I’m going to look at a horse this weekend and he’s an OTSB and is a pacer. According to the barn manager he can trot but would rather pace and is learning to canter. Any negatives about this? I’ve worked with standardbreds in the past but have never ridden one let alone a pacer.
little experience except for one horse I know, shown 3Day and never learned the trot.
I would probably pass
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Pacing can develop in horses when they are ridden incorrectly, or when they are stuck in their hind ends. Dogs too. Do a good PPE.
He raced as a pacer so he’s always done it.
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I mis-read your post. I was thinking TB!
Good luck, I love standies. That touch of cold blood.
I own 2 pacers!
My one girl raced 180 times, yet has never once offered to pace since I’ve owned her. Not in the field, not under saddle. 
She also canters under saddle, although is still pretty green about it.
My other pacer is her “surprise” 2 year old daughter, unraced but purebred. She trots and paces, but seems to prefer to pace. I haven’t started under saddle work, so we shall see what happens. I’ve gotten some good advice from others on how to help her develop the trot on demand.
A million years ago, I used to work at a summer camp where we had many OTSTBs, several of whom only paced. For our trail riding/beginner lessons purposes, it was no big deal at all. Riding the pace is generally quite comfortable. It was actually nice not have to worry about beginners getting bounced off at the trot.
I’m a thoroughbred person through and through, but I love my standardbreds. They are such a breath of fresh air!
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I have an off-track STB that raced 181 times, on the pace. In the pasture he’ll usually trot, though sometimes he’ll throw in some pacing strides, and canters often. In the cart he’ll switch back and forth between trot and pace. Under saddle he’ll do a stepping pace (sometimes also called a broken pace) that is quite comfortable on trails. If he gets going too fast he will move into a harder, or truer, pace and that gets a little jarring to ride. And posting to a pace is odd because of the lateral movement of the gait, so it feels like you(g) get shifted sideways instead of up and forward like on a trot. I intended to try to get him to trot under saddle, but never worked very much at it and now he’s very much on the back burner. I do love standardbreds. They tend to be tough and durable with great brains.
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I love mine! Bought him and a surrey. The man said he was told he would ride, I said I am just going to drive him so it does not matter. Famous last words…I have not put the harness on him in probably three years and longer since I hooked the surrey up.
He does not canter but when pacing fast we call it the run away washing machine speed.
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What do you want to do with this horse? Just trail ride and have fun… get him.
Wanna learn to drive? …get him.
Pasture buddy to look at through your window? … get him
Fun schooling shows? … get him. (emphasis on fun)
Great brains, loads of experience from being on the track, sane (for the most part), knows how to be a good horse, (farrier, vet work)
Did you think we would tell you not to get him?
I love a STB.
Make sure you share pictures and let us help you name him. 
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What are you looking to do with the horse?
Standardbreds are super hit and miss with the pacing. Some would rather not. Some prefer to pace. Some can be trained out of it and some will always want to revert to it. Someone who knows Standy bloodlines really well might be able to look at his bloodlines and see if his breeding has a tendency one way or the other.
I’ve ridden the pacing ones and they are a BLAST. So much fun out on the trails. Can cover a LOT of ground.
The ones that can trot decently also are known to have a super jump. Really quite an athletic breed.
Best part is their mind. I haven’t met a Standy I didn’t absolutely adore. So willing and level headed. All-round COOL horses.
Only reason I never owned one is because most of my horses are for re-sale and re-sale value on Standarbreds is garbage. Shouldn’t be but it is.
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Back in the 70s there was a mare that paced at the Hansen Dam rental barn in Lake View Terrace, CA (far north in City of LA in San Fernando Valley). I had just sold my horse to buy a suburban house nearby, and I spent a lot of time the first summer I lived there riding that horse. I found it pretty uncomfortable, but I really liked the horse otherwise, so I continued to request her. After a while, I got used to the movement.
Rebecca
What are you planning on doing with said horse? My last riding horse was a STB that raced as a pacer, he only ever paced under saddle the first time I rode him. He was wonderful. Rock solid steady on the trails. I wish he’d was still with us so I could do more trail riding with him.
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I owned one when I was a kid, he paced when he was nervous but did have a trot and canter. The more I worked with him the better his trot became. Trotting ground poles helps reinforce the trot. I ended up showing him at small fun shows and he was just starting to do well when I lost him to colic. He was a really nice horse, brave on the trails and loved to jump. All things considered, he was probably the nicest all around type horse I ever owned.
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Well, it depends. Both on the individual horse in question, AND what your goals are in owning him. I acquired a pacer as a lead pony. I was looking for one because they are just SOOOOO tough, and sound. This one was a pacer, and was WELL KNOWN locally (and not so locally- he had travelled). He worked out fine as a lead pony for the most part. He had had an extensive race career, raced until he was 13. IDK how many starts he had. If anyone knows how to look one up, his name was Shadow’s Adios. Chestnut, with one hind sock, and a blaze. Very rare. He could trot, but usually preferred to pace, especially at speed. He could gallop too, but was pretty rough to sit on. He paced as fast as a TB would gallop beside him. Strangely enough, he was great when the races were on, totally dependable. Would stand behind the starting gate with the reins dropped on his neck, and watch the race start and the bell ring. No problem. But take him there in the morning, different animal. Freaked out. Dunno why. But there was no changing his mind about it. That’s a Standardbred for ya.
As a pleasure riding horse, that might be OK. Do not try to jump a standardbred… even those who will and can canter, do not canter WELL. Not balanced enough to jump well. Someone will come on here and say they jump their SB all the time. OK. But the “canter” has been deliberately bred OUT of the Standardbred. If they can canter, or will canter, it’s not truly a “quality” canter. They can’t “learn” to canter… either they can and will to the best of their ability, or they won’t. There are limitations. They can be quite successful as a competitive endurance mount… because of that race training and many miles of fitness. They may trot, or they may pace. As a horse to drive, yes, they can do that. But don’t forget that they have been previously a racehorse, and still are a racehorse when you start to drive them. They will need some retraining to become a pleasure driving horse. And knowing SBs, it can be difficult to change their mind about things they think they already know. SBs tend to be easy and quiet to handle around the barn. They have been exposed to many things, and have learned to endure what humans want of them. They will stand tied indefinately. They are patient. And tend to be unreactive types.
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Standardbreds are my favorite. There were two in my past that I rode a lot. Both raced as pacers (271 and 105 starts). One would pace under saddle, the other would trot under saddle but if set up properly could also rack. Both did canter. However, I was just trail/pleasure riding these guys and was not super concerned with things like purity of gaits.
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Trail ride only. Most of the standards that I’ve known are level headed and really try hard to be a good citizen. I’ve only known one that was dangerous in that he attacked people, myself included and have a deformed boob to show for it. He was definitely not the norm for the breed.
How do you ride the pace? Just sit or do you post?
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Sit up real tall and be prepared to not hold any tension or stiffness in your hips or pelvis. Relax and let fly. Feels REALLY wrong until you get used to it haha.
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My Rocky Mtn mare spends a lot of her time pacing when we do endurance rides. I do post it but you can also definitely sit it.
I cannot abide riding a hard pace. I have owned a couple of twhs that are pacey, but I can manage them into a broken pace that’s more wiggly than jarring.
My favorite horse is pacey by nature, and it takes constant management in the saddle to make him stay in a flat walk or a running walk. If you want a truly pacey horse to TROT… it’s going to mean really riding every single trot stride.
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As a teenager, I trained and rode a larger trotting STB for endurance and we participated in two rides.
They were two days, 100 km one day, 100 km next day going back and she trotted all the way.
No one could keep up with her, so we went alone.
Only time she shied we were riding by some tracks, a train came from behind us out of the blue and she ran off cantering into a potato field, both of us were shaking for a minute, then we kept on trotting along.
Our team of three won first ride, were second next year.
Wonderful gentle mare, big liver chestnut and so very forward.
She cantered, I tried it once in the small indoor and her huge stride scared both of us, the walls came up so fast at us, she much preferred to trot.
OP, if you don’t want to do any specific task or discipline that requires a horse with specific abilities, for an all arounder a STB would be a fun and generally safe horse to do things with.
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