Hi Vivian.

There are others on this list who will probably speak up with all
kinds of good advice for you but, of course, I am going to put in my
two cents too. <smile>

I too have a young friesian sport horse (Friesian/Arabian cross).
She was 3 in March. She is not currently under saddle as I don't
believe in starting them under saddle until they are four. Just a
personal preference. I just give them a little longer to be babies
that all. I feel its better for all their joints but also know
people who start their horses at two and they live productive lives
well into their 30's. So that statement wasn't meant to start a
tangent - just simply my personal preference.

Anyway, even though Sera isn't under saddle yet and carrying weight
there are tons of exercises that we work her on and since you are new
to training that you might not be doing with your young one.

She gets both free lunged and lunged on a lunge line. When she is
being lunged we work on transitions. Walk-Trot-Canter-Trot-Canter-
Walk, etc., with WHOA in there a lot too. WHOA is the most important
command to teach! We work her both with and without a bridle and
bit. In preparation of doing leg yields she is asked to give to
pressure by us applying pressure to her sides with either a finger, a
knuckle, a crop, etc., and the cue "Over." Depending on where the
pressure is applied we are asking her to move her front end, her rear
end or both (side passing). Oh, and you don't remove the pressure
until they move and then you release the pressure and gives lots and
lots of praise. It doens't take long until they "get" it and will
move away from the slightest pressure. We also work on asking her to
simply stand quietly. If we want her to pick up her feet for
cleaning we worked on simply being able to walk up and tap a leg and
ask for "Foot" and she gives it and holds it up for us. BUT we had
to differentiate between asking for a foot and asking her to stand
still while we put her support boots on. That's why she is tapped
(gently - more of a touch really) AND given the "Foot" cue. We
didn't want her lifting her foot every time her leg was touched.
LOL She periodically gets worked with a saddle so that she is used
to all the flapping around, etc. She gets ponied on trail rides so
that she gets accustomed to all the hustle and bustle. She has been
going to local shows to used to all the noise and hustle and bustle.
We're not showing her yet but soon. We're currently working on
walking and trotting in-hand (at the end of a lead rope) in
preparation of showing her in-hand.

Anyway, even though we don't currently have Sera under saddle, I sure
hope this helps a bit. A lot of this stuff you can also work on
while in the saddle. You can also break it up for him a bit but
doing ground work one day and then incorporate what he learned in his
ground work into his under saddle time the next day.

Tracy

--- In training-horses@yahoogroups.com, "Vivian_Richelsen"
<vivian_richelsen@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all, I'm brand new to this list and am searching for some advice.
>
> I have a three, almost four year old friesian sport horse that I've
> been bringing along. I can now ride him in all three gates, but
> sometimes wonder if I'm doing too much or too little with him. My
> vet says he can really begin to take on a good training workload
this
> year since he will be four, but I'm not sure what exactly that
means,
> and/or how much I should introduce and when. I've never trained a
> horse before this guy, and he has been such a willing partner right
> from the start, that I don't want to jeapordize it by doing
something
> that will make him hate his job. I have had him since he was two,
> and am the only one that has ever ridden him.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions on books, or their own personal
> experience that can help me develop an age-appropriate training plan
> for him? I ride him in all three gates (introduced canter last year,
> and have been doing some light work with it this year), and he is
> lunged frequently but not before every ride. I can take him out
> alone on our acreage and he does well even on his own without the
> company of other horses.
>
> Any advice or book suggestions would be most appreciated! Thank you,
> Vivian
>