People are now
discovering just how great Standardbreds can be. There are societies in
Australia and the US that list horses and find homes for them. The Standardbred Pleasure and Performance Horse Association adopts horses out
after racing. Or go down to your local track and ask around. Someone will
always know of a good horse that needs a home. The horses that trainers
like best and take the time to find homes for are usually the ones that
make good family horses.
I know many people
who have taken on Standardbreds that have never been ridden and gone on to
ride them with no problems without having the horses professionally
started under saddle. As a teenager I bought a horse that had his last
race start on Wednesday, picked him up on Thursday, started him under
saddle on Friday, showed him successfully on Saturday and rode him to Pony
Club through city traffic on Sunday. He went on to have a long and
successful competition and pleasure career under saddle. Nowadays I know
better than to do that sort of thing, but people still do similarly stupid
things with Standardbreds and survive.
There is an old
saying “green and green equals black and blue”. A better option to
finding a horse straight from the track is to find one that has already
done some work and is proven to fulfill your criteria.
If you choose to buy
a horse off the track you should, ideally, have your Standardbred started
under saddle by an experienced person who likes working with the breed,
then work with the trainer as your horse progresses. In the long term,
that will save time, stress and possibly injury for both you and your
horse! It’s still also much cheaper than buying a ready-trained horse of a
more fashionable breed. Be aware though that working with a newly started
horse takes time, patience, skill and common sense and must be done on a
regular, frequent basis. If you haven’t got the time to work with a green
horse, buy something that’s had more education and experience.
Currently, I own nine Standardbreds. At any time, day, night, in any weather, I can go and put a
saddle or harness on any of them and take them anywhere reliably with no
drama. I can ride all of them bareback with no bridle safely. No matter
whether they’ve been out of work for months or not, they’re always calm
and keen to go places and do things. They love attention, learn fast, and
are often very good with children or nervous riders. Mine have done street
parades, shows, trail-rides with groups of over 50 riders, all sorts of
things, and nothing worries them.
What’s even better is
that they come in many sizes and colors! They range in height from under
14hh to over 17hh. While bay is the most common color, there are also
chestnuts, grays, blacks, duns, piebalds and skewbalds. Standardbreds are
also performance horses. They excel at harness events, but many of them
show talent for jumping and dressage. Some compete successfully in
Endurance or speed events like barrel racing. They’re the true all-rounder
of the horse world. The ultimate in practical recycling is to take an
unwanted Standie and give him a home for life where he can be useful and
enjoy his work. The bottom line is that Standardbreds are sensible,
affectionate, sound, easy-keeping, intelligent, hardy horses and just
fabulous to be around. They are especially good horses for families. Standardbreds are THE horse you should consider as your first horse, or
your farm’s work-horse!
