Training One Over At the Knees

Q. Hi Dana,

I have a yearling that is over at the knees. I plan to start training him myself next year. I have attached a photo of him. He is able to lock his knees in at times and look just about normal, other times he clearly stands over. He will be 2 in February.  With him being over at the knees should I be waiting till he is a late 2, like next fall to start riding him? If I start riding him in April, will that hurt his knees? Due to his over at the knee problem, would you recommend I get him x-rayed first to see if they have closed up before getting on him? Also are there any exercises that I could do to help his knees get stronger (or less over and straighter) when I do start riding him?

Thanks, Cindy

A.  Hello Cindy,

Your yearling colt looks really pretty.  I like the fact that he looks strong over the loin, I have found that most horses that are strong over the loin are stronger lopers with the ability to have a lot of lift.  He also looks pretty in the head and neck.

As far as your colt being over at the knee, I have had some good show horses that were over at the knee and they did great.  They had long careers and I had good success with them.  I did a lot of exercises to encourage lift and collection and a lot of medium trotting to encourage them to really reach and use themselves.

I really encourage you to ask a vet that you really trust his opinion about when to start him and how much to work him.  My beliefs are to do what you can to promote longevity in your horse.

I hesitate to give you any recommendations as to when to start your colt or specific exercises for him without you first talking to your veterinarian.  Let me know what your vet says and when you start him and I can definitely give you more exercises.

Good luck to you,

Dana