Driving & Standardbred Racing

[Maci]

Two questions:

Driving- How do you tell the horse to turn? Do you pull back on the reins, or do you squeeze your fingers?

S. Racing- When the jockey's tell the horse to turn, they need to pull the riens (or at least it looks like that when I go visit my local track to watch the races). Do the horses eventually develop hard mouths because of this (if this is the case)?

Just Curious & Thanks!
Maci :)

[Dressage_Luvr]

Hi,

my brothers gf drives horses in Niagra region, and while riding one of the horses, i had to use the verbal commands.

Gee- (i think) means right
Haw- left

i guess it owuld be same as riding, it depends on the horse. ome horse may just need you to sqeeuze gently, and others may need firmer contact.


im not sure tho!!!


about the S. racing- im not sure.! the horse may develop a hard mouth, but only if the reins are pulled hard, or roughly, if the reins are pulled gently, i dont think it can do a lot of damage. was it in a race that you saw? he(she) may have had to steer more abruptly if the horse was getting caught up in the race. that has happened to me, well not in a race, but ya no whwat i mean...

i could very well be wrong tho!!

[Anja]

Hi Maci , If you give my a cuple of days I could find it out for you I know some stbd drivers/stable owners I will try my best Anja

[Wally]

When driving you use verbal commands, traditional ones depending on the region, Gee and Haw where you are, "Come" and "get" in N Britain. Ths is backed up with light vibrations on the reins.

Left and right if you want, or, any words you choose to teach your horse, so long as they sound very different.

You need to swap your voice for your seat and weight when riding. Voice first then rein. When driving the horse cannot do tight turns and bend at the same time as the shafts hold him straight, it is important that the horse learns to turn on the haunches so he can turn the cart in tight spaces. Backing up has to be done on the voice too or you'll loose the outline.

[Maci]

Dressage_Luvr- When I go to the track and watch the races, or go to Woodbine/Mowhawk in Toronto to watch, when the drivers make the turns (wide, but gradual), they "pull" back on the riens. And I saw it again on a TV show. I guess they don't pull back hard, just lightly and gradually....

Anja- That would be great! I don't mind waiting!

Wally- Now I understand! More voice, than hands. If it's hard for the horse to do tight turns, how do they do (I don't know the name) the driving "challenges"? Like I saw on a TV special, that a team in the UK who drove 4 horses, competed in a 3 day "event"- a dressage type thing one day, an obstacle course the other day (cross country kind of thing), and a speed test (around pylons, that you can't knock down the tennis balls resting ontop of them). Do they use different shafts, more flexible ones?

Thanks Everyone!
Maci :)

[Anja]

I think the drivers hold them tight and it makes them go faster because when my mum used to hold opur stbd in tight he would go faster and when she lossend the reins he would slow down

[Emma_G_NZ]

Hey Maci-
As you know,Vance is a standardbred who raced for 9 years,raced 42 races,won 6,3 2nd's and 3 3rds.I do not find him at all hard to stop or turn-in fact he is quite light on his commands.He holds his head 'long and low' if you want him to or 'short or high' if he is excited.
I am going to my grandads for tea tonight who trained racehorses for ages (sb's).I'll ask him what commands he used.When you see a driver leaning back and looks like he is hacking at the horses mouth its because he doesnt want him to waste his energy too early on in the race-If a horse goes to fast too soon,He will be stonkered by the time it comes to the finishing line..
Depends on the trainer of course on what methods they used as to whether they become hard or stay soft mouthed.

[Stdbrdboy]

Over here they sure do get hard mouths but if they haven't raced long then they don't usually although you do find the occasional Stdbrd with a good mouth.

Our driver when they want speed pull on their mouths and basically, drop the reins to stop.

When people ride their Stdbrds, if they bolt they just sit down and drop the reins. It is really funny to see a bolting horse slide to a halt because of no mouth contact.

[Wally]

Team driving is very different to singles. The harness is different, the carriage is different and the technique is different.

For instance if your lead horses are in draught (pulling) you cannot turn the vehicle, you need to get the leaders to drop back and steer with the wheelers.

The shafts should have no bend in them from side to side, just springy up and down. A good horse should be able to do a 360 degree turn on the haunches to turn the cart round, you can do 3 point turns too.

Backing up a team is an art, it is so easy to jacknife the cart, and the horses with it. Imagine 5 individuals all having thier own ideas, that's what team driving can be like!

The obstacles are set at standard widths the carriages have to be standard sizes too, so everyone is on a level playing field. If your carriage is too narrow you can buy "hoola Hoops" to make the wheel base wider.

Some of the bigger 4 in hand horse teams have carriages so strong that they found that if they galloped their team hard enough at an obstacle they could crash through it. I have seen telegraph poles sheared off at ground level, with only a scratch on the wheels!

Great fun though, but "crashing" if frowned upon!

[Maci]

Thank you for the answers, everyone! Stdbrd racing seems to be quite popular in Australia and NZ as it is here! Thanks for all the replies! I now have a basic understanding, so I'll be more educated next time I go to the track! ;)

Thanks Wally for the answers on driving! I bet trying to back a team of horses up is an art, all in itself! :eek: I can imagine all different personalities clashing, and everyone trying to meet (like-minded) somewhere in the middle!

Maci :)

[Emma_G_NZ]

Hi Maci
You will probably find theres more standardbred's per head here than there is in.. Canada? Theres tons,Any name you try to put in at this site- http://www.hrnz.co.nz in the infohorse section usually comes up! lol.. Mine is Vance the Conquerer.. Try typing that in. :)

[Wally]

Sometimes you can have an ally in your team who is on the same wavelength as you are.

In my pairs stallions, the "father" would know what I was on about and make his "layabout son" do what I asked.

It used to make us laugh. "Son" would drop back in his collar on steep hills, making his dad do the work. I'd notice the traces go slack and speak to the son. If he didnt' act upon my command, "Dad" would step in and grab him behind the ears and chase him up nto his collar!

Dad hated donkeys, son hated pigs, between the 3 of us we would get where we neede to be!!

[Maci]

Emma_G_NZ- I typed in his name, and that is so cool! :cool: How all his information is registered with a big society and "he's" posted on the web! ;) Was Vance a trotter or did he pace? Does he go off in a pace when you ride him, sometimes? We had a horse that was bred to pace at the stables once. He was a school horse, and he was a pain when he went off in a pace! :rolleyes:

Maci :)

[Emma_G_NZ]

Hi Maci-
Yup he's all there-Even a horse who hasnt raced is there-At least he has got some good information to his record! lol!Nah hes only paced on me once before and i dont expect he will do it again-Even tho he raced for 9 years he seems to have forgotten that he paced when he raced! He just likes to gallop around the paddock-not pace,lol.

[Anja]

maci have you ever heard of a race horse called royle sharvid n (( he raced in canada)) if you did he is our stdbs half bro also does anyone have a piccy of the stdb stallion EL PATRON??? if so can they pls post it

[Penelope]

I'm sorry I don't know anything about trotters/pacers its not v. big in Gloucestershire! I was wondering with the speed that trotters go do they ever get concussion to their legs, like if you trotted too fast down the road, or is the surface so soft this is uncommon? This just something I always wondered!

[Maci]

I'm not quite sure, actually! :confused: The track is soft, and they go so fast, that it seems like they barely touch the ground. I'm sure it is common, though, to see a pacer with swollen legs, sometimes! Lots of watering! ;) Sorry to be no more help! I'm kind of in the dark on this one, too!

Maci :)