Any Experience with Trotters?

La Fiaba

La Fiaba

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Wanted to ask if anybody has any experience with 'off the track trotters' ? I have been offered a lovely mare but tried her today and she doesn't know anything apart from 'trot as fast as you can'!! I have 2 ex racers in the normal galloping sense and these have come on to be lovely horses, but I have no experience with training a gaited horse not to do what it's been born & bred to do.

So anyone with any experience? How difficult is it and how much time would you expect to give her to expect her to walk & trot 'normally'? Any words of wisdom?

She has been off the track a few years & is broken to saddle. Hasn't done anything these past few months as owners have no time. She is very good to handle and she is sweet which is why I'm inclined to take a gamble, but not if it's something that I don't have a chance of doing (if that makes any sense).

Glass of wine from some random vineyard down the road (tastes better as not travelled :) ) for anyone who cares to join me :D
 
I have a Standardbred mare and it has took me 3 years to get her trot to slow down, she would just trot as fast as she could and her legs were all over the place. I achieved this with lots of schooling, up and down transistions, she still fights my leg aid and just thinks it means go faster, but we are getting there.

Now canter is a different issue, she gets very excited and starts pacing, i have been able to canter in her in a straight line uphil and have to come up out of my saddle, give a pony club kick or else she just paces and then when she gets into her canter rythm i can then sit down slowly.

I am working on the canter transistion with poles in the school whilst she is on the lunge, once she has mastered that i will then try riding her over the poles.

Lots of patience needed, dont expect a quick fix, plenty of praise, my mare is a sweetheart, would i buy another one, erm probably not.
 
Hi there
We've got pacers rather than trotters (am assuming the mare is normal square gait trotter?), but would think you need to go through a similar process.
When we stop racing them we usually do some reschooling before finding them a new home, they've gone on to be happy hackers, used as normal driving horses on pleasure rides and to do endurance.
The first stage is usually to slow them right down, get them balanced working on a circle in walk and trot - if they've been on the track they're rarely if ever "schooled" as that's not the outline you want so this is really hardwork for them. Then start asking for canter from a slow collected trot. Sometimes it's easier to do this in an open space to start with - again because they're not used to working on a circle.
Ours will all canter even though they're in training (Mags was doing a LOVELY collected canter today while being driven - not what she was meant to be doing at the time though :rolleyes:); and I'd be surprised if the mare has never cantered as a lot of the trainers over here gallop their horses as part of their fitness training - we're taking ours to the gallops this weekend in fact (weather permitting) as we're not racing. So again it's a case of getting them used to being encouraged to canter and then slowing it down.
It will come with time, hope you have a fantastic time with her.
Sorry for the essay
 
I've had mine 7 years now- when i got him he physically couldn't canter, he went on to compete successfully in dressage and showjumping it just took alot of schooling. He got to the stage where he had a lovely balanced canter, and (obviously) his trot work has always been fantastic. He is my pride and joy, but sadly probably won't compete again as he has got to the age of 14 and his joints are paying for the abuse they took when he was driven as a 3 year old.
 
Thank you all, essays are great, keep them coming! I'm not too fussed about canter, I know that can take a while, but getting them to trot slowly, as their first choice (so not having to be constantly held back by rider) is that doable in a relatively short space of time? As in a few months?

Last year I went on a hack with a girl who was riding a trotter (ex racer), when I suggested we canter he did the fast trot thing, then broke into a gallop. Is that a common scenario would you say? He was also very uncomfortable going downhill - I would guess he wasn't strong enough through the back.

Sorry for a million questions, I really would like to take this mare but I want to know what I'm up against first!
 
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You should be able to get a steady trot fairly easily - we hack our pacers that are in training out occasionally and they go at the speed of the other horses (usually TB's and a cob) so definitely will just trot normally without too much work - although Mags has got a HUGE stride for a little mare which means I end up doing a kind of rise-pause for a beat-sit rather than up/down as you would normally :eek:
The fast trot and then break is quite common - but then you can use that as once they've "broken" you can slow them down in canter whilst keeping them cantering and in time as they get stronger they don't need to do that.
Not sure about the downhill thing - we canter ours in Cirencester Park where they have to go up and down hill and they don't really have a problem - they tend to go back to pacing as they get tired which is understandable.
I'm threatening Mags with doing dressage when she finishes racing - if I can get her to recreate the paces she shows in harness under saddle she could be great but I know it's going to be a slow process.
 
A young friend has had one about 6 months now and while things have improved (i.e. they're now getting a canter rather than a faster trot when asking), they seem to enjoy his break-neck speed and pretty much let him throw himself at a fence in whatever gait he chooses, then yank on his 3 ring upon landing to try and get him back. He's smart and listens though, and if they didn't want a pony that'll clear up at BSJA through speed alone then I know schooling with him would work. When his mum rides him at the beach he's much better, his trot is very controlled, and the canter transition seems to come much easier.

If I met a trotter who was the right horse for me, I wouldn't let his breed put me off: every horse needs schooling anyway in my opinion.
 
I certainly don't have as much experience as the people above, but a friend of mine was considering buying a trotter, but she failed the vetting on flexion tests on all legs! As far as I know she has never been lame before or since (horse, not friend, obviously) so I think if you are getting a vetting, you need to check with the vet that he/she has experience of trotters as they do move oddly! Just a thought...
 
La Fiaba said:
Thank you all, essays are great, keep them coming! I'm not too fussed about canter, I know that can take a while, but getting them to trot slowly, as their first choice (so not having to be constantly held back by rider) is that doable in a relatively short space of time? As in a few months?

Last year I went on a hack with a girl who was riding a trotter (ex racer), when I suggested we canter he did the fast trot thing, then broke into a gallop. Is that a common scenario would you say? He was also very uncomfortable going downhill - I would guess he wasn't strong enough through the back.

Sorry for a million questions, I really would like to take this mare but I want to know what I'm up against first!
Click to expand...

I found with my mare that i had to do really strong half-halts and in my naivety didn't realise that i was not half-halting and then letting go, i was holding on which made her want to trot faster, i have found that to be my big learning curve (but the same could be applied to any horse i suppose).

My mare can feel uncomfortable going downhill and i find that if i let her she will drag her toes, i have to push her on and sometimes we go down abit faster that i would like lol.

I will openly admit that in more experienced hands my mare probably would be more advanced in her schooling than what she is now and during the first three years of owning her she had a year on box rest with a pedal bone fracture.
 
Personally i would have the mare as a sweet nature is half the battle when retraining any horse.

I would give her a month or so off to wind down and be a horse for a while. then start hacking and small amounts of schooling in walk so that she can build up muscle and strength in order to cope with the work. make sure that every experience is enjoyable so that she learns to trust you and your judgements.

yes you may have a battle on your hands when you introduce the trot, but start with just trotting for a few steps or one length of the school, and then return to walk. also do plenty of walk to halts with her so that she learns the concept of slowing down.

im not saying that it would be an easy process but no doubt a rewarding one and my methods haven't failed me yet!

best of luck
 
Hi ive got a trotter x tb Mare she hasnt raced or anything but when i was breaking her and trying to trot we started very fast and legs everywhere. Ive done loads of lunging with side rains not massively tight just a light contact on them over trotting poles with a slightly smaller stride than usual has taught her to slow things down as has to concentrate rather than the long fast stride she had before. This has worked for me and now her trot is her best phase. Hope this helps :) xxxxx
 
Having owned a standardbred pacer mare for 19 years and finally getting the correct slow trot work in her 23rd year of age enough to win novice equitation on points for the year! Sadly she was PTS 2 years ago and she taught me soooooo much!

I said I wanted a conventional horse for her replacement....... I got a French Trotter!! lol!!

My french trotter trots diagonal rather than lateral so is much easier to trot. He goes wide behind if left to work his way but we have a good trot going on now and he can do walk to canter no probs. Our schooling time was spent on him carrying himself, bending and working from behind. He was weak to start with but has improved no end.

Our first dressage test started in canter on entrance and most of his trot work was a canter..... only trotter I've come across who prefers to canter!! lol!!

He is the most sweetest, cheekiest and gentlist boy and at 16.3hh I am quite glad of that! I would go for it! Keep us posted on your decision. :D
 
Standardbreds have such a nice nature. TB's without the silliness.

I had a standardbred who trotted but had a bit of pace in him too. He quickly learnt to trot at a sensible speed but he had such a huge stride that he never learnt to jog.

He cantered fairly well but initially did the 'superspeed trot then into gallop' thing too. As he got better at canter it stopped. Trot was always his pace of choice though. He would pace is really pushed on in an unbalanced trot.

They've very easy horses to work with if you know what you're doing(can often be bulshy for the incompetent handler) as they're not drama queens, have a good work ethic and are bright.
 
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