Standardbreds - a few facts

Lanky Loll said:
We don't brand - they're all chipped and tail hairs are sent off shortly after birth for analysis as part of the STAGBI registration.
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Always amazes me how the hell they tell them apart without branding! We had paddocks full of them - all in green canvas covers, brown heads with few white markings.

At one TB racing stable we had over 100 horses in training and they were all identified by their brands, freeze marked on both shoulders.

It's good they don't brand though as here the big white brand up the neck means that they get looked down on by many of the dressage judges. Many people dye the brand out if they can so that they get a fair go at competitions.
 
JennyNZ said:
Trotting is bigger than galloping here in New Zealand, so standardbreds are very common. Most of us have owned one at one time or another because they are so plentiful and quite cheap. NZ Cup day is the trotting cup and it's our version of the Melbourne Cup!

They are very sort after as trekking horses, because they are pretty cruisy and lots of people like them for just hacking around. Not so great for other things as most of them struggle to canter well.

Had a bit of a giggle about the Gypsy trotter thing. Gypsy Cobs or Vanners are the latest cool thing here and sell for big money. There is one advertised on TM at the moment for NZ$23,000 and its just a weanling. Your average standie going as a hack sells for around NZ$500.
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Worked for a while on a NZ Standardbred Stud in the 90s and met the beautiful In the Pocket at the beginnings of his breeding career in NZ. Loved him, well behaved and beautiful.
 
Tnavas said:
How about starting up a Ridden Standardbred Society in the UK - set down the rules specific to the horses and then lobby the shows for classes. it can only escalate.
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There's two women in Staffordshire who run four shows a year exclusively for Standardbreds. STAGBI provides rosettes and I attend them to take pictures and then I write a feature in the 'Standardbred News'. Hopefully as more people become aware of the breed there'll be more interest in the shows. There's also a local show to me that has included Standardbred ridden and in-hand classes due to the number of pacers that are now ridden in the area.

One day we're hoping to have a Standardbred class at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, as this would showcase the breed to a large audience and be something for riders to work towards. There's already exhibition harness racing there so we may as well try to overload the general public with these wonderful horses :)
 
SarahThomas said:
There's two women in Staffordshire who run four shows a year exclusively for Standardbreds. STAGBI provides rosettes and I attend them to take pictures and then I write a feature in the 'Standardbred News'. Hopefully as more people become aware of the breed there'll be more interest in the shows. There's also a local show to me that has included Standardbred ridden and in-hand classes due to the number of pacers that are now ridden in the area.

One day we're hoping to have a Standardbred class at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, as this would showcase the breed to a large audience and be something for riders to work towards. There's already exhibition harness racing there so we may as well try to overload the general public with these wonderful horses :)
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Where and when are these shows, and what classes do they have?
 
ncarter said:
Where and when are these shows, and what classes do they have?
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They're at Lodge Farm Equestrian Centre, Wetley Rocks, Nr Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. The shows are usually December, March, June & September, however the March show has been indefinitely postponed as one of the organisers, Charlotte Carr, has been in hospital. Hopefully it can be rescheduled, otherwise we'll be going straight to the June show.

The classes include in hand showing, ridden showing, dressage and jumping (split depending on entries/horses' ability). The shows are super laid back, the whole purpose is to get people with Standardbreds together to have a bit of fun and a chance to practice being in a show environment without having to worry if your horse paces at the wrong moment! There's one girl who comes with her ex-racehorse who even she admits is hotheaded (he's by the long time British record-holder {until 2010}, Stoneriggs JR, famed for his lively nature and temper!) and she says the shows give her a chance to teach him things without being looked down on for having a pacer. One day she hopes to compete against other breeds but for now he's learning the ropes amongst his own sort!
 
SarahThomas said:
They're at Lodge Farm Equestrian Centre, Wetley Rocks, Nr Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. The shows are usually December, March, June & September, however the March show has been indefinitely postponed as one of the organisers, Charlotte Carr, has been in hospital. Hopefully it can be rescheduled, otherwise we'll be going straight to the June show.

The classes include in hand showing, ridden showing, dressage and jumping (split depending on entries/horses' ability). The shows are super laid back, the whole purpose is to get people with Standardbreds together to have a bit of fun and a chance to practice being in a show environment without having to worry if your horse paces at the wrong moment! There's one girl who comes with her ex-racehorse who even she admits is hotheaded (he's by the long time British record-holder {until 2010}, Stoneriggs JR, famed for his lively nature and temper!) and she says the shows give her a chance to teach him things without being looked down on for having a pacer. One day she hopes to compete against other breeds but for now he's learning the ropes amongst his own sort!
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I might pop along with my newbie standardbred as he is coming on in leaps and bounds in the short time I have had him :) It would also be nice to see other examples of the breed as mine is the first one I have ever come across!
 
Hi BlairandAzria, we are getting on fabulously thanks. He makes massive improvements every time I ride him. We now have a fantastic canter in an outline, and different speeds of canter too! We can even canter on a (big) circle. I am taking him out for the first time this weekend for some XC training, so fingers crossed he will be well behaved :)

How are you getting on?
 
Sarah we are in Oldham - there are a few people locally who have training tracks just for their own use but we are miles away from a proper track.

Sadly we do get a lot of road racing going on in our area which automatically gives a bad name - it would be lovely to see a class for them at local shows.
 
ncarter said:
I might pop along with my newbie standardbred as he is coming on in leaps and bounds in the short time I have had him :) It would also be nice to see other examples of the breed as mine is the first one I have ever come across!
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Please do come along :) they are all so different! I have three geldings in work at the moment, all next to each other in their stables. Big Mac looks like an ID/hunter type, Jingo looks like a cob with a huge triangular star that makes his face look even wider than it is and Maverick looks like a little TB (with the associated TB temperament!). They come in all shapes and sizes, all sorts of attitudes and personalities - the one thing they all seem to have in common though is their love of food! They are a breed of good eaters :)
 
the shows sound interesting as mine only has a generic passport,but I know who bred him so I know his parentage,it,s so true about different shapes pinball is a big chunky lad yet his half brother is very refined
 
Ncarter I'm so pleased you're getting on with him and he's improving! Bet he's loving it - definitely landed on all 4hooves coming to live with you the lucky boy! I'm do glad you appeared on this thread I was thinking about you the other day!

I'm good, we're slowly improving- hoping to get him out to some more dressage soon - we have flashes of elevationin his trot but it's just not consistent enough at the moment!

Love these standardbred threads - I never met one until I got mine, and it's so nice seeing other peoples!
 
BlairandAzria said:
Ncarter I'm so pleased you're getting on with him and he's improving! Bet he's loving it - definitely landed on all 4hooves coming to live with you the lucky boy! I'm do glad you appeared on this thread I was thinking about you the other day!

I'm good, we're slowly improving- hoping to get him out to some more dressage soon - we have flashes of elevationin his trot but it's just not consistent enough at the moment!

Love these standardbred threads - I never met one until I got mine, and it's so nice seeing other peoples!
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Same and me neither! I had no idea what Ned was until YO told me. I must admit I had to do a lot of googling! I would certainly have another :)
 
Hi, I have been a lurker on this forum for a while, but this thread has made me join!

We have a cuckoo in our herd of 9 Dales ponies :D - a slim, bay lady called Sunnyside Savilla, she was my dads late mid life crisis buy, she raced at 2 yr old driven by guy called Rocco I think, then dads health worsened so she has done very little since. Now broken to ride and has been driven (not pacing) on the road. She is for sale as lovely as she is she's not really my thing and we've had no interest at all - state of the market in general I suppose

She is quite dainty campared some of your pics, not sure of her height, maybe about 15.2

See if I can figure out how to post a pic


 
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Those shows sound such a great idea! I must admit I'm not fussed about doing competitive things with my boy in case he has a pace at the corner etc!
Bit too far for me, but out of interest, do they accept part breds as pretty sure mine looks like a standie x Irish cob!
Would love to know for sure but sadly nothing in his passport other than he's "Irish"!
 
tda said:
Hi, I have been a lurker on this forum for a while, but this thread has made me join!

We have a cuckoo in our herd of 9 Dales ponies :D - a slim, bay lady called Sunnyside Savilla, she was my dads late mid life crisis buy, she raced at 2 yr old driven by guy called Rocco I think, then dads health worsened so she has done very little since. Now broken to ride and has been driven (not pacing) on the road. She is for sale as lovely as she is she's not really my thing and we've had no interest at all - state of the market in general I suppose
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I'm glad we coaxed you out of hiding :p

The guy you refer to is William 'Rocker' Laidler, one of the top drivers in the country and part of the top training duo with his wife Alexis. He's the driver of the winner, Laneside Lexus, in the last video I posted in my first post :)

She is quite dainty campared some of your pics, not sure of her height, maybe about 15.2
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That's the beauty of the breed, they really do come in all shapes and sizes. Some are quite deceptive and have people believing they're a completely different breed.

Irishbabygirl said:
Those shows sound such a great idea! I must admit I'm not fussed about doing competitive things with my boy in case he has a pace at the corner etc!
Bit too far for me, but out of interest, do they accept part breds as pretty sure mine looks like a standie x Irish cob!
Would love to know for sure but sadly nothing in his passport other than he's "Irish"!
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Without asking I'm not sure, although if your horse paces then I would've thought they'd accept it? The shows are really informal, STAGBI provides the rosettes and everyone makes a day of it but if a horse paces it's not the end of the world. After all, they're pacers by nature and it takes time to develop their trot when they've been trained to pace for racing.
 
SarahThomas said:
Without asking I'm not sure, although if your horse paces then I would've thought they'd accept it? The shows are really informal, STAGBI provides the rosettes and everyone makes a day of it but if a horse paces it's not the end of the world. After all, they're pacers by nature and it takes time to develop their trot when they've been trained to pace for racing.
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Regardless of whether they pace or trot they are still Standardbreds and therefore would be eligible.

The natural pacers are really hard to train to trot - these are the foals that get up off the ground and immediately pace rather than trot - Hopples can teach any horse to pace.
 
Hi another lurker here and hope i can join in. I have a chestnut mare who I am told is french trotter x. Dont know what she is crossed with, she came to me as a rescue. I backed her last summer and have been working really hard, we have a great walk and trot and slowly starting canter. she will canter on the lunge but if asked under saddle she picks up her very fast very big trot, if anyone have any advise I would love to hear.
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Tnavas said:
Regardless of whether they pace or trot they are still Standardbreds and therefore would be eligible.

The natural pacers are really hard to train to trot - these are the foals that get up off the ground and immediately pace rather than trot - Hopples can teach any horse to pace.
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If a PB held a STAGBI-issued passport then it would be accepted straight away, the problem arises if it holds a generic passport from another society or PIO. I meant if a horse paced naturally but didn't have a STAGBI passport, I'm sure the organisers would allow it to enter. Having said that, I don't know what their rules are.

My 5yo paced from the day she was born, hopples went on as 2yo when she was broken to harness and she paced from the start. Yet I got her going under saddle last autumn and hunted her throughout the winter and do you think I can get her to pace?! I wish! She makes me do rising trot for miles, although she has got a lovely trot so I shouldn't complain too much :o
 
What an interesting thread, I had no idea standardbreds were so versatile!
The only contact I've had with them is rehabilitating gypsy trotters, which as you said, may or may not have standardbred in them. I'm going to pick your brains with a few questions if you don't mind?
How did trotting racing start? I mean, why not just gallop if you want to go faster? :-D I'm sure there must be a reason it first got going. Are there separate "leagues" for trotters and pacers? As you say, some horses pace naturally from birth. Why then would some people try to train or force a horse to pace? Surely the ones that do well (like the amazing ones in your videos) are natural pacers? I would have thought you just end up with a very confused horse (like the ones I've worked with) that isn't much use for racing and isn't much use as anything else either! One last question, are any of the races restricted to standardbreds or are they all free from breed restrictions?
Apologies for my ignorance but I've very much enjoyed this educational thread - thanks!
 
can't answer all the questions but the simple answer to 'why trotting' is because you can do it a lot. Galloping's good and fast but how far can you gallop a horse? Especially over boggy/rutted roads and tracks. And if it did it every day to market and visiting your mates and then back home again 6 days a week and then to church and back on a sunday, how long would it last? :D trotting/pacing's a good compromise - a decent speed to get around with day-to-day but a horse will be able to keep doing it!

ETA: trotting racing would be a good way for everybody to show off/compete with each other with their everday 'vehicle'.
 
Hello Lindsay, welcome along!

The most easily digestible info I always point people to can be found here:

http://www.bhrc.org.uk/about.php

and here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harness_racing

I'm not an expert, just an avid follower who has picked things up over the last six years working for a harness racing trainer (see my blog :)), but I'll try to answer as much as I can!

Danceswithcows has covered your basic 'why do it?' question. I also think it was 'because we can'.

Trotters and pacers don't race together normally (although there is a trotter, Anna Diem, who has no choice but to face the pacers with us because she's the ONLY trotter on the circuit!), mainly because pacers are faster than trotters. Trotting is more popular on the continent (Sweden, Holland, France, Belgium etc) than pacing, whereas pacing is particularly massive in Canada and the US, NZ and Australia. Here in the UK and Ireland there's four main bodies (British Harness Racing Club, Irish Harness Racing Club, Wales & Border Counties Racing Assoc. and an Irish breakaway group whose name escapes me sorry!).

The majority of Standardbreds are pacers - but it's not a case of either/or with pacing and trotting. Pacers simply have an extra gait that trotters do not. They are capable of travelling at speed in either gait but pacing is generally faster (although don't tell my mare that, she now thinks she's capable of running in the Prakas trotting derby this year...). It's not something that's taught, it's something they can do. Some of them need a bit of encouragement to find their balance, some do it the minute the harness is put on. Some pace free-legged in the cart, some trot. I think most of us harness racing lot enjoy the pacing because the horse can do it, and look so effortless doing it as well.

Some are simply better and faster than others, but the ones that aren't amazing can still race (unfortunately we're not all blessed with a Somebeachsomewhere in our stables!). Here in the UK (under BHRC rules) there's a handicap system split into grades (Maiden, Novice, Grade 1 - 12) based on prize monies won. Horses 'find' their grade at some point in their career and struggle to win races, however they are awarded 'lifts' at the end of a season if they have run a certain number of races without winning, or if they are aged 10 and above (e.g. my friend's horse Jiggy finished last season as a Grade 7, due to being 10 this year and having run a certain number of losing races, he has been lifted to Grade 4 to start this season). There's also conditional and discretionary races which are framed accordingly in order for horses that struggle at their level to have a chance at winning (e.g. Class 'C' drivers races, members races, six furlong dash, races for horses that haven't won in a certain time before). We had a horse race for four years and only get to Grade 2; most of his wins were picked up in members races or the 'Over-50s' races! Also, the position the horse starts in behind the gate is mostly drawn out of a hat - the horse drawn 1 has a better chance of winning than the horse drawn 5+ - a better horse can be beaten because of the draw.

Last bit (because this is a ridiculously long post) - harness racing under the rules of the four afore-mentioned bodies is restricted to Standardbreds that hold STAGBI-issued passports. STAGBI is the Standardbred and Trotting Horse Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and we also approve passports for trotting horses imported from the continent provided that their passports are issued by the officially recognised harness racing body in the relevant country.

I hope that helps and doesn't confuse anybody too much. Like I said, I'm not an expert but what I've told you is what I know. I also know that these horses give so much back to the people who own, train and race them. Every yard has an 'old favourite', the people involved in the sport love their horses so much. My parting note is this - the following video says so much about us harness racing people:

http://s4c.co.uk/rasus/e_extras_2012-9.shtml

:)
 
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