Re-schooling a trotter???

[Bertie]

Having seen an ex-trotter for sale for about £1400.00, he can't canter and only suitable for someone looking to hack or re-school. Relatively young as well about 7 if I recall correctly.

I was therefore wondering if the knowledgeable people of NR would know how easy or hard it would be to re-school such a horse and could it be done by someone taking regular instruction and limited knowledge of re-schooling a horse??

I know this is abit of well depends on the horse/rider etc but am looking for general opinions :)

[nutkin]

I used to school a trotting horse that came from a racing background. With her it was a case of using half halts and asking her to rebalance herself into trot and then ask for canter. It may help to try to teach this movement off of the lunge first without a rider on board and using voice commands. Make much of the horse when it does what you asked and then hopefully it should be easier to teach once under saddle.

[Luxie]

My loan horse is an ex-trotter, I've been riding him for four years (with a six-month break early on because of a tendon injury). I have a sympathetic instructor, and have lessons on average three times a month.

When we first started, he couldn't canter at all, and had enormous problems even walking correctly round the school, as he had no idea of balancing himself. I had no experience whatsoever in reschooling.

Four years on, he is perfectly able to canter on either lead (though right is more difficult for him), and even manages walk/canter on left lead. Walk/trot, trot/canter, trot/halt - no problems; we are beginning to work on canter/walk. We can leg yield and rein back, and are working on correct shoulder-in.

So, I would say go for it! I've never for a moment regretted taking him on, and he's an absolute joy to hack out, too.

P.S. If you want any more details of how we worked, etc. feel free to PM me.

[Pink's lady]

Brodie was a trotter (well, a pacer actually, which makes it even harder) and he has eventually learn to trot normally ( a huge undertaking and something many people don't think about) and knows the canter aids. He still finds canter hard, but thats mostly because for the lack of schooling I've been doing with him. However, it's really noticeable that over the years, he's stopped Trotting (capital cos you should have seen it :eek: ) in the field and canters instead.

Standardbreds (the usual trotting breed) are really, really easily trained horses, they've just got such a nice temperament.

Re-training can be easily done, it just takes time. Brodie started on the lunge walk/trot until he learnt to trot nicely (i.e head down, not horizontal to the ground like they do when they race, normal length strides etc). Once he's learn that and found it easy, every time he started to Trot, or even pace, it was made clear that it wasn't acceptible('No, bad boy, trot!). He was then loose schooled and pshed to canter, which he picked up really quickly. He'd only manage a few paces before breaking, but tried hard. Even just a strike-off got him a big reward. It was eventually increased until he could canter all the way round the school.

Once he's got it established, he was taught it undersaddle, which he picked up really quickly (very bright horses).

That was about as far as he got in the school. After that, he just did it on hack, making sure he was never allowed to Trot and praised when he picked up canter.

He now strikes off when asked but still finds it really, really hard to canter slowly. Thats just lack of schooling. I find the best time to get a nice canter is coming back down from a gallop (something he loves and finds easy)

So, with plently of time and effort, it shouldn't be too hard.

Incidently, £1400 for a horse that needs that much re-schooling is very high. Unless it's a superbe hacking horse (most standardbreds are)

[STB]

On www.horseproblems.com.au in the problems index there is a wonderful article all about re-training standardbreds. I've found it very helpful with my boy so may be worth a quick look :)

[Cheeky]

Re-schooling trotters can be quite difficult if u dont kno wat ** doing (but u can always learn :) ) ... training to canter is a long, thawed out process ... but can be done.

But depends... wat do u want to do *** him?

[Silvia]

It depends what you want to do with him and how confident a rider you are. Two of my friends are riding retrained trotters, one off the track, the other never raced. Buth are lovely horses, but somewhat high strung. They need riders that will give them confidence and don't ask too much of them. If they get worried or unsure they are NOT easy to handle. They are very attatched to "their" human and will canter for them, but not anybody else.
Watch out for back and joint problems!
I think there are lots of easier horses around than retrained trotters, but if you like a challenge - why not.