The Mare & Foal Sanctuary FAQs (frequently-asked questions)

Although racehorses are typically broken at two years old, we feel it's better to wait until the horse is 3 or 4 years old before backing it. The horse is then stronger and a little more mature.

Training horses used to be a brute-force method that often involved tying up one leg, strapping on a saddle and forcing a wild and terrified horse to do your bidding. Nowadays we understand the horse better and most people take the process more slowly and gain the trust of the horse in the process, forming a longer bond and with less risk of damaging the horse both physically and mentally. Whatever process is used, it's still called "breaking".

Never. An old horse may take longer to learn the basics, and you may have to spend more time "untraining" badly learned habits, but unlike the old dog, a horse can learn new tricks at any age. An old horse may be otherwise unsuitable for riding however, due to injury or disease.

Generally we advise to wait a year after initial breaking in order to build a relationship and get the horse used to riding out and settled. So if a horse was broken at 4, start jumping training at 5, and so on. As with most things it depends on the horse and your own ability, so a little leeway is fine.

You really ought to halter your new foal straight away. We take our new born foals out into a small well fenced paddock on the 2nd day of their life, and they start to get used to their halter gently, with a hand on his rump to carefully guide him forward, it will take a bit of care and persuasion and you need someone to lead mum too. Just lead the foal steadily behind the mare and turn them out for about an hour, then lead them in. The period you leave them out (weather permitting, don't put them out in the cold and wet) can be increased little by little.

Not exactly. There is no hard and fast rule to what weight each individual horse can carry. Consider each horse's capacity on an individual basis.

Maybe... Sorry, but because each horse is an individual and so is each rider, it is impossible for us to give you an answer without knowing the horse itself.

No. It is not fair and it wont help reschool your horse. Horses are very receptive and if you are angry or frustrated they will pick it up from you and wind up even more. Telling off a horse that is scared of something will only reaffirm that it has every right to be scared, if you have a spooky horse the trick is to stay calm and don't react (whatever it does) talk to it (calmly)use your voice, legs and seat to encourage it past whatever it is spooking at. If it is genuinely scared sometimes pausing to look at the object will reassure it that there is nothing to be scared of.

It would depend on your intentions for the horse, although breaking usually helps to give more control to the rider or handler in addition to normal headcollar-breaking and handling training so in general it would be a good idea.

There is no reason why a stallion can't be ridden and be bred from.