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TL;DR: In the market for a new horse. Seriously considering a yearling. Pretty sure it's a crazy idea, and yet....
Full story. First things first, my own experience isn't necessarily the issue. I've been riding, teaching, and handling green horses as well as been there done that lesson horses for 20 years. I know the value of a solid groundwork foundation and I know how to give a horse that foundation. I functionally restarted a mustang last summer because the training he'd had before was inconsistent at best. And I have an established relationship with a good trainer, vet, and farrier so my support network for another greenie is pretty strong.
However...I'm almost 30 years old and I work 12 hour night shifts, 3-4 days a week. I wouldn't have the ability to be at the barn handling my horse multiple times every day. Also, if I were to start from a yearling age, my horse wouldn't be ready to actually, fully start under saddle for 3-4 years so by then I'd be mid-30s, and then still looking at another few years for a fully trained horse. So I'm looking at pushing 40 before I have the horse I want. But...this colt is SO cute. Hes a buckskin, and both parents are 16hh so he's got a pretty good chance of being the tall, beefy sort of boy I need. And I do love the idea of building a relationship from the ground up. I'm just not sure I have the time in my daily life, or long term future, to accommodate that length of training.
Please share stories of your own yearling training journeys, if you have them. The good, the bad, the ugly, I want it all.
I bought a weanling at 28 because I'm not getting any younger. It has been a rewarding experience. He is now a yearling and "works" (AKA does very basic solid citizen things like cross tying, holding up his feet like the farrier would hold them, moving his shoulders and hips, etc. like 2-3 times per week. He knows vaguely how to lunge and we do it about once a month, I only ask for w/t to reinforce cues, not to give him a workout or stress his joints. My barn owner obviously handles him daily turning in/out and has raised several babies of her own so she knows what she is doing with him. This is a completely normal arrangement and I think you can do it.
Consider this: Some people are of the mindset that babies should be turned out and unhandled until 2! If you're doing any more than that, you're already ahead. Those people get it done anyway, and so can we.
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