Like many, I started my horsey career with a strong dis-taste for Standardbreds, 'they're only for harness racing, no good for ridden work, and they pace!' Can't stop a pacer pacing, right?!
I am what blogger FuglyHorseOfTheDay calls a 're-rider' - an avid rider and showjumping/eventing/dressage competitor in my youth, but now a less fit, quite chicken-shit adult. My bones don't bounce like they used to you know! So what did I do when was looking for my new horse after a long break?? I did what most ladies do, and bought an OTTB. Beautiful mare, but beautifully hot-headed to boot. It was not a good partnership for my first horse back in the saddle after a long break...
And so started my epic search for the perfect horsey partner....... Eventually, I came to hear about Standardbreds; their durability, endurance, honesty, nature, everything! I did my research, joined the local Standie association, and found my first Standy (who came to me for free). He was one truly amazing horse: though, good and bad amazings!! He was strong, athletic, solid, honest, and a looker. But he was also pushy, hated being confined (would literally push the fence/yard down to get out), and paced! Boy did he pace; so bound in muscle memory was this horse, that he could pace over groundpoles and up a steep hill at some speed. When I could get him onto the diagonal, his trot was amazing! Very elevated with spectacular action (especially for a Standardbred not long off the track), you could hardly believe it was the same horse. Many many months of trying to retrain muscle memory later with no success (combined with a series of rather painful personal catastrophes), I retired him. The horse just loved to pace! And I wanted to show in english breed classes, with maybe some low level eventing/dressage thrown in later. Though I can really say he retired, he went to a young chappy to take mustering every now and then. But they had a great connection - and he's enjoying life on 200acres doing not much!
He was the start of my love of the breed! And now, well I probably wont own another horse other than a Standardbred. They truly are an astounding breed. How many other breeds can have a successful career in racing (racing on rockhard surfaces), then retire sound as a bell, then go on to have a successful careers under saddle?! Not many, that's for sure.
Why so many Standardbreds go to slaughter is truely beyond me. It's a very sad state of affairs.
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