Standardbreds - your experiences?

[Amyree]

Does anyone have any experience of using standardbreds for cross country and tetrathlons? I have a standardbred who has been nicely reschooled since his racing days and is now a lovely riding horse. The more I have got to know the breed I know they can be very versatile and I have been offered a colt which I am thinking of taking to bring on later for my daughter. She is still quite young but is already passionate about cross country and competing in tets and I just wondered what others' views might be on this breed? Thanks.

 

[be positive]

I have no experience of standardbreds but expect they are like most horses they will do what they are trained to do within the limits of their natural ability, conformation and temperament, so if it has decent conformation and a good temperament then it will do the job if it has an experienced trainer to put the work in, if it lacks jumping ability you may be limited as to how far it will go and how successful it will be, most horses can jump 1 metre tracks if ridden fairly well.

If your daughter is still young are you capable and experienced enough to bring it on so it has miles on the clock for when she is ready to move on to it? you do not say how old it is but do factor in the costs of keeping it, having it gelded, getting it out once it is ready to compete and all the other day to day expenses, it will probably end up costing more than a decent schoolmaster, however cheap it is to purchase now, I would probably prefer to look for a proven first horse for a child rather than take a gamble on bringing on a youngster, I have produced numerous horses over the years and know how easily things can go wrong.

 

[exracehorse]

I have a saddlebred

 

[saltpetres]

I had my Standardbred for 11 years, until the age of 32. He was an ex-pacer, but he never paced under saddle. He never had a single ailment in all my 11 years of having him. NOT ONE. He never even injured himself! He was tough, confident, handsome, smart, sensible, playful, fun, and incredibly cheeky! He had masses of stamina even at his oldest, and he was very very quick and nimble! As a kid my friends and I liked to race, and he outstripped their OTTBs by MILES, even though he was just under 15hh and against a 16.2 and a 17.1. Very fast lad.

Brilliant feet, always barefoot, kept weight on easily until near the end. Perfect allrounder, excellent and very stylish jumper! We never competed in anything but gymkhanas, but he could do absolutely anything I asked of him, including all sorts of games. He was the absolute perfect horse and I trusted him 100%. He was so much fun. I miss him dearly. I'm quite passionate about Standardbreds, to be honest! I've known quite a few great Standies, and I know a lady who is currently competing in XC with great results. My best friend as a kid had my boy's cousin, also a great riding horse.

Having said all that, I think that so much of the joy of having a Standy like that is giving them a full life after they've been discarded from racing. I don't know what it's like in the UK, but I figure it's the same as Australia - that there are thousands of Standardbreds going to slaughter for being too slow every year. I've never actually known a Standardbred that hasn't raced. I got my boy for free after they didn't want him anymore (despite him winning them upwards of $40,000 prize money) and he was absolutely incredible. Big thumbs up from me for Standardbreds!

 

[Notimetoride]

I rode one for a couple of years. She often paced under saddle which was a bit of a nuisance, but boy could she jump. She would jump almost anything from a trot, pace or canter and was brilliant xc

 

[Lanky Loll]

saltpetres - not too many standies about over here - it's a much smaller sport - but yes quite a few off the track looking for good homes..

Amyree - there are a few out and about competing, have a look on facebook as there are a few groups about including Underestimated Standardbreds: https://www.facebook.com/UnderestimatedStandardbreds?fref=ts where people like to show what they get up to

They are a tough breed and I just wish they were bigger as I desperately wanted to keep our last homebred when she finished racing (we don't have any standies now) but she only grew to 15.1 and was just too small for me The more American bred ones tend to be bigger but ours were very traditional lines. I know of quite a few with different jobs during the off season - including a hunt masters horse on the Welsh hills so they are very versatile

We also bred a few couple of standie/appy crosses towards the end and they have reached novice level eventing

 

[saltpetres]

saltpetres - not too many standies about over here - it's a much smaller sport - but yes quite a few off the track looking for good homes..

Amyree - there are a few out and about competing, have a look on facebook as there are a few groups about including Underestimated Standardbreds: https://www.facebook.com/UnderestimatedStandardbreds?fref=ts where people like to show what they get up to

They are a tough breed and I just wish they were bigger as I desperately wanted to keep our last homebred when she finished racing (we don't have any standies now) but she only grew to 15.1 and was just too small for me The more American bred ones tend to be bigger but ours were very traditional lines. I know of quite a few with different jobs during the off season - including a hunt masters horse on the Welsh hills so they are very versatile

We also bred a few couple of standie/appy crosses towards the end and they have reached novice level eventing

Yeah Lanky Loll, harness racing is very popular over here! We now have Standardbred breed showing and discipline classes at almost all our shows, which is SO great. So many good looking sturdy types out. I personally love the smaller ones, my current horse is a TB and he's 15.3-16.hh which I know isn't big, but he feels much too big for me! Plus he's constantly tripping over his long legs. I miss my little nimble Standy! I'd have another again in a heartbeat.

 

[Kezzabell2]

silly question but what is a standardbred? is it like a TB?

 

[Lanky Loll]

Kezzabell - the breed originates from the TB but over the years has been selectively bred to have a 5th gait - the pace now they're a distinct breed, generally tougher than a TB, similar in size to a flat bred horse but with a bit more bone, and tend to come in various shades of bay although you see the odd coloured but they tend to be slower

 

[Kezzabell2]

well I never!! I've only heard of them recently!

So this extra gait? what is it? in between trot and canter? I feel really silly that I don't already know this haha

 

[Lanky Loll]

Pacing is a form of trot really - similar in a way to the Icelandic tolt, the legs move together on the same side rather than on the diagonal. It's really comfortable to sit to and they can "jog" at the pace for miles, making them great for endurance work or sprint for a race over a mile to occasionally a mile and a half. It's odd to see - a lot of people watch a pacer for the first time, think it's trotting and notice it's not moving quite "right" so make the assumption that they're lame - they're not they're pacing They can still trot, canter and gallop but for them to pace is entirely natural and something they will do from birth.

 

[Kezzabell2]

Pacing is a form of trot really - similar in a way to the Icelandic tolt, the legs move together on the same side rather than on the diagonal. It's really comfortable to sit to and they can "jog" at the pace for miles, making them great for endurance work or sprint for a race over a mile to occasionally a mile and a half. It's odd to see - a lot of people watch a pacer for the first time, think it's trotting and notice it's not moving quite "right" so make the assumption that they're lame - they're not they're pacing They can still trot, canter and gallop but for them to pace is entirely natural and something they will do from birth.

Ah I see, I see!! very interesting! I know someone who has a 3yr old that she is looking to back soon, so will be interesting to see the pics of her riding him when he is pacing then!!

 

[saltpetres]

Kezzabell - the breed originates from the TB but over the years has been selectively bred to have a 5th gait - the pace now they're a distinct breed, generally tougher than a TB, similar in size to a flat bred horse but with a bit more bone, and tend to come in various shades of bay although you see the odd coloured but they tend to be slower

and more sensible, I've found! bless 'em

 

[Kezzabell2]

last questions (I think)

So they aren't the same as trotters?

and when you want to canter do they do trot to canter like a normal horse, or do they pace first then canter? haha, so many questions?

 

[Lanky Loll]

Square gaited trotters are different but if I'm honest I don't know anything about they're breeding in Europe trotting is huge in France, but there are only a few races a year over here for them, we tend to have pacers here, in the US, Australia and Sweden. Pacers also go faster
Trot to canter as normal - it's harder to go from pace to canter although they will "break" to gallop or canter.
If your friend's 3yo isn't going to race then its important that she focuses on the other gaits as well - we used to focus on the quality of the pace for racing sometimes to the detriment of the other gaits, but at the end of the day if they're racing you don't want them to think that to go faster they gallop - to go faster they need to pace faster IYSWIM - at the end of the season when there was a cross over between the harness racing and the pointers we used to test the pointers fitness with how well they could keep up with the much smaller standies over a mile

 

[HashRouge]

There was a nice old mare on my old yard but she had never been reschooled and always paced, even in the field. The YO's daughter did ride her a bit and managed to get a nice walk/ trot dressage test out of her, but she was a bit old and set in her ways to really change I think. She was a nicely put together mare though, and I imagine if someone had taken the time to reschool her properly when she was younger she would have made a super allrounder. She was put to sleep a year or two back, I'm sure she was the same age as my mare (now 22) so she wasn't that old but she didn't age very well. I think that was just her though, I think she maybe had quite a hard life before her owner at the time got her. Still, left me with good impressions of the breed.

 

[pinball]

Hi Kezzabell
here is my standardbred Pinball he doesn't pace he is trots but will canter under saddle

 

[2ndtimearound]

Pacing is a form of trot really - similar in a way to the Icelandic tolt...

I think you've got a little confused there - Icelandics do both tolt and pace (they are very different). Tolt is a 4 beat gait like a running walk and, although I've never ridden pace, I finally had a chance to try tolting last week and it is seriously comfortable! Only trouble is I now want an Icelandic (it's possibly a good job I don't have time to have a horse of my own).

 

[Jango]

The stables I used to be on used to breed them so there were quite a lot of older standardbreds in the riding school and owned on the yard. They tend to jump well and enjoy it but often have a bit of a unconvential style! Most hack well and are generally nice to have around. Would not consider one for dressage or eventing (because of the dressage phase), generally even if they dont pace much their paces aren't suited so you are facing a big uphill battle.

 

[Lanky Loll]

I think you've got a little confused there - Icelandics do both tolt and pace (they are very different). Tolt is a 4 beat gait like a running walk and, although I've never ridden pace, I finally had a chance to try tolting last week and it is seriously comfortable! Only trouble is I now want an Icelandic (it's possibly a good job I don't have time to have a horse of my own).

Probably - I know they do a similar gait

 

[saltpetres]

As far as I know, they don't tend to pace unless they've specifically been used as pacers? None of the Standardbreds I know ever pace out of work, only occasionally under saddle when they aren't sure what's being asked of them. I don't believe trot-trained racers pace out of harness?
I do know that pacing trainers hobble the two legs either side together with a strap so they learn to move them together rather than trotting, and I've seen young'uns get very confused about how to move forward if no trot, so I don't think it's a natural gait for all of them!

Oh, but they do have a magnificent floating trot and marvellous tail carriage. My boy looked like a super solid Arab fancy pants when he ran around

 

[OwnedbyJoe]

Some Standardbreds are born pacing. Others need to be taught to pace. I have taken on a number of off the track pacers: I always watch them in the paddock or run out in hand first and I only take the ones who are not "hard wired" to pace (most of them will pace with any gear on as they have been taught it is "wrong" to trot). I'm after the ones who have the trot in them naturally as they will find it easier to trot with some re education.
As a rule, EXCELLENT feet, and a very sensible temperament (as most harness horses, they HAVE to be sensible: it's no fun having a horse in harness bolt on you!). They do tend to have a rather 4 beat/lateral canter but that improves with work. The trot as a rule is massive.
Mine do endurance. They trot, pace and can e taught to do a running walk as well.