Standardbred Racehorse Question?

Question

I am going to be leasing a 7 year old trotting mare. Up to date she has worn trotting hobbles and I believe them to impede performance. Any hopes I can train her to race without them?

Answer 1

I have a friend who used to train Standardbreds for 15 years, and I passed your question on to her.

Her response, summed up:  it depends.  It depends to a great degree on factors like the balance and athleticism of the horse in question, the quality of the horse's stride, the temperament of the horse, the ability of the person driving the horse during the race, and a number of other factors.

My friend advised that the first things you should do are assess the horse's stride, taking into account the quality of the shoeing.  With trotters, the quality of the shoeing can make or break the horse's ability to stay on gait.  If you want your mare to work without trotting hobbles, then you need to be sure she has the best balance she can get and that means having the best trotter shoer that you can find.  

She also suggests that you have the mare's teeth checked and make sure that when she's bitted up, whatever kind of rig you have on her isn't pinching her mouth and that there are no sharp points or ridges in her mouth that might hurt her.  My friend says that if a horse is having discomfort in its mouth, it may cause the horse to become unbalanced as it attempts to ease the pain by flexing its neck, moving its head, or otherwise trying to get away from the discomfort.  And that can make a trotter go off gait.  (She also says this is something that a lot of mediocre horsemen overlook, and one way they could move a horse up if they got a trotter that hadn't been having its teeth seen to.)

In working with the mare, you need to be aware of how well she stays on gait when she comes under pressure.  If her natural tendency is to break and canter, you're going to have an uphill slog to try to get her to stay on gait.  

My friend said that it's mainly a matter of trial and error, seeing what works and what doesn't work, after the basics have been seen to.  Good luck with your mare!

Answer 2

yes, she should be able to trot a magical mile...under 2 Min's