Talked to an out of state friend, and got an update on their little filly born earlier this year. He was proud of his daughter for training the little baby. "At 5 months old, she'll already walk, trot, and canter on the lounge line."
Um, is she too young for that? Why is there such a push in the world to have weanlings "trained"? Why can't we just teach them to halter & lead, and then let them go be babies for at least a year, if not two? I'm not saying some lateral flexion and a few round pen games are totally inappropriate, and I completely think polite ground manners are a must. But when is it too much? We don't expect human babies to be athletes until they're teenagers - because we're not close to being "done growing". Why are our ponies any different?
Your thoughts?
When is it Too Young to Start?
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