Starting Age - Mike Bridges

Now let's check in with this archived interview with the late Howard Hale and Oregon trainer and horseman Mike Bridges. The same question today that we've been asking the rest of the horsemen this week. What age do you start your horses?

 

"When I was a kid and a young man, you didn't start horses till they were five, six years old. Sometimes four, but most horses were five or six when they were started because they had to go do a day's work. You rode every place. We didn't have trailers and you rode to your work and you rode back. So horses had to be older when they were started. They were much tougher to start because their mind was set. They already knew where they fit in the herd and they were more reluctant to step down."

 

"Today, we start these horses at two. You have to be careful not to ride them very much and to be cautious of them until they're four. But the mind is much more pliable when these horses are two-year-olds. They don't, they don't, they have no idea. They don't know where they fit in the herd yet. They're still trying to shake out their position and depending on their personality. So they're much easier to create the starting process of it."

 

Oregon horseman Mike Bridges.

 

Mike has a clinic going on this week. Find the information below!