Cross because they really do set you up for success. Their assessments, transparency, and ongoing support give you everything you need to make informed decisions. Pumpernickel has already brought so much joy into our lives and I’m sure Diego will too.

Working with young horses isn’t just training, it’s about building a partnership, patience and laying the foundations for a happy, successful future. I can’t think of anything more rewarding. I will share our progress in future articles so you can come along on the journey too.

How Your Horse Moves

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