I’m new to the gaited world. I adopted an awesome ottstb from NV to bring along as a trail horse deluxe for my husband. I’ve ridden lots of OTTBs, but this is the first STB. Horse in question naturally wants to gait under saddle. I have some local resources for help, but just wanted inputs on natural training (not NH in this context) of the gaited trail horse - I don’t want to rely on bits or farrier work to get it. Am I mislead, or can a horse gait nicely without all that? Advice and thoughts welcome!
As the saying goes, the gait is bred in, not nailed on. :yes:
So No, you do not need special bits (a snaffle works just fine), special shoes (barefoot is great if you don’t ride on rocky ground or asphalt), special trims (NO LONG TOES! A gaited horse should be trimmed the same as any other horse!), or special saddles needed! :lol:
Like any horse, they need conditioning and muscle development sufficient to carry a rider, and like any horse, they need to learn to carry the rider’s weight efficiently and balance properly in various circumstances.
I have a stb (trialled, not raced) who tends to pace only if she is feeling rushed or unbalanced. Generally (at least here in Australia!) the pace isn’t desirable in standys as it is not particularly comfortable (if you can’t sit to it as in a trot or canter-- it’s a pace!) From my own experience and that of others, a pacing bred (there are two types- trotting bred and pacing bred) the pacing bred horses generally have a lovely big trot and big canter. They can look a little different from other breeds though ie sometimes a bit wide behind or awkward looking gaits but so incredibly comfortable (once balanced, forward, working properly as in dressage training scale).
I guess if you wanted to keep the pace you would encourage it- is clicker training something that is ‘done’ in America? I find it incredibly awesome. I started out with the clicker device but now I just do a big click with my tongue instead. Do some research on it if you find it interesting. Good for ridden training as well as tricks. Eventually you don’t need a food reward- I tend to use a neck scratch on my laminitis prone fat horses
So far, I just use a KK snaffle, and I’m trying to ride him like my very beginner husband would. So, I ride with loose reins, and just “pump the brakes” as I’ve explained to my husband to balance him. I think of sitting trot as I ride, so if I hold my body still, he matches it, and if he gets too pacey when he’s quick/unbalanced, I bring him back. In the pasture, this guy, is like, 10-gaited:) He has a huge trot, canters, but also paces, and then the thing that he does undersaddle that’s comfortable is I think called a single-foot gait? Basically a slow version of the rack, from what I’ve read - it is like a pace, but a slight delay in footfall of the hooves on the same side. It’s very comfy, but I just wondered if I was doing him a disservice by letting him balance more like a hunter or lower level dressage horse, and not asking him to have a higher head carriage. I’ve not tried clicker training - not opposed, just not experienced. I do reward him with wither scratches and verbal praise when he’s consistently smooth, and I don’t get upset at all when it gets pacey - just go back to a walk calmly and try again. I’ve seen speed racking STBs on youtube - and would love to have a horse that could go as fast as a canter on the trails with my horses, but not sure if I’m on the right path for that. He has cantered undersaddle, but it’s a really uphill, rocking horse feel to it - I don’t ask, but don’t discourage when he does. And I don’t want to create a speed racker, per se, but would like to have a horse that stayed smooth on the trails for the hubby but could keep up with my TB when I canter.
I used to groom at harness tracks and the first horse I took riding lessons on was a Paint Standardbred cross who paced as often as he trotted.
Since your horse is offering both the trot and pace under saddle if you want to be able to choose the gait, you’ll have to be sure to use different aids for trot and pace. I also used to ride saddleseat for a short time. Might be a good idea to try to talk to or work with a Saddlebred trainer that has experience with five gaited horses. That way you could get some ideas or help with training in a cue for the single foot or other lateral gaits.
Would you please tell us your horse’s name, or pm it to me. I love to see Standies going on to new jobs after racing.
Get the book “Easy-Gaited Horses” by Lee Ziegler. She was a big advocate for proper training/conditioning over “shortcuts.”
Great articles:
http://www.lizgraves.com/lee_zieglers_classroom.html
http://www.lizgraves.com/articlen.html
For our 5 gaited ASBs, we would use a different noise cue for each gait - for a trot, we would whistle and for a slow gait/rack we would make a ticking noise. The horse starts to associate the noise with the gait and picks it up faster. Also, when we ask for a slow gait, we widen our hands and gently slide the bit left and right (this is referred to as “shaking” them) - this gets them slight off balance so they pick up the 4 beat gait vs a trot. Hope this helps!
- Put a bit on the horse that it is happy to work in.
I have historically used either a low port curb bit with swivel shanks or a mechanical hackamore.
- Hooves. If a farrier tells you the horse needs shod or trimmed a certain way to gait, find a new farrier.
When I was hard trail riding two of my TWH’s wore St. Croix rim shoes and were trimmed according to what their hooves dictated.
One of my TWH’s has hooves like a goat and even a minor club hoof. He spent the bulk of his trail riding barefoot, no boots. That is just who he is.
- All my Walkers gait or gaited at liberty without any training. Two would trot if they got behind my Arab in the pasture.
If any if my Walkers started to trot under saddle, it was chiropractor time, as something was out of whack.
Meaning I bought two of my TWH’s as coming three and never had to do any such thing as “set their gait”.
The third TWH was the same way, according to his seller, when I bought him as an 11 yr old.
Good luck with your STB. For the record they are well noted to be great speed rackers:)
His registered name is Lincoln Center, and it’s funny - he does wtc on the lunge, but undersaddle, naturally slow gaits unless he gets too quick, then it’s a pace;). Love the inputs, and I have ridden 3-gaited ASBs, just wondered about about gaiting without going as hollow as most seem. I have read different things - some advocate ways of elevating the front/lowering the butt to help with the timing of the footfall. I would prefer to have a “head set” more like a field hunter - and not a head set, but just have his head coming out of his neck lower than show trained 5- gaited ASBs. I’m not anti-ASB at all, though!!! He’s not naturally that high headed, and I don’t want to force it. I also love that my farrier was happy I didn’t want to mess with his amazing feet to force the gait more. This winter I may lunge more and play with voice commands for the various gears:). He’s a total doll, appreciate all the input!
Read Lee Ziegler’s book as others have mentioned. Anita Howe (Howetheywalk.com) and Liz Graves are excellent non-gimmick people to learn from as well. Lee passed away a number of years ago (complications of Lyme Disease) but the other two are quite alive!
When a trotting horse’s back is round, the trot is much improved. When they go hollow (avoiding the saddle), the head/neck pops up, the rear trails behind them, the quality of the trot is poor and there is no impulsion.
For a gaited horse, when they go hollow, they pace with head high and rear end strung out behind them as well. If they round up “too” much, they will either go to a trot or have a diagonal sort of gait. Ideally, for their best gait, the back is level (neutral) or ever so slightly hollow. The easy gaits (the gaits that aren’t as diagonal as a trot or as lateral as a pace) arise out of an even 4-beat walking rhythm. If your horse is directly out of harness without much recent riding experience, he’ll need to build up his back; likewise if he constantly falls into pace under a rider. Best way to build up the correct muscles for an easy gait is to walk all the time the first 3-6 months. Don’t worry, they can walk at a lot of different speeds, and it’s a good idea to be able to request walking at the various speeds. I’ve ridden my gaited horse in a children’s jumping lesson - when they trot, he just lengthens his walk (the instructor invited me to ride the perimeter during the lesson.)
“it is like a pace, but a slight delay in footfall of the hooves on the same side” - sounds like he is offering a “step pace” or “stepping pace” and is described in Lee’s book. Slow him down, and encourage him to bring his back up to a more neutral position. This will break up the foot falls so the timing is more equal from one foot to the next, and it will be an honest 4-beat gait. While the stepping pace is pretty comfy, it can take a toll on the horse if that is his standard go-to gait.
For a horse without much balance, it’s hard to gait on the lounge line or in a round pen - most will offer canter and trot. Nothing wrong with those gaits unless you’d prefer an easy-gait.
As far as headset goes, it’s all related to how the horse uses himself, and how the neck is set on. It pretty much comes last. Once your horse is using his back properly, his hind legs should reach well under him with each stride. Many gaited horses will “nod” their head down as each hind leg reaches under - the head is not in a static position or “head set”, it’s a counter-balance to the hind legs. Once the horse is reaching under from behind, with a somewhat relaxed flat back, the head will go into place, though you will want him to be on the bit - near vertical but not behind. I ride with a lady whose horse gets behind the vertical and it nearly chokes off his airway! Not all gaited horses will head-nod, but don’t be surprised if yours does. This nod is up and down - if you see it going side to side, he’s doing some sort of pace.
If he tends to be pacey, you actually want him to travel in more of a relaxed/lower “head set.” (But the disclaimer on using the term head set is that like trailpal said, where his head winds up is a function of how he’s using the rest of his body.)
Ivy Schexnayder seems to have some good stuff as well based on the snippets online.
A “ride along lesson” on a pacey horse:
https://youtu.be/cSvTzdDXoro
Here are a couple previews on pacey horses:
https://youtu.be/LOp-uSnL698
https://youtu.be/S7ERfrZUYgs
I gaited a pacing Paso Fino filly riding Forward Seat (hunt seat) with a snaffle bit. Her breeder swore that I would never succeed, but I did get a reliable 4-beat gait out of her that we used for the rest of her life. Her breeder wanted me to do all sorts of mean and nasty things to her to gait her, but I refused.
What worked was lateral aids. When the horse’s barrel comes out toward your leg give the barrel a definite, sort of strong TAP, and at the same time and on the same side do a little direct aid with the bit. Alternate the lateral aids. The filly started a 4-beat Paso at a very slow speed, and as she got stronger I was able to encourage her to go faster in the 4-beat gait.
Using the same lateral aids I was able to get three Arabs and a part Arab, all trotters, to go into a Fox Trot. This will not work on a pure trotter, the gaiting ability has to be in there somewhere.
All these horses would collect themselves somewhat, raising their heads a little bit, but they did it on their own of their own free will (they would collect on a completely loose rein when I got them to gait from just the leg aids.)
Enjoy yourself!
[QUOTE=Jackie Cochran;8388241]
I gaited a pacing Paso Fino filly riding Forward Seat (hunt seat) with a snaffle bit. Her breeder swore that I would never succeed, but I did get a reliable 4-beat gait out of her that we used for the rest of her life. Her breeder wanted me to do all sorts of mean and nasty things to her to gait her, but I refused.
What worked was lateral aids. When the horse’s barrel comes out toward your leg give the barrel a definite, sort of strong TAP, and at the same time and on the same side do a little direct aid with the bit. Alternate the lateral aids. The filly started a 4-beat Paso at a very slow speed, and as she got stronger I was able to encourage her to go faster in the 4-beat gait.
Using the same lateral aids I was able to get three Arabs and a part Arab, all trotters, to go into a Fox Trot. This will not work on a pure trotter, the gaiting ability has to be in there somewhere.
All these horses would collect themselves somewhat, raising their heads a little bit, but they did it on their own of their own free will (they would collect on a completely loose rein when I got them to gait from just the leg aids.)
Enjoy yourself![/QUOTE]
This is so worthwhile. Getting some bend is like a magic key to consistent gait. My only ever correction on my gaited horse, when he paces and gets uneven, is to bend him. It works like a charm. I use both rein and leg. We are on a straight path but I ask for an inside or outside body bend and a little neck and head bend, and voila smooth gaiting again.
Just wanted to follow up a bit - I got Lee Ziegler’s book and very helpful. In dressage, when doing lateral or asking for the horse to change their footfall (step more under), I know the timing of the leg aids - as the hind leg is lifting - so they can change where it lands. I don’t know the timing of aids for helping improve his stepping pace - sounds like I’d love to try and make him more into a true rack (even four beats). Very fun, and very much “dressage” but definitely a learning curve for me! I have my horses at home, and can play around with footing - the arena vs. the pasture. I plan to get a local trainer out this spring to help us a bit more, but for now, he’s more and more consistent each time, so having fun with him! My goals with this boy: go smoothly and be brave (trail horse deluxe!). Thanks for all the inputs! Now can spring just get here sooner???
I have an OTSTB (trotter) who raced for 9 years and has the most amazing smooth single foot gait you could ask for. My guy is barefoot, goes in a simple 3 piece (lozenge/bean) with an all purpose Wintec saddle. I’m fairly blessed as he only offers up a smooth gait under saddle and he requires a lot of encouragement to break into a trot (which is teeth jarring so nope). His canter is there but inconsistent.
I have trained over a dozen STBs to saddle and it is amazing how some are naturally smooth gaited and others either prefer trotting or the saddle gait requires a bit of effort. I’m all natural, no gimmicks, no weights/chains, heavy shoes, big bits etc, the best way to get a smooth gait is honestly, a good walk. Once the horse has that lovely 4 beat walk, getting a smooth gait at that point is just asking for a few strides of the gait, transition back to a walk, then transition upwards to the gait.
If the horse is fresh off the track, I only need about a week or two of walking to then start working on the intermediate gait. If i have a horse coming from lay up or pasture, I spend at least 30 days of walking to build up fitness, then start asking for intermediate gait. Slow and steady is all that is needed. I’m honestly, so spoiled with my STBs it’s my preferred breed.
