# Advice on Standardbred Re-Training



## Carolineeeee (Nov 9, 2011)

*Me trotting*

Here is me trotting on my standardbred. any and all advice appreciated. i have ridden western for almost 9 years and just started riding english a few weeks ago.<<also ignore the talking at the end.haha>>


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## Cruiser (Aug 28, 2011)

I retrained a older racing mare, I found she didn't bend, or balance well in turns. Riding with loose reins and letting her realize she no longer was being made to trot full out took time, but once they know that they don't have to usually it doesn't become a problem. It is a bit nerve racking at first if they want to do a full out racing trot but if your in a arena they'll slow down quickly, doing lots of turns and moving the fore hand and hind quarters is good. Once your horse is good without all the strong contact slowly build it up, back off if they get frustrated. 

Taking off the side reins (I can't tell what they are in the video) is a good start. Teaching her to canter, by using voice and on lunge or free lunging. Again don't push until she is frustrated, she may have spent her racing career being corrected every time she cantered. A small jump can help pick up the canter too. 

Good luck


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## gothicangel69 (Aug 2, 2011)

I am in the process of re-training my standardbred. He was a pacer, but I'm lucky that he was only raced a few times (he's a little over 3 yrs old now) so he does not have a strong pace drive- I've actually never seen him pace. He does have a wicked trot though which I had a hard time sitting at first.
One thing I find, like mentioned above, is that he doesn't bend well in turns, which is most likely because they were always in harness and had to move their body as a unit.
If its a pacer, and your having a hard time getting it to canter, I've heard running them up hill helps as they can't pace going up a hill (not sure how true that is though). Make sure to give them lots of praise when they canter, as they are taught not to.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

With a Standardbred I had I found round year work really helped. I wouldn't ride with those sorts of reins you're using. Your horse does not look happy about it all, and I think it will just encourage him to brace against the contact, which is the opposite of what you want. 

Running reins while in the round yard can be great though. I attached them really low, between the legs, and it really encouraged my horse to stretch out long and low. You don't want collection right now, you want long, stretched out, relaxed. Bending and flexing can really help.


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## MudPaint (Aug 14, 2010)

When working standardbreds, I usually spend a lot of time teaching lateral work, like leg yeilding and bending. The graduating circle is great and leg yielding to the rail. like mentioned the lack of bending really does pose an issue. 

If you are having dificulty cantering, cantering up hill can help, though doesn't fix the issue. I've found using a pole to pop them into the canter and incorporated with a cure can help. I usually put it on the end of the corner so they have a straight line to negotiate at first.


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