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Standardbred Love

6K views 30 replies 17 participants last post by  G8tdh0rse 
#1 ·
I am quite a novice in the horsie world I’m not freighted to say it J I recently took on my first “project horse” a 15.3, 3 year old Sandardbred ex pacer. I have to say this young boy has impressed me so much in the short time that I have had him. He is so bold and affectionate; he is a very quick learner who will do anything to have my attention!! He is extremely sensible and when presented with a new item or situation he handles it calmly and works his way through, all for the all important words “good boy” from me and an affectionate pat. Supposedly this is not an unusual personality for a Standardbred, calm, intelligent horses that thrive on attention.
What I would really liked to know though, is why since I have had my new boy do I so often hear the words “He is a really good looking boy for a Standardbred” or the ones I love the most “he doesn’t look like a Standardbred” the later is normally said, after someone has told me what a handsome boy he is and what good confirmation he has. When I proudly say that he is a Standardbred, It is like they feel they have to justify why they said he is good looking with good confirmation.
Why do people seem to think that Standardbreds are less of a horse because of their breed?
 
#2 ·
Obviously, I can't speak for why others say what they do but, we all have our favorites. Maybe the people who made those comments are not often drawn to Standardbred horses?


What you have described is rather typical of standardbred horses as far as their "easy going nature" and "bold personalities" thus making them a good option for one with less experience. That said, there are always exceptions to the rule. ha ha

Do you have any pictures of your boy?
 
#4 ·
A good horse is not about looks, so much as ride, soundness, training and temperment. My favorite breed of horse, the Peruvian, is not thought by many to be beautiful. They have big shoulders and tiny tucked-under butts. Most people love the big butt QH look. To many people they look unbalanced. Regardless of thier looks, the ride is wonderful. That tucked under butt brings those hind legs right under them and the big shoulder powers the front end with their lift and termino.
Standardbreds were bred to trot and pull so they may have build that is great for a horse bred for that job. So what if the QH people think they are funny looking. He sounds like a great horse.
 
#5 ·
I think Standardbreds are rumored to be "ugly" partly because some, or many, of them have larger heads with a bit of a roman nose. Personally, I like the big ole Standardbred head because it looks old fashioned. They are a very versatile breed and often can be trained to perform well in many disciplines. They also tend to have that easy-going temperament. Personally, I prefer their looks over that of most Quarter-type horses but then I'm not a western person.
 
#7 ·
Most people hear the word Standardbred and think of braindead Thoroughbreds that look like this.

Personally, I love Standardbreds. I've never ridden one or worked with one, but every one of them I have met has been friendly and good-natured. On top of that, I've heard wonderful success stories, and I'm actually planning to buy one in the future.

I must ask though, as a fellow novice rider, are you breaking him to saddle yourself? It's been recommended to me to buy one that is already broken, or send one to a trainer, so I'm curious.

Also, photos are very much required :D
 
#28 ·
Sorry I didn't realise people had asked questions on this post! Yes I backed my Standard bred Max myself, with the advice of someone with a lot of experience. Due to him being ridden by a novice rider I put a bit of time into lunging him and getting him responding to voice commands to try and help the process of training him when I got on him. I also put a bit of time in ensuring he understood how to stand quietly on the spot, not the easiest task I discovered to teach a fidgety 3 year old!

I have to say that now having Max under saddle for about 2 weeks he continues to amaze me. He takes most things in his stride and is relaxed and fairly confident. I have had two situations now where things could have turned sour however due to his relaxed attitude he has probably saved me from a nasty fall.
The first time I had him in a paddock with another horse and I was walking and trotting him around to get both our balances to be honest. Someone fired a shot gun from not far away. The horse with me bolted, Max my boy simply raised his head had a look then calmly carried on. The second occasion I had a guy drive past me on the road home decide it would be funny to scare Max. He slowed down and gave a sudden loud hoot out the window. Again max put his head up had a look at the guy in the car then put his head back down all without breaking his stride.

The only downside I have found is that being a novice rider I do not have the best balance and I am now trying to teach a young wobbly horse how to be balanced! We will get there, but that part will be a long slow process I think.
 
#8 ·
I loooooove me some standies!!! Never met one I didn't like. And I love their typical big beautiful faces. I just posted a thread called Autumn Beauty that has some nice pics of a 19 year old ex racer standie. He is a cuddle bug and so sweet, always the first to come say "hey there, got any food???! Or hugs??!"
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#10 ·
In my ignorance, I always though of SB as just harness horses. You all are talking about thier nice personalities and enjoying them as riding horses. Being a gaited horse rider, I tremble at the thought of riding a horse that trots but so many people do. I would think that Sb's have a powerful trot. Is it hard to ride?
 
#11 ·
A lot of Standies actually pace so they actually are, in part, gaited horses.

I don't believe they trot any differently to other horses if they have been trained to collect and such... But they can trot darn fast I'd imagine. They really aren't all that different to any other horse when you take away the training they receive for harness racing.
 
#13 ·
This is my STBD mare, she is awesome. An ex pacer, but now trots like a beauty. I have a video somewhere, I will have to try and find it. She also has a very nice canter, after a lot of very hard work and determination.

 
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#14 ·
Hi
Welcome to the wonderful breed that is the standardbred! I think they are great. They can be gated. I know a few that rack and some that will singlefoot and of course the pace. They can trot, and its a big one. Dressage people should love their extended trot its got lots of animation and really thats just their racing trot. They canter and tend to have smooth canters.

A lot of people have this idea that they are "course headed". The fact is that looks took a back seat to utility and personality in standardbreds. They are bred to be cart horses and for temperament. When you see where driver sit in a harness race its right about hock level. So, a well placed kick is bad news and not tolerated. In addition, a lot of standardbreds were originally bred by the average jo who wanted a harness horse that could be safe enough for the wife and kids to drive and have some spunk to race the neighbor home from church on Sunday. Even today there are a number of owner/driver/trainer/breeders out there racing harness horses. This is different that thoroughbreds who were bred and raised to go fast. They were bred historically by the socially elite (wealthy), it was a kid or bug boy who was getting on to ride. So, certain behaviors are more tolerated. Its rare or unheard of to see a owner/trainer/jockey/breeder in thoroughbreds.

That said the course headedness is becoming less common. You just have to ignore or educate people about how great the breed is. If you are doing the saddle breaking yourself focus a lot of lateral flexion and turning. A lot of off the track standardbreds are use to wide sweeping turns and being aware of where the cart is. You have to sort of encourage them to turn in ways that a cart would not allow.

Its a great breed. Once you get a bond with them they will watch your back. I have met a number of standardbreds that don't want their rider to fall off. I get off balance on my boy and he is like "okay, we are going to stop until you are secure." They will do just about anything for you for a bit of attention. I groom some of mine out at pasture and I have had the dominant mare in the group herd all the other horses out of the way so that she alone could be brushed.
 
#15 ·
I had a standardbred mare that rocked. Best trail horse I've had. She was a pacer. She did a running walk and a rack that could put many a TWH to shame.

Look way back in the TWH founding bloodlines and you find standardbreds.

When riding a STB at a trot or pace and approaching racing speeds they do smooth out.

I never discouraged my mare's gaitedness. I loved it.
 
#17 ·
My first horse was a Standardbred, he was smaller and a pacer and yes he was smooth to ride, took a little bit to get used to but after a while I rode him bareback at a pretty good pace. He was also a gentle horse and sweet. Standardbreds can have pretty heads, his head wasn't bad and it wasn't big.
 
#19 ·
I had her in Italy. Got her from the vet university embryo transfer program. When I left Italy I found her a super home with a family where she's being spoiled rotten;-)
One of her "colleagues " from the breeding herd went to a young couple who took her home and the very next day she carried a bride through town....straight off pasture....that is telling a lot about their temperament, I think.
 
#20 ·
They are not know for their beauty, they often tend to have big, plain heads. They also take a fair amount of work to retrain. I rode an amazing gelding that was a tribute to the breed, and an all around wonderful horse. Then the last one I rode was aweful. Stubborn streak a mile wide, some one had tried to retrain her (former pacer) and failed, her canter was nice, when she was in it. She tended to randomly switch gaits trot/pace, pace/trot, canter/pace, she also swapped leads constantly. You would be on the trail at a nice trot and suddenly she would switch to a pace. Then she would get mad when you tried to correct her. I honestly think most of her problems stemmed from the person that orriginaly attempted to retrain her.
 
#25 ·
ha I laughed so much when I took my boy out for his first real trail where we went faster than a walk. I must have looked crazy to the people who saw us. I was laughing the entire time and telling him how amazing he was and he was just rotating between a flat out gallop and a canter.

I think you do have to be careful with how you retrain them. They have a lot more experience than the average green broke to ride horse. You have to work with that knowledge because you can't erase it.
 
#26 ·
My MIL has ex pacers and they were my first serious step into the horse world. To be honest, I love the size but I find them to be very single person oriented. They have one person and that is it. I actually got on a lot better with my MIL's Appy filly than I did her Stb's and I spent a lot of time with them, grooming, feeding, and a little riding. I'm not a Stb fan despite my time spent with them.

They are smart and strong, not the prettiest but they have a few handsome lookers. They can be very strong willed. I never really met a very compliant Stb either and they never seemed like eager people pleasers. I always took them as smart horses that needed a challenge to be kept interested.
 
#27 ·
I second, well, almost, your second paragraph. I don't find them strong willed. They ARE intelligent and therefore remind me a lot of Arabs. But they are much more forgiving than Arabs. Especially if you take into consideration the average treatment they receive when on the track. Not always nice. And yes, they attach themselves to one person if this person keeps them interested.
 
#29 ·
I have to chime in here and put in a good word for the Standies. We own 2 Standardbred geldings, a coming 12 yr old, and a 6 yr old=12 yr old raced, the 6 yr old was track trained but showed no speed to proceed to race.

My boy, Justice-12 yr old-is an incredible horse> He is a 15.3hh very dark bay-almost black looking beauty. I have not had anybody guess that he is a Standie-I have been asked TB, Appendix, or even WB. He is an amazing horse to ride, sure footed, incredible trail horse-w,t,c and very easy to collect for flatwork etc. Have never had him spook at anything-he is my dream horse=not for a green rider however. He can have a bit of attitude at times---nothing serious-you just need to be firm at times.

Hubbies horse, 6 yr old Deiter is an incredible horse - we got him when he was 3 1/2=broke to the training cart--not enough speed to race however.
Had him for several months and just let him get used to our place and learn to relax=he had been handled roughly by one person-a man-and it took a bit of time for him to learn to trust.

I backed him a couple of times-he was great-no problem with me being on him. We decided to send him to a local trainer for a month-my hubby had never been around a horse in his life and Deiter had the making of an incredible horse. He has a great personality and is very bonded to my husband. Deiter was exposed to everything my trainer could throw at him-broke western for the trails. He will go anywhere you point him at-he is super steady-he looks after my husband with great care. He had a dog jump out at him while on a road ride-he sidestepped one step-hubby lost his balance and was literally hanging onto his neck to stay on-his leg had slipped back and was digging into Deiters flank. I could see Deiter actually tense to counter balance himself so he could stay steady while my hubby tried to stay on-which he did. I think he would have come off any other horse-even Justice. It was at that moment that I realized that Deiter would do whatever he could to take care of Dan-he walks very careful through the brush and logs, is absolutely rock steady around traffic, unflappable in bad weather, wind etc. I cannot even think of putting a price on Deiter-to me he is priceless-he amazes me every day-and to see how confident my husband has become as a rider and as a horseperson - thanks to Deiter=makes me almost tear up.

So yes I love the Standardbred. Just as everyone loves their breed of choice. But don't write off the Standies-they truly are wonderful horses.
 
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