Trotters a question

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Trinity Fox

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So I have been talked in to taking 6 unhandled colts I am going to geld handle then find good homes they are cob types, now when i go to pick them up by chance I have noticed near where they are located a little trotter filly for sale.

The filly is very poor looking and while I dont want anymore I figure another one hardly makes much difference on top of the 6 and my 9:eek:
I just think she looks so down and she is very very cheap I have the space stables and grazing I have no experience of the breed and would really just like to know if trotters that are not used for this which she wouldnt be do they still pace is it a natural breed trait or is it a learned thing.

I would bring her on and sell her which I am sure will be easier if she doesnt pace but it wont stop me buying her, but would just be interested to know I was under the impression trotters learned to go that way but pacers did it anyway but I am probably totally wrong as I say never had anything to do with them.

So would love to hear from anyone who has a bit of experience with them thanks in advance.
 
I have a half bred trotter and as far as I'm aware, square trotters are bred that way - but pacers are trained..., but I stand to be corrected on that. I do know that they usually have beautiful temperaments though and are honest, loyal horses. Good on you for rescuing the baby x
 
Bump

I have a cob x french trotter and i will follow this post with interest. Dont really know much about the breed but my girl is beautiful and her nature is lovely. x
 
i have a trotter x tb youngster and she hasnt been taught to pace but she does it when excited, and they can be difficult to get into canter as the trot then pace as its easier for them to pace then it is to canter but it can be trained in to them that they canter rather then pace my youngster doesnt really pace she prefers to canter but does pace occasionally in the field when there is something exciting

so i would say she is always going to have the pace in her but once trained out of using it while ridden she will be fine :)
 
I have asked a few people but its not something anybody we know is involved with looks like I am going to have to get googling about the breed.
 
That is interesting Stormy moments because I have had a couple in the past that were supposedly trotters x one with a cob the other with a tb, I backed them myself neither ever tried to pace I just assumed it was because they were crossbred and hadnt been trained to do it.

They are a horse you dont read much about or hear much about them.
 
My boy was standardbred x cob, I had him from weaning, he would pace when excited, but he was never taught it, he had an amazing canter and trot, he had an extended trot to die for, so they can be taught to be normal ridden alrounders
 
the sort you describe, the gypsy trotters.. normally cob crossed something like a tb, arab/anglo arab.

how they end up as trotters. you have to remember these horses are broken and trotted from a very young age. the harness/bits uses provent the motion of cantering and encourage the pace. some will trot with a diagonal pair, some not.

if you google gypsy trotters and look on you tube your see more. , they normally wear a neck rain and have 2 bits in, normal bit for reins, and another bit that is attached to the neck rain.
 
I have a standarbred. He raced as a pacer a few years when he was 4 year old but wasn't the fastest :p. He got retrained and did Hunter Trials and Hunting. He goes easy into canter and just paces when he is really excited but I can easily switch him back to trott or canter.
 
If its a pure bred then yes pacing is a trait they are born with. I took on a very successful retired one when he was 14, rebroke him to jump and pony clubbed him. He would do anything (not dressage obviously), and despite racing since he was 2 he only went back to pacing when he was anxious or didn't understand. I really don't see what the big taboo is over a horse that paces?!
Mine did pony club but I wasn't allowed to take pony club tests on him because of the snobbery I guess, so I did them in a driving pony in a driving bit that didn't jump?!
They're a fantastic breed, so big hearted and kind, yet so many shy away from them. If you were to get her she would make a fab endurance horse coz they will go all day. Mine was a favourite in pony club games, everyone wanted him on their team coz he was unbeatable at walk, trot and lead!
I would take her it's only one more and she would make a fab happy hack if nothing else
 
I have always understood that a genuine Pacer is bred to it though at the bottom end of the market I don't think there are that many genuine natural pacers (bred Pacers). Chances are that she will have a normal gait unless put in the pacing traces.
 
i worked with pacers and trotters years ago we also retrained them to ride after the track if they retired or were not fast enough they are all different some will train to canter and jump ect and go on to do another job really well ,others we found would not and carried on paceing which is fine if you just want to hack out ,they are difficult to sell as riders and are always cheap unless retrained and good at new job ,to be honest there are pleanty of very cheap free horses around but if cost of keeping isnt an issue then go for it but not if you need to see a return x
 
I have a standardbred x (we think with tb & wb) she doesn't pace, even when in the field, however she does trot in a very exaggerated way. Her legs always go in diagonal pairs though. She's a good, sweet mare and jumps like a stag, she'll do pc/rc/bs :)
 
My french trotter x tb who I had straight out of harness as he wasn't fast enough used to pace when nervous, confused or excited.

So he paced lots at first, but we did lots of hacking along side my mum's cob and he soon learn to coordinate with the other horse.

Took time but he got there and he pacer less and less. He was an amazing SJ'er, but even after all the re-schooling when he knew he'd done a great quick DC he'd pace at the end with excitement- and gasps for the 'lame horse' were audible.

I would have another trotter in a heartbeat - he was my horse of a lifetime x
 
Munchkin on here has one - he's about 14.2 and in her words 'unique' and 'a bit special'.

I'm pretty sure someone else I know used to get them and quickly turn them around as ridden away hack-abouts very easily as they were extremely trainable. Today's glut of ponies might mean the market is small but the trainability/docility should still apply? IF these were trotters, that is, but I'm pretty sure they were and these def. came, half wild, off the Welsh hills.

I think this might mean that Munchkin's pony is not typically representative!

ETS He is not a purebred one...
 
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If she does not pace when asked to "go faster" she will be fine, mine has never ever paced. but I know a French bred trotter who took a while to get the idea, but she had been raced as a pacer. As long as she doe not pace, she will be saleable to riders and to drivers for show [BDS] or driving competitions.
My trotter had been used for driving [when a baby] and his hind legs needed built up, now find I have a very fast horse at the trot when asked to extend and "go", his other paces are active, and he has a wonderful walk. He also has a lovely pop.
 
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The one thing that stands out for me about trotters/pacers is their lovely temperaments and their ability to just go all day. They make brilliant LDR horses and if they have never raced there shouldn't be too much of a problem to bring them on as a ridden horse.

If you look at the way pacers are harnessed you will see that the "hobbles" they wear, which are like oval loops of leather which go round both left legs and both right legs at around knee level, means that they are physically unable to trot diagonally or canter, but it doesn't mean that they can't. They just need time to adjust, much like ex racehorses.
 
I have a Russian Orlov Trotter, who has a natural fast pace. As he was green (4years old) when I bought him, and so was I, I never changed his gait but it makes him harder for anyone else to ride :rolleyes:
 
lol - yeah WOW in the sense of "what on earth are they doing?" no, he is impressive but always had proper "horsey people" giving me jip about it back in the day (he's 23 now)
 
Hi- I have been retraining a trotter for the last 2 years. I live in France and am getting to understand them. They are taught not to canter- so if the filly has never been ridden she will be like any other youngster. Good luck
 
Hello there,

I have a french trotter crossed with a gypsy cob, in the field she has an exagerrated trot with high knees (kind of)

My question is what is the difference between pacers / trotters etc or are they just the same and
does anyone have any photos / videos of trotters

many thanks x :)
 
I have a trotter have had him 6 years got him at 4 and he had already been trained not to canter I got him cantering in a very short space of time though and although could only canter on one leg for over a year, I eventually got a nice balanced canter on the left leg and am now balancing him out on the right leg too.

Trotters are trained to trot, they aren't born like it although they naturally have long strides and hold their heads high. If you let her canter when you back her she will have no problem.
 
Poppys Nannan said:
Hello there,

I have a french trotter crossed with a gypsy cob, in the field she has an exagerrated trot with high knees (kind of)

My question is what is the difference between pacers / trotters etc or are they just the same and
does anyone have any photos / videos of trotters

many thanks x :)
Click to expand...
High knees, that is known as "knee action" , if they don#t pace in the field they will not be difficult.
 
Poppys Nannan said:
Hello there,

I have a french trotter crossed with a gypsy cob, in the field she has an exagerrated trot with high knees (kind of)

My question is what is the difference between pacers / trotters etc or are they just the same and
does anyone have any photos / videos of trotters

many thanks x :)
Click to expand...

search trotters or gypsy trotters on you tube
 
Trinity Fox said:
So I have been talked in to taking 6 unhandled colts I am going to geld handle then find good homes they are cob types, now when i go to pick them up by chance I have noticed near where they are located a little trotter filly for sale.

The filly is very poor looking and while I dont want anymore I figure another one hardly makes much difference on top of the 6 and my 9:eek:
I just think she looks so down and she is very very cheap I have the space stables and grazing I have no experience of the breed and would really just like to know if trotters that are not used for this which she wouldnt be do they still pace is it a natural breed trait or is it a learned thing.

I would bring her on and sell her which I am sure will be easier if she doesnt pace but it wont stop me buying her, but would just be interested to know I was under the impression trotters learned to go that way but pacers did it anyway but I am probably totally wrong as I say never had anything to do with them.

So would love to hear from anyone who has a bit of experience with them thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


I own a rising 7yr old pure trotter, i've had her since she was 3 and backed and broke her myself, she only paces when confused about what you want her to do but other than that she is perfect, we're about to start competing in prelim dressage and she jumps 4ft easy peasy and is a star in the SJ ring, i'll follow this post with great interest x
 
High knees, that is known as "knee action" , if they don#t pace in the field they will not be difficult

Miss L Toe - i just assumed this was something to do with trotters / trotters / pacing ----so what is pacing ???? :confused:

ANd wondering "knee action" does it have any implications or bearing is it bad ??

Many thanks x x
 
pacing is where in trot legs on each side move together.. so not in a diagonal pair.

knee action.. this is common in trotters, gypsy trotters especially they will be crossed with say a traditonal cob with a arab mare.
 
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pacing is where in trot legs on each side move together.. so not in a diagonal pair.

knee action.. this is common in trotters, gypsy trotters especially they will be crossed with say a traditonal cob with a arab mare.

Many thanks -- thats helpful, just another little question does the high knee action come from arabs and is it considered ok x

cheers x
 
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