Equestrian coach William Micklem gave sound advice on the handling and early training of young stock at a recent Teagasc Let’s Talk Equine webinar.

With young horses, a solid and positive foundation to their career is absolutely imperative to their future success.

Safety is key when working with any horse, however it is particularly important to keep your wits about you when working with unpredictable young horses. Always wear a hard hat and gloves and ideally you should never be alone when working with a young animal.

William maintains that simplicity is key when it comes to bitting, especially with young horses, “for the vast majority of horses, I use a simple eggbutt snaffle, that’s about half an inch wider left to right and right to left of the horses’ mouth and the bit has a slight curve to it.

“I find the eggbutt snaffle is superior to a loose ring snaffle because you don’t get any pinching at the sides of the mouth,” William explained.

Another bit William likes to use is a D-ring snaffle with a lozenge in the middle, it is very similar to the eggbutt snaffle but slightly more comfortable for the horse.

Introducing tack

William likes to introduce tack, like a roller in a large space, such as an arena.

While he acknowledges this may be easier to do in a stable, if the horse reacts badly, the safest place for horse and human is in a large area. Although it is important to make sure all gates are closed.

William will also introduce a rider to a horse in a large area. He uses a roller with a breast plate attached so that it doesn’t slip back and become a bucking strap.

The objective is not to “get the buck out of the horse”, it should be to not create the buck in the first place.

When using the breast plate, the roller can be left quite loose without causing any danger to the horse. They can be lunged with the loose roller and this can be tightened up very gradually as the horse gets more used to it.

William believes when a rider is introduced and a horse bucks, it is not trying to get a rider off it is actually bucking against the girth. Introducing a roller and tightening it very gradually can combat this problem.

When introducing the saddle, William removes the stirrup irons and uses a surcingle to stop the flaps from spooking the horse. The irons can be introduced in time when the horse is ready.

The time between lunging a horse and being ridden by a rider will vary for every animal, it could take three days or three months before they are ready to be backed.

The full webinar, which includes video tutorials can be viewed on the Teagasc website.