Tell me about Pacers?! I think I have one :S

kellybee

kellybee

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The was once a 15.2 horse named Ollie. His owner was a man who basically couldn't ride and couldn't look after him. The owner therefore dumped him on a fellow livery/lady who'd just had both her lungs transplanted and wasn't really in any fit state to take care of him either.

This lady couldn't bear to see the horse, a TB type out in the field without feed so she asked the guy for Ollie's history and passport. He didn't really know the history and he didn't have a passport. She spoke to the vet, had him microchipped and passported and advertised him for loan. This is how Ollie came to me in December of last year.

The vet advised he was about 16, thought he was probably TB x Sec D and although he has his fair share of splints seemed otherwise in good health. He came to me on December 5th and hasn't really done much of anything since. I've ridden him on the bridlepath which is a dirt track and in the field, just walking and trotting really because of the weather. Today I hacked out with a friend on a grass track that runs around Warwick Uni. It's basically just like gallops - wide, green and flat. He was on his toes a little when I got on but soon settled into a steady but fast walk. My other horse was with us, and they behaved like angels surprisingly when Alfie hadn't been ridden for a week and Ollie probably a month. I asked for trot. He has a BIG bouncy trot which I knew already, but he slowed when I asked him to. Later, my friend/sharer wanted to canter and when I asked him, he basically stuck his nose out and trotted faster and faster, to the point where I couldn't rise, couldn't sit and couldn't slow down. I have never ever in my life experienced anything like it, it was as though he'd bolted in trot! A few half halts later he slowed, but my friend looked at me and said "I always wondered if he was an ex racer, but now I see he's actually an ex pacer".

So... now we're over the initial shock and have seen a few videos on youtube, I'm wondering where I can find out more about pacers. There is no doubt in my mind that he's done this in the past and we did get a slow canter out of him by bringing him into an outline before asking, but heck I was pretty shaken there for a while. The videos I've seen often describe the horses as "Standardbred". Standardbred what?

Any help you can offer would be great! Thanks :)
 
have a look for Sarah Thomas on her she works at stagbi which will have all the info you need about standardbreds and pacers. :)
 
monkeybum13 said:
Standardbred is a breed.

Pacing isn't the same as trotting fast, they move differently and it would feel very weird! (Although quite a few say its more comfy)
Click to expand...

He was pacing, she said his lefts were moving together as were his rights, as opposed to diagonals.
 
Pacing is very strange to sit to, its not like trotting at all....well i dont think it is anyway. Pacing its when the hind & front leg on the same side leave the ground at the same time...if that makes sense?
If you look at this video clip, the big light grey is my horse & he paces, so you can see what i mean about the action.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4001387077010&set=vb.1351072242&type=3&theater
 
Not ridden a standard bred type pacer but have ridden icelandics when they pace and it's extremely comfortable and smooth, very easy to sit to.
If larger size pacers are the same then its entirely possible that your horse isn't actually pacing but is simply trotting really fast - my mare does something similar in that when she gets unbalanced when asked for canter she will just trot faster and faster and it feels weird and almost like she's starting to pace.
 
Thanks, the friend I was with said as soon as I stopped that he was pacing as in lefts moving together and rights.

This is him... He wasn't ridden most of winter so he's got no tone just now;



This one was a pic his old owner took, obv he was a chunk at the time

 
Standardbreds are a dime a dozen in NZ as we have big trotting/pacing scenes. As mentioned above, pacing is when the horse moves in lateral pairs as opposed to diagonal pairs. Pacers can be retrained to trot but in my experience, they will usually fall back into pace at times. Trotters trot (diagonal pairs) but trot extremely fast. Some trotters will also pace. Most Standardbreds IME don't usually have a well-established canter regardless of whether they're trotters or pacers.

This is my friend's Standardbred in pace. He falls into a mix of pace and canter near the end.

http://s48.photobucket.com/user/Dina75/media/Jan 09/Chunky-Beach.mp4.html
 
Aww, thanks :D he's such a sweet horse :) my shetland runs rings around him constantly. Anything for a quiet life bless him.
 
The name 'Standardbred' is derived from the requirement for the horse to cover a certain distance in a certain time - if they could do this they could then be registered.

Initially they were bred from various breeds and TB's were used to help increase the speed.

As we know many can look like TB's while others look heavier built and may have big plain faces sometimes with roman noses.

The stud books world wide are now only allowing breeding within the registered stock in that no more TB blood can be introduced.

Trotters can be trained to pace done by the use of hopples that link back leg to front leg - this can be a very painful time for the young horse as the hopples chafe.

True pacers are born not made, they pace as foals when they first stand. Different bloodlines show a definite inclination to either pace or trot.

Pacing is very comfortable and pacers are often used in trekking centres but the pacing does lead to problems when working on uneven and sloping ground.

Because Trotters and Pacers are not actively encouraged to canter it does take time to teach them they are allowed to come out of those paces and canter. In fact one of the best gallops I had along a beach was on an ex pacer. For a Pacer in Hopples cantering can be quite disasterous as they can fall.

Generally they are very level headed horses but those with a lot of TB in them can be quite spirited.

I've owned a few and each has been so different - Irish I used to drive to work - he was hard to keep weight on but safe as houses. Another I had was a lovely quality horse and if he hadn't had the horrible NZ Standardbred brand on his neck he would have been very sought after horse. he could do excellent dressage and could really jump.
 
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