Can we break in or train a 10 year old?

Question

Our family friend may be selling her horses.

She has just had them in the paddock. so teh are unbrocken,

I think the oldest maybe be 10 or younger,

would we be able to get a trainer to break him/her in or is it to late??

Answer 1

Working with an older horse has it's advantages and disadvantages.  Advantages are that they are able to do more physically without harming themselves and if you don't p**s them off, will probably be a quicker learner...on the other hand, they have had 10 yrs of tricks up their sleeves and you definitely need to stay on your toes.  I too agree with tying the head around, both left and right, but I will do it on both sides on the same day and I won 't keep them tied each way for a set time, like 2 hrs or 30 minutes.  I will always use split reins, tie the off rein around their neck to keep it out of the way and just tie the other rein to their stirrup...years ago, I would tie it to the back cinch, but later discovered that you only want to teach your horse to flex with the most subtle means possible, and stirrups provide a little give and take, they are just heavy enough to take what the horse has to give, but not start a fight.  I also leaned to tie the head around just far enough so that as soon as the horse decides that he isn't going to fight it, that he is going to give his head and stand quietly, untie him and do the other side...immediately.  The reason that you want to do that is to give him immediate reward, plus, when you immediately do the other side, you are training the horse on both sides equally and it also allows your horse to stretch his neck, thus eliminating soreness for him for next day.  Sometimes this process only takes 10 minutes on each side, sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes longer..stay with them and as soon as the purpose is served, do something else...no need to run it into the ground and p**s of your horse and cause him to fight you.  You aren't trying to win, you are trying to teach.  After doing an extensive amount of ground driving with long lines, teaching him to reverse and reinforcing your verbal commands with the driving lines, and remember WHOA is the most important verbal command that you can teach him, and don't forget to take the time to praise him when he learns something new, or simply willingly does something that you ask of him.  I would definitely have someone help you when it comes to mounting, even in a round pen...someone that knows horses and possibly even has a horse that they can pony off of...that will give you and your horse more confidence, just don't do it so long that he gets too dependent on the other horse and doesn't want to leave him.  I would, however, have this horse, or any horse, vet checked for any major physical unsoundness or potential unsoundness...make sure that his teeth are checked as well, and do all of this before  you spend all of the time and effort working with this horse.  I haven't gone into all of the things that you will be doing, but you do want to teach him to allow his feet to be picked up, his face and ears messed with, etc...If you get to a point with him and think that you need further ideas, you may email me.

Answer 2

My husband's first horse (as a teenager) was a 10 year old mare out of a field that had never been touched.  He told me that he had to sit still in her field about half of the day before he could even touch her!  They worked hard together, but after several years they were doing rodeo (steer wrestling) and winning!  It will take a lot of patience, but it can be done!

Answer 3

It's way too late to break a horse that old-

Answer 4

Yes, you can still break them in.  Make sure to get a vet check done first, because they could have a bunch of little problems.  I don't want to start telling you how to train your horse, but I think natural horsemanship would be a really good idea, espescially, since he's already been riden a little.  Doing traditional horsemanship, when he's that old, and already has had experience with someone on  him, could be a disaster.  I would really reccomend you look into it.  I do Parelli, and find it to be the best.  It's helped me work through every single problem I have with my horse - it's amazing.  If you have questions on it, or want to look into it, e-mail me.  But yeah, I think you can get the horse.

Answer 5

Before you buy, get a vets examination done. There may be all sorts of little problems like worms etc. broken feet, lumps and bumps. If you do buy one, make sure you have the correct facilities for it and get to know your horse on a daily basis. Set up a routine for grooming, feeding and generally walking it around on a halter. Lots of love and pats. You may be able to get a good book or video showing you what to do to gently break it in. If you are into horses you will have some idea if you are new to horses go to a reputable riding school and ask the head boy/girl for any tips and consider what you want to use the horse for. i.e. showjumping/hacking/pony club or XC. They should be BHS AI at the minimum. Good luck

Answer 6

You're in the horse business and HAVE to ask us this question?  

You start a 10 yr old just like you'd start a 2 yr old.  First ground work, then if all goes well, you start her under saddle.

Which basically means, you start her lunging, either on a line or in a round pen.  First you teach her to walk on command, trot on command and then canter on command.  AND of course STOP on command and reverse.  Once she does all that, then you saddle and bridle her up and start the whole proceedure AGAIN!  In the meantime, you can bit her up and allow her to either hang out in your round pen or her stall.  You bit up one side so that she's turning that direction, then let her stand there for a couple of hours turning in that ONE direction.  Once she does that, then the following day, bit her up going the other way.

Once she knows how to turn, work around you at ALL gaits and BOTH directions under saddle, then and only then do you step aboard.  Repeat the same lessons she's learned before, walk, trot, canter, stop.

Answer 7

You can start them.  They can be a little more stubborn and a little less ready to listen to you since they are used to doing as they want, but it can be done.  I broke an 11 year old to ride and had no trouble what so ever with her.

I am not a big fan of lungeing.  I train mine to ride, after I teach them to lead and to get used to the saddle, by attaching them to a trained ponying horse and leading them.  After they lead well I climb on slowly and ride behind them.  I later progress to detaching the lead and following and then to riding off to the side and then another direction.  Then alone.  I start mine out neck reining so the horse never learns to plow rein.  This makes them quicker to respond to the neck cues, and I seldom apply any pressure with the bit.

BTW  I like to break mine in a small 1 or 2 acre field so that if the horse tries to run it is at a fence before it has gained much speed.  A much smaller field would be too small for this technique.