03/19/2025
Stop listening to people, and start listening to horses.
Starting horses in ridden work at 2-3 years old has never felt right to me, but after listening to Lockie Phillips' podcast with Becks Nairn, I am unequivocally sure that we are spending horse's bodies before they have reached maturity.
At the time of the episode of April last year, Becks had dissected over 40 horses, mainly off the track gallopers and trotters. She explained that she, a person of average body strength, can break apart a 2-3 year old's pelvis like a lego. That a horse's pelvis is in two halves until it is six years old.
Now, there are a lot of studies out there promoting early movement in horses to help the formation of their bony structures. But, this information is not matching up with what Becks is seeing in the horse's body. We have to think about who is financing these studies.
Conformation bias - you look for information that supports your beliefs, and ignores information that doesn't. You can choose to publish only the information that you find valuable to your work.
I'm not proud to admit it, but I've ridden a few youngsters. They're wiggly. Like riding a gummy worm. I was told that's normal, and it's good that they're flexible.
Now I know that what I was feeling was instability. I was driving on an unfinished bridge that had just enough foundation to handle the weight of one car, but would fold into itself once rush hour hit.
And that is exactly what a hunters bump is: the pelvis collapsing inwards making the tuber sacrals the highest part of the pelvis.
I've had conversations with people that agree that horses aren't finished maturing until at least six years old, but think the horses are "good enough" to ride. I know people who start colts that mean well and think they're going easy on the horses.
In my experience, groundwork and husbandry skills are an afterthought, something you spend a chunk of time on and "get out of the way". But groundwork never ends. There are endless things to teach your horse, endless ways to help them from the ground. But we've taught people that a horse without weight on its back is just spending your money with nothing to show for it.
It’s the start of the road to the end of a horse’s autonomy. This road is not lonely.
This is a problem, and we're seeing it in the horse's bodies.
This is why we need to be listening to the people who are taking apart these horses and witnessing the damage. It's why we need to talk to people who take in the sport horses and race horses after their bodies have fallen apart. It's why we need to urge the heads of equine sport to stop incentivizing competitions before the horse's body is ready.
If wanting to wait until a horse reaches skeletal maturity makes me a snowflake, a coddler, or wimp, then so be it. I am fine being a pariah, if it means that the horses I interact with will have their longevity and structural health prioritized.
I will continue listening to the studies, the body workers, the people who dissect, the osteopaths, and most importantly:
The horse.
