Collingwood Standardbreds

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‘Joseph’

11yo French Trotter gelding, approximately 16hh, recently retired from racing and isproving to be a wonderfully fun and straightforward riding horse as well as an absolute pleasure to own and handle in every way. Has hacked extensively, and recently started jumping and hunting which he is taking to well.

He is:

◦ Easy and well mannered to catch, clip, shoe, load, travel, wash, tack up etc — a truly lovely person who will be greatly missed

◦ Forward-going, surefooted and sensible to ride, whether alone or in company, on the roads or in open spaces

◦ Brilliant in traffic as he used to be driven through a town every day

◦ An experienced driving horse BUT not quite as straightforward to drive as he is to ride, and can be strong

◦ Showing early promise with jumping. He loves it and is making rapid progress, so would be a very rewarding project for someone interested in taking his education further

◦ 5-gaited which means that as well as walk, trot, canter and gallop, he can also pace (this is unusual for a French Trotter). He has a lovely comfortable canter and gallop, a relaxed but purposeful and ground-covering walk, the biggest and most extravagant trot you can imagine, and a leisurely amble/pace for when you want to go at the speed of a normal horse’s trot. This quirk is the only reason for his low price but it is only really a disadvantage if you intend to do dressage!

◦ Brilliant at standing — at junctions and traffic lights, on the open hill, at the meet or on the hunting field (a rare talent for a racehorse)

◦ Intelligent, kind and a quick learner

◦ Used to living in or out, alone or in company, and gets on well with both mares and geldings

◦ Free from any vices or health conditions as far as I am aware, and open to vetting

◦ Up to date with shoeing, worming and vaccinations

He is not:

◦ A ready-made rosette machine as he has not long retired from racing and will need further schooling before he is competitive in other disciplines

◦ Suitable for a very nervous or unbalanced rider as his trot is huge and he can be momentarily strong (but never for long) when something exciting happens

◦ A bucker, biter, kicker, rearer or napper

◦ A plod, or ‘200% bombproof’. He is alert, athletic and fast (but also sensible and responsive) so if your comfort zone is slowly plodding he will not suit

£4000 Ono but home is more important than price!

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Jr

Ithon JR is a sweet, eccentric Standardbred pacer that we have never tried very hard to rehome as he is a very quirky ride and not for the faint hearted! However, he is a fantastic companion as he is extremely hardy and low maintenance.

We raced him ourselves in 2018/2019 and during this time he was trained under saddle by my partner who was relatively new to riding (JR was his second horse). He always enjoyed riding him and found him perfectly manageable, but he is a farmer and is used to cattle so in comparison JR was no trouble.

Good points:

• Cheap and easy to keep: winters out on a Welsh hill farm with no rug and minimal extra forage
• Gets on well with mares and geldings
• Up to date with worming and hoof trimming
• Can be a lovely smooth, comfortable ride once he’s got to know you
• Surefooted and doesn’t pull
• Good to catch, shoe and handle (haven’t tried clipping) although he can be a bit tense initially in a new place or if his routine changes
• Great to load and travel (trailer or lorry)

Bad points:

• He only has one eye (the other one succumbed to a blackthorn hedge a few years ago) but copes very well
• TERRIBLE in traffic — he arrived with such a health warning in this respect that we decided not to risk it, and just trained him on the hill. He is fine with farm traffic (tractors, quads etc) but I think he has had a bad experience on the road
• He likes to try out new riders just to satisfy himself that they can actually ride. He doesn’t rear or try to put you on the floor, but the only way I can describe it is that he is very wiggly and evasive for the first few minutes and it doesn’t inspire much confidence!
• Sometimes he rotates 90 degrees and walks/trots/paces sideways like a crab. He can do this at astonishing speeds and there’s not a lot you can do about it (although losing an eye seemed to help…)
• After an extended period off work he behaves like he’s never been ridden before, just for the first few minutes

£900 only because it is slightly more than the meat man pays, but we’d be equally happy with a local LOAN or LWVTB. This horse owes us nothing and if nobody wants him he will continue to live out his days on the farm.