A Standardbred referred to a horse that could meet a certain standard of speed in order to be registered. Today horses must still meet a speed/time requirement to race.
Hambletonian 10
Year Foaled | Letter |
1978 | W |
1979 | X |
1980 | Y |
1981 | Z |
1982 | A |
1983 | B |
1984 | C |
1985 | D |
1986 | E |
1987 | F |
1988 | G |
1989 | H |
1990 | J |
1991 | K |
1992 | L |
1993 | M |
1994 | N |
1995 | P |
1996 | R |
1997 | S |
1998 | T |
1999 | V |
2000 | W |
2001 | X |
2002 | Y |
2003 | Z |
Tennessee Walking Horse
January 1
Standardbreds are permanently identified by the United States Trotting Association and Standardbred Canada with either a lip tattoo or a freeze brand on the right side of the neck. (Freeze brands began to be allowed in 1995 and thereafter.) The tattoos or freeze brands are five characters long, composed of letters and numbers.
For horses born in 1981 or earlier, the first three digits are numbers. The fourth character can be a letter or a number, and the fifth character is a letter indicating the year of foaling. The letters M, N, O, Q, and U are not used in tattoos of horses born in 1981 or earlier.
So the tattoo might look something like this:
3456Y or 345BY (born in 1980).
For horses born in 1982 or later, the first character is a letter, indicating the year of foaling. The letters I, O, Q, and U are not used in tattoos of horses born in 1982 or later. The second character can be a letter or number, and the last three digits are numbers. So the tattoo might look something like this: A1234 or AA123(born in 1982).
The above is edited from:
http://www.mi-harness.com/Mich/SEP.htm
Trotters move the legs in a diagonal pair (left front and right hind together)Pacers move the legs in a lateral pair (left front and left hind)Pacers are considered to be faster than trotters and easier to train to stay on gait to race due to the use of hopples.In the United States there are more pacers then trotters trained and raced.
Standardbreds trained to race are very “user friendly”. They have been handled daily and are used to a routine. They are also used to a large amount of equipment on their bodies and distractions around them. To be saddle trained they need to get used to the rider’s weight and learn the cues from the rider’s legs. Most take to the basics very quickly.
Most horses can naturally gallop, not all horses can do a collected canter. Standardbreds have been bred to have a long ground covering stride at the trot or pace. They are also trained at the track not to canter. Some, due to training and conformation, will have a hard time learning to canter with a rider but many do make the switch to a 3-gaited pleasure horse.
Approximately 40% of the horses bred each year never get to race at all. Horses start racing at the age of 2 and due to the rigors of the sport many are retired at the age of 4 or 5. Horses must retire from racing at the age of 14. This means that the majority of Standardbreds bred to race need new homes or careers by the age of 14.
Very few Standardbreds are natural pacers. Most trot when free in the pasture. Due to the training and genetics some can be trained to stay on gait like the walking horse or fox trotter. When nervous or unsound, trotting horses may revert back to pacing.
This depends on the individual. Standardbreds can have big forward trots that can be harder to sit on in a western saddle but training the horse to stay gaiting at a slow pace or stepping pace can give a smooth ride. Neck reining can be trained as in any other western breed. Many are used for speed events like barrel racing as the gait doesn’t matter, just fastest time.
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