odd gait

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chegog

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Hi , I am hoping for some advice or at least comments on this problem . three weeks ago we bought a 6 yr old mare 14.3 coloured but mostly bay. When we went to view her/ ride her she trotted normally but the school was very new and had a deep surface which caused her to be a little trippy on corners. We liked her so arranged a second view/ collection where i wanted to see her trot up on a hard surface before we said a definate yes. when we arrived she had pulled a shoe off the night before , but she trotted up fine . we bought her, she was only £1000 and had done virtually nothing . advertised as being good to catch shoe and box with showing potential. we want her for mga gamesand she seemed responsive and quick enough when we viewed her . when we got her home she was turned out in good pasture and then we found we could not catch her.understandable really so it took four days to reach the point where she could be reliably caught. we were then away for the weeked competeing so nothing was done with her. When we got bacj=h my daughter lunged her and again she trotted normally , under saddle and bareback. Then my dai-ughter decided to ride her a=on the lunge. When she had a riders weight o0n her the trot immediatley became very odd. More like pacing , using paralel pairs of legs rather than diagonal. The canter was also very unbalanced. with our finger s crossed we put it down tyo the missing shoe and balancing work she needed. it then took a further week before we could get the farrier to come and put the shoe back on. Tonight the farrie came and she has been completely reshod and he has confirmed that she does need a loto of balancing work to even out her feet . However, she still paces (or it may be racking) This only happens with a rider. We cant try her on a school syurface at the moment ( due to other factors) but on grass or road she does this. Any ideas anyone as to why ? what to do? had it happen to you ?
thanks in advance
 
Hi, it sounds like you have bought a Standardbred horse. These horses are bred to pace. If they are not good at pacing they are put in hobbles to make them pace. Pacer's pull a sulky with a driver on board. Do you know if she has actually raced as a pacer? Also a pacer is not allowed to canter. That said, Standardbreds are renowned for being very easy horses to be around, are very biddable, generally good doers and often unfazed by life itself. You can re-train a Standardbred not to pace and to learn to canter. There are a number of American websites that offer good training advice on retraining. As for feet, many, but not all, pacers are shod by non-qualified individuals. As a consequence they often have very unbalanced feet. Oh and have a worm count done and blood test for tape worm burden. Lastly, if your horse has paced it would have been put in a bearing rein to keep it's head up (apparently helps it breath)!! The back area and core strength will be very weak. Pole work will help strengthen this area to enable the horse to carry a rider.
 
Gaited horses are fun :)

It looks as Lamb-ski said that you have bought a standardbred. I've had a gaited standardbred once in the past and she was a nice horse though I never got a proper 3 beat canter from her, probably due to my inexperience with training gaits.
I've now ride an Icelandic and have learnt a lot more than I knew then :)

You will probably find that it is easier to get trot on a deep surface, long grass or uphill. Don't be disappointed that your new horse is a little 'different', treat it as an opportunity to learn new things.
 
Thank you for the replies, what is concerning me is that she only does when a rider is on her. When moving around her paddock she trots normally. when lunged with tack on she trots normally, it is just when she has a rider on. This is why I wonder if it is a true gait or if there is something wrong. she her back is pressed she doesnt dip or flinch. all limbs are clean, hooves at the front are unbalanced with some flaring to the outside , but this is being corrected and she is shod wide on the outside fronts to give her hoof support. when we tried her she trotted normally, and in the advert photos she was trotting normally. The person we got her from said she had not done this pacing when she had her, tho she is a dealer, but one with a good reputation, so I am baffled. Im not sure how a gaited horse would cope with MGA games?
 
My old Standardbred rarely paced, but when he did it was because he was excited or stressed, and then it was only ever when ridden.

Some Standies are natural pacers and do it all the time, others prefer to trot and only pace under certain conditions. Your mare is young, and possibly lacking muscle and unbalanced...? If so, with the weight of a rider on board, it will be easier to pace than trot as being a lateral gait she won't have to use her back as much.
 
Hi,

My warmblood also started doing this pacing, but it was in walk, and was increasingly difficult to trot and canter. He also lost weight and muscle. This went on for a year with various vets and physios telling us there was nothing wrong. Eventually we were sent for a bone scan as a last resort when horse was threatening to rear. The scan showed up pain and inflammation in the sacroiliac joint. If you Google this you will see that this causes abnormal gait and reluctance to canter.

Our horse had ultrasound-led injections into the joint and has been progressing well since.

He also trotted around the field like there was nothing wrong, but I can assure you when you were riding him it felt terrible!

Hope you find out what the problem is :)
 
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