Expert: Samantha Brunner - 12/28/2006

Question
Hi, Recently, a man in my church gave us a Beautiful Buckskin Tennessee walking Horse. She is "green broke", two years old, very gentle, not easily spooked and will allow me and my family to rub, scratch, pet and "groom" any were on her body. She has no problem with me handling her feet or around her ears or head. She "joins-up" very well, loves attention and company. She is my first horse and I would like to know what I need to do with her. Do I begin to train her with a saddle and get her used to riding ? I have heard you can wait to long and ruin horses for training. Also she is our only horse and has a very large pasture all to her self. Across the street is another horse in our neighbors pasture. Our horse spends alot of time at the fence looking at the other horse. Should I be concerned with this or will she begin to come around us more often as she is used to us? One more! I want her to be "child Broke." Is there a special method I should use?
Thanks so much! We really need help. Having a horse has been our dream and I want to be successful with her.

Kris Smith

Answer
Kris,
 Congrats on your first horse!  Very exciting!  I would recommend that you find a local knowledgeable reputable horse person to assist you with any "hand-on" type problems you may have.  As far as your questions go, I will do my best.  I don't know where you heard that waiting to long would ruin a horse, because the truth is quite the opposite.  Starting horses too early will do detrimental damage to their bone growth and muscle development in their legs, causing them "forever" problems.  I would do ground work with her, and getting her desensitized to everyday things that she may encounter, groom her, play with her, but don't get on her back until she is at least 3 1/2 to 4 years old.  Any major show horse trainer will agree (except race horse people, and those horses have soundness issues their entire lives and are retired by age 18-22 because they can't walk anymore).  Also fitting her for a saddle know that will still fit her in 3 years is going to be impossible, because her back is going to change and develop so much in the next few years, that you'll start getting problems with sore back.  So, for your safety, and her health, put off riding her for awhile.  Being kid safe is not really something you can train or teach a horse to be.  Kid safe is a very vague, and interpretive statement, but usually horses that are truly safe for any small inexperienced rider to get on are older and have been all over the place showing or trail riding, where nothing gets them excited.  I wouldn't even consider putting a small child on any horse under age 10 because they are younger and unpredictable, they haven't yet had the experience to be completely "bomb proof" so to speak, and you would be asking for trouble.  But also remember that some horses may never be truly child safe, their personalities and attitude just don't allow them to be, and some don't even like children.  
Horses are herd animals, and they have this natural instinct to be in a group, it's the safety in numbers concept, so if she is hanging over the fence all day long or trying to get in with your neighbors horse, I would say that she is probably lonely.  She will eventually grow out of this if you leave her by herself long enough, or if you put her in a much smaller area, say a round pen or something of that nature.  Being as young as she is, and out in that big pasture all alone she probably feels very exposed and unsure of her surroundings.  The other option is to get a give away horse or pony to keep her company.  
I hope this helps, please let me know if I can answer any other questions, or take care of any other concerns.  I am always available.

Samantha Brunner