Mary Valley Equine Training Centre in Belli Park | Equestrian centre

Mary Valley Equine Training Centre

Locality: Belli Park

Phone: +61 409 320 284

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• Sport & recreation
• Equestrian centre

22.01.2022 Attendance at this business premises is STRICTLY by appointment only

21.01.2022 2 of our agistment horses enjoying a special bond & their 5 acre lush grassed paddock. photo taken by owner

20.01.2022 this business will be closed from 23-26 june, so the remaining school holiday time slots will book out fast book in now for your school holiday lessons and intensive sessions ;)

09.01.2022 wondering what to buy for christmas? Gift certificates now available for Mary Valley Equine Training Centre contact Naree to order

02.01.2022 AT WHAT AGE SHOULD BE 'BREAKING IN' OR 'STARTING' OUR HORSES? interesting info re when a horse's bone structure is fully mature (or when the growth plates fuse), ready for full workload. Very relevant to the age we break in, and how hard we work our horses of different breeds........ Excerpts from 'Timing and Rate of Skeletal Maturation in Horses', 2005 By Deb Bennett, Ph.D... DO ALL HORSES OF ALL BREEDS MATURE SKELETALLY AT THE SAME TIME? There is no such thing as an ‘early maturing’ or ‘slow maturing’ breed of horse. No horse on earth, of any breed, at any time, is or has ever been mature before the age of six (plus or minus six months). So, for example, the Quarter Horse is not an early maturing breed and neither is the Arabian a slow maturing breed. As far as their skeletons go, they are the same. WHEN IS A HORSE SKELETALLY MATURE? There is a growth plate on either end of every bone behind the skull, and in the case of the pelvis, there are multiple growth plates. He is mature when all of these have converted to bone. THE SCHEDULE OF GROWTH-PLATE TO BONE CONVERSION The process of converting the growth plates to bone goes from the bottom of the animal up. Refer pic below. Coffin bone - fused at birth Short pastern birth - 6 months. Long pastern 6 months - 1 year. Cannon bone 8 months - 1.5 years Small bones of the knee 1.5 - 2.5 years Bottom of radius-ulna (elbow) 2 - 2.5 years Top of radius 2.5 - 3 years Humerus 3 - 3.5 years Scapula 3.5 - 4 years Hindlimb lower portions same as forelimb Hock 4 years Tibia 3 - 3.5 years Femur 3.5 - 4 years Vertebral column - at least 5.5 years. The taller the horse, the longer its neck, the later the last fusions will occur. And for a male, add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand Thoroughbred or Saddlebred or Warmblood gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year. AT WHAT AGE SHOULD I 'START' OR 'BREAK IN' MY HORSE? You can work a horse very hard when he is mature, but if you don't want to significantly damage the animal, you have to wait until he is mature, at four to six years old, before asking him to carry you on his back. You don't have to wait until all these growth plates have converted to bone, but the longer you wait, the safer you and your horse will be. Some breeds of horse, eg the Quarter Horse, look mature long before they actually are mature. Traditionally, ''breaking in' would look something like: 2 years - introduce the horse to all kinds of equipment and situations 3 years - crawl on and off of him 4 years - saddle him & lead him off another horse 5 years - saddle him and start teaching him maneuvers or the basics of whatever job he’s going to do 6 years - he’s on the payroll i encourage you to have a good read of Deb Bennett's entire paper.............................................