Over enthusiastic youngster! Reach schooling a pacer, any tips?

[Lynne27]

Hi. Any tips for teaching a youngster to be less enthusiastic?!! My new mare is is a proper pacer, who used to pull a sulky with previous owners. I've been slowly re schooling her, and she's just twigged I want her to trot under saddle, which is fantastic. She lives to please, and is very clever. She has realised I love it when she trots, and now wants to trot EVERYWHERE - I maybe overdid it with the rewards?! She takes a hold and just goes. It's a beautiful, powerful uphill and unbalanced trot, and I'm really reluctant to pull her up because It has been so difficult to encourage her forward in the first place, I don't want to put her off, especially when she is so happy with her self!
Transitions don't work, she just gets fizzy, and tiring her out doesn't work, she just keeps going, she behaves the same riding in the arena, woods and felid. I always ask in a different place and she behaves the same way for other riders.
She's fine in the ground and lunges perfectly. We haven't learnt to canter yet, apart from a stride here and there behind others out hacking. She is a know rearer, and has been all her life, but hasn't been doing this since she learnt to trot forward.

I'm at a bit of a loss and worried I mess up 6 months of hard work by pulling her up. Any suggestion or patterns I'm not seeing?? This is my first pacer, they are quite hard to come by in rural Scotland! Any suggestions would be much appreciated

 

[be positive]

Transitions to walk may well make her worse at this stage so instead think of slowing the trot for just a stride or two to encourage her to soften and relax before allowing her forward again, if you play about with changes of gear within the pace, trot, then she should start to become more confident and find going slower easier than rushing, it is similar to retraining a racehorse that wants to gallop you don't want to start a battle of strength you almost have to con them into thinking it is their idea to go slower.
Once you can do plenty of gear changes you should be able to slow the trot until she walks and trot on again so gradually introducing transitions without it being a fight, use of the voice should help as will using a neckstrap, if you take hold of it when you want to slow she should accept that as an extra aid that causes no discomfort.

 

[Lynne27]

Thankyou be positive ☺️ I've been doing this the last few times she's been ridden, it seems to be helping! She's more willing to slow. I have decided that I am going to mostly hack out over the winter with my older horse as a lead, to let her see the world and hopefully settle her down a bit. We are lucky enough to to have plenty of hills, hopefully she'll get a stronger hindquarter and this we'll help her balance enough to slow it down. X