Horse Thread:

[chet]

There's a small ranch(?) near where I live and work. They have a lot of horses there off and on all year. For the past six months or so there's been 2 colts(?) being raised in one part. What do you think will happen to them when they grow up? We're near a horse racing track too.
When do they start preparing them to let people ride on them.

I know nothing about horses or ranches but thought it would be interesting to ask.

[6942]

In France, you'd be eating them by now.
A French co-worker told me that eating horse meat is not uncommon there.
Steve

[txspreacher]

Alot of your questions are gonna depend on what type of horses they are, etc. As far as when they start colts under saddle, the rule of thumb is 2 years old. I think with Arabians, they wait until they're 3, but I'm a Quarter Horse guy, so I could be wrong about the Arabs.

[cowboytwang]

Belgium consumes more horse meat per capita then any other country, and they have the best riding horses also (because they eat the bad ones).

If they are race horses then they will start putting weight on them around 20 months old(saddle, tack, etc.). Then start riding them at 23-24 months old, and race them as two years olds and the next year three years olds. Most will stop folks will stop racing them after a couple of year if the horse is successful, but if they didn't push the horse much some will keep racing a couple of more years.
Horses are delicate animals, they injure easy and if it's an expensive race horse you don't want to have a crippled one. So they race them as two and three year olds then breed them for more race horses.

[chet]

It's been pretty cool to watch them grow up all year. They're in the same pen/area and they each stick real close to thier mother. I've only seen one run around once. Mostly they just stand by thier mother and eat grass/feed.

[Caper]

My daughter rides at least 3 a week, sometimes more. Last spring she found a job teaching kids to ride at a camp outside of San Antone maybe but we talked her out of it. Too far to go if something went wrong plus there is quite a difference in the temp for a girl coming from Nova Scotia. I would have been a nervous wreck till she got back

[riggergreg]

If they are thoroughbreds, they can begin to race at 2 years old. Quarterhorses also 2years, but most owners I know wait til 3.

A lot of saddlebreds aren't used until they grow up and develop a bit more. Some times 3 or 4 years old.

A registered horses age is set by the first of the year. No matter when they are born during the year, they are considered 1 year old after Jan 1st. Breeders try to make sure they are born in January or February, to keep the horses close in actual age to their registered age.

[chet]

I'll try to get a good pic of them and maybe you can tell me more about them. One is dark brown (chocolate?)and has the diamond on it's forehead and the other is lighter brown.