> You know, I am wondering if there is anything written in stone about
> this.
 
Nope. Depends on the horse.
 
 
>  We worked Casey very lightly till he was four or five as we were
> concerned about his legs.
 
The main concern about the legs should always focus on joint closure in a 
young horse.. if there's ever a question then radiograph. 
 
 
> They're really stout, but he is still a cob.
 
A cob?? 
 
 
> J.D. lost interest in his horse for about 3 years, so I worked him
> occasionally.  Ralph has borrowed him and worked with him a bit this
> year, but when we took him on the trail ride last week we were all very
> surprised at what a nice little horse he had turned out to be.
 
Yep.. never can tell especially since no one really screwed him up.. :)
 
 
> Casey was less mature at 7 than my first horse, a POA off the range,
> was at 2.  I am guessing that you grow up faster when you live out on the
> range than you do when you are almost a backyard pet, like Casey is/has
> been all his life.
 
Well by "growing up" there's a whole lot of things that this can cover.. 
 
They've found that horses grow differently depending on how they're raised in 
the formative years..  youngins that are out on the range or in LARGE 
pastures grow bigger and tougher since for one thing the bone development is 
responsive to the amount of work they're subjected to.. (at least that's the 
theory last I read up on it) 
 
Howver the downside to this is that they're also tougher to work with when 
breaking them.
 
 
>  Do you think I could have "made" him mature faster if
> I had worked with him more instead of concentrating on Dub and Spot?
 
I don't know Vic.. I don't know the horses.
 
 
> BTW, I understand how nice it must be to work with Tush - no bad
> habits picked up from previous owners.  I look around sometimes and think
> that Casey is the only horse around here who has never needed any kind of
> martingale...he hasn't learned yet that bits can HURT you.  ;)
 
Well I put a bit into Tush's mouth twice and then decided I was being 
stupid.. I'll go back and bit her up, but in the stall..
 
 
Right now I drive only with a halter.. no bit, no bosal, nada! :)
 
 
                                BK
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