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I ride a Standardbred mare, who used to race pacing. Often, when I'm trotting her, she a) won't go at all or b) trot, but every time we do a circle, quarterline, anything, and come back to the track, she breaks to the pace. I have to bring her back to the walk, and then I'm back at square one. She's wonderful walking, but doesn't yet know how to canter, so I don't have anything to say on that. Anything I should do differently? When she won't trot, I either kick her increasingly hard until she does(but not so hard as to hurt her at all), or have someone come help me a bit, or use the end of the rein to tap her shoulder. Usually those work, but any other suggestions? |
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Hmmm..... Well. In my opinion, I think circling her tight until she slows back to a collected trot is your best bet, letting her out of the circle once she's in a respectable speed. She'll learn it's more tiring to do that than to continue pacing. Hopefully, it'll reinforce that nice, calm trot. When you ask for a trot, squeeze with your legs and give her the cue. Then tell her if that doesn't work by tapping gently and quickly with your calves, not your feet. If you need more help with getting her to trot, I suggest a crop or over-under. Hope this helps! :D |
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Trivia Team |
I would set out a row of poles and/or cavaletti at a trotting length (three to four feet) and school her over those. Put poles on circles, build exercises out of them, and just ride her over them. Especially if they're set with a trotting horse in mind, it will be difficult for her to pace over them. |
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How long has she been off the track? I wouldn't suggest tight circles unless you are confident she's balanced and coordinated enough to do them.
I like Puck's suggestion - you could also try lunging her over poles so she gets more used to the trot rather than the pace.
If she trots fine on straightaways, I'd work with that without throwing any circles in. Walk > trot transitions til you are both blue in the face. When she trots, reward her and give her a pat. Try to bring her back down to walk before she breaks into a pace then do it all over again. Focus on what she CAN do and use it. :) In the meantime, perhaps working her from the ground over poles on the circle would be best so she gets the hang of it without a rider.
Lastly, not sure what style of riding you are doing but if you are experienced with spurs, I'd suggest riding with them - and/or a crop/whip. Ask with your calves, increase pressure and if you still don't get a response, spur or tap with whip.
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Thanks so much everyone! I'll definitely try those ideas! |
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Moderator |
Pacing is bred. If she is a pacer she is going to pace. Like think along the lines of the gates that passo finos do, it is bred. |
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Jericho Stables said:
Pacing is bred. If she is a pacer she is going to pace. Like think along the lines of the gates that passo finos do, it is bred.
This |
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I've had horses who weren't bred for pacing that will do it under weird circumstances. When my QH yearling colt was waking up from his gelding, he paced when walking for 20 minutes until he got fully awake. Racing pacers are bred to pace and have been doing it for generations. It's very hard to break a habit that has not only been trained, but bred in. I would be very careful about using trot poles to get her to trot. Start with a very small number. You don't want her to try to pace and crash when she hits a pole. Maybe walking over elevated poles, like the ones you would see in an AQHA trail course, and slowly moving up to trotting would help really get her to think about where she is putting her feet. |
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Moderator |
Also, there wasn't much history given? Like... how long has she been off the track? What retraining has she had? Standardbreds are exercised for many, many miles a day. Usually you get them on the track and they will just truck along on auto pilot until driven off the track. They are used to an oval, that's it. Sometimes you get a track that has a jog track that is oddly shaped like the Saratoga Harness track has a jog track that is wonky. But generally oval is what you get. And if she "can canter" then I wonder what has really been done. Id start from the ground up because there is no reason why she couldn't canter. The whole myth around standardbreds not being able to canter is just that, a myth. They can canter just fine. So that brings me back to what has really been done with her since coming off the track? It sounds more like she is off balanced and doesn't know HOW to canter under saddle rather than cant. And ps, you basically have my dream horse. Ive wanted a pacer standardbred for years and years. |
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Trivia Team |
Also, what do you plan on doing with her? If she's going to be a jumper, then I wouldn't worry about what gait she does as long as she has enough power and collection to get you from point A to point B. If you have western aspirations, it's gonna be a bit trickier. Same if you want her to be a hunter or a dressage horse. |
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