OwnerView Webinar Covers The Development of Young Horses

[Wandering Eyes]

The fifth installment of the 2025 OwnerView webinar series took place on July 1 focusing on the development of young horses with panelists Niall Brennan (Niall Brennan Stables), David O'Farrell (Ocala Stud), trainer Lindsay Schultz and retired pinhooker Eddie Woods. Gary Falter, the project manager for OwnerView, moderated a panel discussion.

The conference is hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Keeneland, and Stoll Keenon Ogden. The panel was sponsored by OCD Pellets.

According to O'Farrell, it's important to start working with foals as soon as possible if they are nursing and healthy.

“You know they would follow their mother if you let them and they'd lead right into the stall,” he said. “But it's hugely important that you go ahead and put the mini halter, the figure eight halter, on and coax them down the shed row and teach them to lead right off the bat.”

The panelists agreed that starting horses should be done slowly and quietly.

“The slower you go, the better it is. If you get into a rush, it ends up a mess,” Woods said.

Brennan concurred. “If you go a little too quickly with it and frighten them, then that's a different story,” he said. “We just take our time, and similar to Eddie, we spend about a week in the stall with the riders just playing with them, putting the tack on them, turning them around, and just judging them individually.”

Another theme was starting and working horses together.

“We send them out in groups, especially for the first while that they're at the track,” said Schultz. “And if we don't have a group then you might send them out with a pony. The first part of the process, they always go in company.”

The next session entitled 'Buying at the Sales and Digital Sales' will be held Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. ET. The full schedule may be viewed here. There is no fee to register for the series, but registration is required.

Click here for video of the July 1 webinar.

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