breaking our 2 1/2 gelding?

Question
My husband and I have 4 horses.  He grew up with horses.  His mom has trained many horses, but the last horse she trained was a few years ago.  The gelding we have is about 2 1/2 now.  His mother was registered Morgan, and the father was a registered paint.  He is as tall as both our 22 year old arabian gelding and now just a little taller than my palamino foxtrotter mare that is 10 years old.  so he is about 14 hh.  We aren't sure when to send him out to the trainer to get broke to ride.  My mother in law is telling us when he is 6 years old.  And of course the trainers will take them when ever we send the out and pay them.  So what I am wondering is how you know when your horse is ready.  are there physical signs or just when his ground work is complete.  I mean is he strong enough already to hold a person.  My husband has been on his back just sitting.  we spent the entire summer ground training him and getting a saddle on him.  If you could please help us out with this it would be great.  Thanks so much, Victoria

Answer
Victoria your horse sounds ready to be broke!  I would not wait until he is six!  By then you will have a real problem horse on your hands.  Ground training is always the first place to start.  You have done that and he is ready for work.  Typically a horse will grow in size and bone mass up until they are six.  And of course, technically speaking they continue to grow their entire lives.  By age two or three horses are typically ready for the weight of a rider and the physical demands of working.  Go for it and good luck!  You are endeavoring on a very exciting stage of your horse's life!