What does the natural horsemanship tradition say about the timeline for starting colts?

The natural horsemanship tradition's perspective on the timeline for starting colts reflects its foundational commitment to the horse's genuine readiness as the primary determinant of when each stage of the starting process is appropriate — making the timeline variable and horse-specific rather than fixed and calendar-based, in explicit contrast to the training industry's tendency to define starting readiness by age alone. Tom Dorrance's principle that the horse needed to be mentally and emotionally ready for each new stage — not just physically compliant — implies a timeline governed by the horse's development rather than by human scheduling preferences, and both Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman have consistently taught that rushing the starting timeline in the interest of economic efficiency or competitive preparation produces horses whose training gaps become apparent later in their development at far greater cost than the time saved in the starting phase. The physical dimension of the timeline — the maturity of the horse's skeletal and muscular development — is a legitimate concern that most natural horsemanship practitioners acknowledge, with the consensus favoring waiting until the horse is at least two and a half to three years old before beginning systematic under-saddle work, though earlier light preparation work on the ground is appropriate and beneficial from earlier ages. The psychological dimension — whether the specific horse's temperament and preparation level make it genuinely ready for riding demands at any given point — is the more variable and the more important timeline consideration from the natural horsemanship perspective. A horse that has been thoroughly and patiently prepared through quality groundwork may be genuinely ready for first rides at a younger age than a horse of the same age whose preparation was rushed or inadequate, because the quality of the preparation matters more than the calendar age in determining genuine readiness for under-saddle work.