From harness to saddle, whos trained em?

I was wondering ( and excuse my lack of knowledge here lol) how do you go about 'breaking' a ex trotter/pacer to saddle? have any of you done it yourselves or is it wiser to send them to a breaker?

cheers :-)

Bandicoot is the expert, but I have broken in a few. I am by no means as experienced as Bandicoot thou.

It really depends on the age/ experiences / etc of the horse as to where you start. I NEVER get on a STB that has not been remouthed. If you are wondering what that means, problem horses australia have a great DVD that shows you how. Worth its weight in gold

Tell us a bit more about the horse that you are talking about and either myself or Bandicoot will be able to give you some guidance. Its hard to give accurate advice when you are not right there thou.

Check out Bandicoots website Aylesbury Lodge - she has a page "renaes Rave" that covers quite a bit about remouthing etc.

good luck with it and ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, that is the only way we learn

Check out our website www.aylesburylodge.com for all the low down on breaking in to saddle.

Thanks for your responses guys :-)
Reason I ask is that im curious about the 'ride-ability' of a straight off the track standie....
Being new to the world of the standardbred im not sure how it works and the training level required of a fresh off the track stb.
Ive had a standie for a few months thats been off the track for a few years and hes going great guns, very little pacing and cantering quite well now (thanks mrs HP's dvds!) but has he scars, so no showing :-(.
I am keen to get another standie for just that :-)

Whats the likelihood of killing myself by getting one off the track and trying to ride the bugger?

They are well versed in being geared up, used to the bit, have breaks etc, but what are they like to chuck a saddle and rider on? how do they respond initially to leg aids etc?
I imagine it wouldnt be like normal breakers with a buck or 10 hehe.

You guys must be lol'o rama at this question, but please bear with me.
I know i sound gung-ho and quite possibly like im on hardcore drugs, but i am just seriously keen to learn more.

Cheers!

There are no stupid questions, only simple mistakes made by not asking simple questions.

And the reason I set up this forum is so that questions such as your could be asked. So ask away.

A straight off the track STB is really no different to a STB that was raced, in fact, ott STBs can be easier to break in. Its really up to the individual horse. If you are looking at a particular horse, its a good idea to get an experienced person to come out with you.

Lunging a STB, five mins a day remouthing is the trick before you even get on. SOme STBS have hard mouths from racing and you dont want to find you have no breaks once you are on them

Then introduce the saddle and lunge them with that on them. Then i ted to spend a couple of days just getting on them, and off them , on them and off them, so they are use to it and getting on them is not a big deal. Then I get craig to lead me for a while, usually a couple of days, then riding them in the round yard, then paddock then trails. Mind you in saying that there are some that I have just got on bareback just because they are so incredibly quiet that they dont care.

The first step is getting them use to the saddle on the lunge, etc, until they are like "oh whatever a new thingo on me okay"

I have a vid on u tube of me getting on my first standie Ace. This was after remouthing for two days, a day off, and lunging with the saddle etc.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2kM1wjV8pr0

Thats only the second time I was on her. The day before I got on and off her several times so she was cool with it.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ooX0pRBZ3dI

This was ten minutes later.

It can be done. See how good her brakes are?? Thats the magic of remouthing

The leg aids are something that they are a bit frigtened of to start with. Ace didnt get them to start with so I carried a dressage whip to give her a small tap of the rump with when I was using leg aids and I only had to tap ( and I mean tap, like you would on someones shoulder) so that she understaood that I wanted her to go forward. In the second vid you will see I dont have it anymore, simply because she no longer needed it she understood. However trottsie just got it straight away.

If its your first time I would recommend a horse over five simply because they are a bit older and calmer. If you are looking for one let me know and Bandicoot and I will find you one up near your way that we think is suitable for a first timer to break in