09/20/2026
Hey- maybe we slow down on the young horses, ok?
Unpopular opinion alert.
I am increasingly uncomfortable with advertisements for horses under seven or eight years, or even younger advertised at two, three, four and five years old which proudly announce that the horse is already doing “all the basics.” The basics, apparently, now include tempi changes, a collected frame, expressive lateral work, advanced and sophisticated physical outcomes and/or long hours under saddle.
Those are not basics. Those are sophisticated physical accomplishments requiring strength, coordination, emotional maturity, soundness and time.
Calling advanced work “basic” does something dangerous. It makes early production look ordinary or normal. Normal allows it to escape judgement and evaluation. Then any dissent is silenced often aggressively to allow these practices to continue unchanged. It shifts the developmental timeline until a young horse progressing correctly appears behind, while a horse performing difficult movements early is advertised as talented, educated and valuable.
It is the equine version of "Toddlers In Tiaras" (IYKYK)
A horse may be capable of producing the shape of a movement before their body is ready to sustain its function. They may be obedient enough to remain in a frame before they have developed the strength to carry it. They may perform expressive lateral work while compensating physically, and work for long hours because they have learned there is no safe way to decline.
Performance is not proof of readiness.
I am not arguing that every horse must follow the same calendar, or that nothing demanding should be introduced before an arbitrary birthday. Horses vary. Training histories vary. Bodies vary. Brief, thoughtful introductions are different from sustained production.
But when advanced work becomes the advertised baseline for a young horse, we should question the culture creating that expectation.
Perhaps the real basics are rhythm, balance, confidence, bodily awareness, soundness, recovery, curiosity, adaptability and a genuine desire to participate.
Those things are less spectacular in a sales video.
They are also the things upon which everything worth keeping must eventually depend
