Horse Problem - Age of Horse to Ride  - Is 17-months-old horse safe to ride with small person?

Think of the growth plates in the young horse's legs as like the fontanel in a newborn human baby's head (if you have had children, then you'll know what I'm talking about -- the "soft spot" we're real careful not to injure in human babies' skulls). That fontanel in the human baby is indeed a "growth plate," much like what you'll find in the young horse's legs and other parts of their bodies. In the human baby it is there for a couple of reasons: 1) to allow the baby's head to "squash" if needed, to pass through a small birth canal -- the growth plates can actually push together to allow for that contracting if needed; if a baby's head were solid and did not have this fontanel/growth plate, many would potentially die in childbirth, getting stuck there -- or brain damaged from the trauma; 2) to allow for the tremendously rapid growth the baby's skull makes in the first year of life, the fastest it will ever grow, more than any other year of that child's life. In the human baby, the fontanel (growth plate) will naturally close up by itself (solidify) around the age of 1. Until then, it must be kept protected or the baby can be brain damaged if struck/injured there, because there's not much protecting the baby's brain in that soft spot (if they get struck there, or dropped on it, etc.).

Okay...the growth plates in a young, growing horse works in much the same way. The foal's legs grow very, very rapidly and do most of their growth within the first 2 years. So...nature set it up to allow for that -- these growth plates in the young horse's legs are virtual "soft spots" if you want to think about it like that, and very, very malleable and vulnerable to damage if weight is put on them too young. Even 50 lbs of weight is more than that growth plate is designed to take until it solidifies naturally. I show a chart on that page I directed you to, to see the average dates those growth plates close up, which occurs from bottom to top, in that order. Depending on the breed of horse, some close up in the legs at 2 (like some quarter horses), some at 2 1/2 (Some Arabs) some 3 (warmbloods) and actually, Icelandic horses and some others: not until age 4 (the Icelandic people know this and do NOT put weight on the young Icelandic horse's back/don't start serious training until after the age of 4). Until then, until those lower growth plates close up, do not put weight on this horse's back. Nothing wrong with getting a light weight pad or even a light weight synthetic saddle, like maybe 15 pounds-ish and get the youngster used to that, but no one should be climbing on the back of a 17-month-old-horse, no matter how much the colt seems to like it or how irresistible it seems at the time. You can and will do potential permanent damage to those growth plates, and unfortunately, the damage, once done, is permanent. And it contributes to early lameness/structural issues in life.

So...resist the urge and stay off this filly and only until your vet signs off on this, via examining that the growth plates in the legs are finally closed off after age two or beyond (some vets recommend X-raying for that) should you then allow for light weight on the back, child being fine. This is serious stuff and I see sooooo many damaged from this horses in my biz who got started too young and the damage is then permanent, the horse having chronic problems the rest of their lives. The long way is the short way here! The longer you wait there, remaining patient and protective there, the better off the horse will be for the longer run.

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but it is what you need to hear. :-) I speak for the horse.

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