Off the Track Strandardbred..

[HunterJumperPony]

Have any of you ever rode or own an off the track Standardbred who actaully became normal? At my barn we have 4 but they're all trail horses, one is new and I want to see if I can do something with him. He was a form pacer, a really good one actaully, but even though he's only 12 or so you think he was on the track to long to become a good English horse? Please tell me your experinces.


Off the track Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds are two completely different things.

[theprancingpony]

the only issue would be the pace. standardbreds can learn to trot normally i think (?), which you'd need for english stuff. i have a standardbred and his old owner said he paced... but he hasn't for me so far. sometimes with older horses it can be more difficult, but it's possible. by all means, give it a shot!

i mean, you could ride them in an english saddle whether they pace or not. but if you wanted to do, say, hunter jumper, it would be difficult to get the right distances.

have fun!

[HunterJumperPony]

Canter can be a problem too. How long have you had your Standardbred?

[theprancingpony]

me? since january. he canters fine, i'm not sure he ever raced. he has kind of a foggy history :)

[HunterJumperPony]

Ooh.. Not knowing would kill me, haha. I'm sure normal Standardbreds are fine, even ones who were barely on the track. But all these guys spent a good portion of their lives their.

[HunterJumperPony]

Anybody else?

[AidEE]

i have heard of some that turned out to be nice. But i never really see many.