Standard Bred Cutter?

Hey All,

I used to ride alot with my aunt and uncle but got dumped hard and lost all my confidence. Recently, my dad and step mom got into horses and now I am getting drawn back in. I am a bit older and a bit wiser, so a friend of theirs is getting me back in the saddle. The big thing pushing me back in is a horse namedd Explode. Xp is a 4 yr old standard bred stallion, who was neglected for a while before my dad got him, and another 4 yr old standard stal who has been with him since they were young. I was talking to my dad about wanting to get back into riding, specifically barrel racing, b/c that was always the most fun I ever had. Xp is completely unbroken, so I get him from scratch to train (with some help from some experienced friends) to be my horse. I was talking about training him to do barrels, and my dad had some doubts about a standard being able to do it because they move differently. Has anyone tried this, or does anyone have any advice on training a Standard bred Cutter?
Thanks,

J.J. Mac

A standardbred cutter? Wow haven't heard of that before but I don't doubt that they can do it - they are a great breed. My standardbred mare rocks at barrels and other mounted games.
As for training for cutting, it would be the same as any horse except that you may need to be a little more patient with canter work as that can be difficult for some standies.

Good luck!

Thanks much. I was worried someone was going to crush me and tell me it couldnt be done. I think I may have some terminology mixed up tho. Is cutting not barrel racing? Barrels are all about cutting corners as tight as possible, no?

Cutting is a whole different thing and your horse may do very well in barrels but probably not cutting (which is working a cow).

A canter is not necessary in cutting, penning yes but not cutting. The reason that Quarter Horses are the primary breed in cutting is because a cow sense has been breed into them. Your horse needs to want to rate a cow and keep it from returning to the herd.

That sense needs to be inherent because you don't rein a cutter, they work a cow on their own because they want to.

Running barrels can be done with any breed.

BTW, good luck with your horse and welcome back to riding and the forum!

Luckily your horse is unbroken and probably asnt been taught to pace yet, which will make teaching the canter a lot easier.

As well as the cow sense, quarter horses are smaller and stockier, and can cope with quick turns and rolling back on there quarters a lot easier than larger breeds. That's something that's really important when working a beast because you and the horse only have a split second to make up your minds and move :P !!!!

I know it is - I was a bit misleading in my post when I talked about barrels. I was basically just making the point that standardbreds can be trained to do much more than just trotting/pacing. While a QH is bound to be better at cutting, there's no reason why a standardbred couldn't be trained to make a good cutter.

I see no reason why it can't...did he race? My standarbred still paces and stuff bit is a brilliant little barrel racer and loves doing stock work...cant say I've tried cutting but don't see why you can't. Good luck though! Standardbreds can really do anything