what age to pull sleds

[simplynaturalfarm]

I have a 14 year old SIL who has a 1.5 year old 3/4 Curly filly she wants to eventually use to haul wood and give buggy rides. She was asking me if she dared hitch her to their tiny sled and haul a 5 gallon pail of water with her or if she is too young to do any pulling at all. I have never done any pulling with horses in my life so do not know what is or isn't safe (and I tend to go on the extremely safe side so would always say no to everything she does LOL).
Anyway, the filly is very quiet and has been driven a fair bit and dragged things like frozen milk jugs etc. She just wonders if rather than using her 4 wheeler to haul water to her cows she could use her filly and the small sled she has. She told me she never hauls more than a 5 gallon pail of water at a time anyway. I told her I have no idea and would look around online for her - it doesn't matter how many years it's been since I trained and worked with horses, but they still think I should know everything about horses!! Flattering but I keep telling them to do some research or ask an expert other than me!
No advice needed on safety or suitability of a 14 year old and a 1.5 year old filly, as I have nothing to do with that. They are a tad insane and after giving lots of advice on why different things are important (I am a huge groundwork gal), that there is a reason their horses don't know what anything means when they just jump on and yank them around without any training, I have realized that I can give bits of advice they may or may not listen to and they will still do ridiculous and insane things that threaten their lives. My husband (their brother and a vet) refuses to work on their horses now because of how untrained they are. What I would like to know is if it is damaging to the horse to pull that light weight at 1.5 years.
I am trying to learn from experience as my parents bought my first horse for me when I was 12 years old and I had only been around a horse once before in my entire life (and they had never handled horses either!) He was a 4 year old greenbroke Arabian stallion - there's a good idea?!?! I rode him all over the Rocky Mountains as a stallion and could have gotten killed a million times. I still have him 20 years later, maybe to remind myself not to do more stupid things LOL
Heather

[simplynaturalfarm]

Oh, the reason she is using a sled is that we have a foot of snow on the ground.
Heather

[Deleted]

As long as you aren't putting too much weight on her back, there's no harm in pulling. A friend of ours used a two wheel pony cart and harness on race horse colts forever. His sons drove them all over the place. by the time they were ready to ride, they were broke to almost anything, turned and stopped. They always did good at the track.

[bernie]

Her knees are still open but she can definately handle some pulling.I like to start my horses with driving, it makes it alot less confusing when you do get on their backs.When I was younger (like your daughters age we would hook a small piece of carpet on an evener and hook it to the chains on the harness and stand on it.Up close and personal to the backend.We always looked forward to our weekend of carpet racing.The horses got so smart that when I fell off (I gave a little treat) they would stop dead in their tracks.My brother and I set up courses and had races, full out gallop what fun ;D.And you stay warmer in the winter doing this.So I hope your daughter has fun but is careful.

[Heidi]

Sorry, I can't give any advice about hauling, but about stupid, reckless behaviour by children on young horses... well, on that I'm an expert!

My parents bought my Gypsy, when I was 10, a novice horse rider (although I had ridden my sister's bombproof horse, Benji, since I was 4), and the horse wasn't even 2 years old. She was broken, but barely.

She was a sweety, but as the good feed got into her (she'd only ever been on grass), she really did get full of beans.

We lived "in town" back then, and I would ride her across the main street, four lanes of traffic, with the sheer arrogance of a 10 year old! We'd go riding around the whole Shire, without my parents having any idea where we were (no mobile phones back then!). I didn't own a saddle for the first six months, and I rode her in a halter (hackamore) for most of the time.

The words of my mother always rang in my ears "if you fall of her and hurt yourself, she's going!". So, consequently, to my mother's knowledge, I never came off her, nor ever hurt myself!

How I survived some of the falls, and the near misses, is a mystery, other than God had other plans for me! She definitely made me a much better rider, and taught me so many things, including responsibility.

Its a priveledge to be able to still have her, and look after her, in her old age. Mind you, when my almost 8 yo daughter asks to ride her, I smile and say "no, she's not safe enough for you!".

H

[wyomama]

She should be fine to do some light pulling. Where you get into trouble with young horses is a heavy schedule of weight bearing in circles. The growth plates, especially in the knees, are still open, and even 150# on their backs puts a lot of force on those joints when their weight is shifted in a turn. Put that 150# behind them with a good collar, it's a whole 'nother story.

I can totally understand why your DH won't work on their horses. I've boarded horses for over 15 years, and I've seen just about *everything*. ;D

[simplynaturalfarm]

Thanks guys - she will be happy to hear she can pull the light weights. By the way, it is my sister in law, not my daughter - I didn't have that very clear.
I knew about their growth plates, but had no idea how pulling affected that.
I am so blessed to have this many people to offer advice in this community.
Heather

[missevelyn]

Heather, my darling the old teamster would tell you she's ready for a couple hours of field work a day at the age of two. That mare isn't going to physically notice pulling five gallons of water on a sled.

Regina

[i5allison]

We start all our colts around that age pulling a sled or small cart. They pull around the children in the snow or help with light chores. They have all been harnessed dozens of times by then and are ready for some work. This helps then learn the basics so when they are 2 1/2 or 3 they are ready for light field work.
Allison