8 Ways to Fix The Pacing Horse
By Gaye DeRusso
Most horses that pace are usually high headed with an ewe neck (usually a straight neck with more muscle on the bottom side of the neck instead of an arched neck with muscle on the top side of the neck) they get this neck from bracing against the bit and they tend to have a tense hollow back.
When they pace, they swing their legs and tense their back instead of picking their legs up and driving with their hind quarters. The pace is uncomfortable to ride but it can also make your horse trippy since they are not picking their feet up very high. It is a 2-beat gait, and if you want a smooth gait, you must get your horse to do a 4- beat gait.
There are many reasons horses pace. Here are a few -breeding, conformation, saddle fit, unconditioned, stiffness, pain and riding your horse past its gait speed, to name a few. So here are some ways to help fix your horse from pacing.
1. Have a chiropractor or body worker evaluate your horse. They can relieve sore and blocked muscles and help him to become more flexible. They can also give you good stretching exercises to do with your horse in between sessions. Some horses are carrying so much tension in their body that it causes pain when they try to do the correct gait. So, they pace to be comfortable.
2. Make sure your saddle fits correctly and puts you in a balanced position on your horse. If the saddle pinches your horse, it may cause him pain to gait and therefore, he does not want to gait. If the saddle puts you in a chair position with your leg out in front of you, instead of a balanced position with your leg under you, this can also cause pacing and puts more pressure on your horse's kidneys.
3. Teach your horse how to relax, round its back and lower its head. It is not just the lowering of its head; you also need to teach it to stretch their back and relax the muscles they use for pacing. First, teach the horse lateral flexion, then vertical flexion to bring its head down. Then do a plain walk over poles to get it stretch its head and neck forward and use its muscles to pick up its legs instead of swinging its legs.
Practice lateral bending exercises - circles, serpentine, spiral circles, leg yield, shoulder in and haunches in. All these exercises will make the horse more supple, relaxed, build strength and help separate the horses' legs. Once they can do this well at a slow walk with no pace, start to add a little bit more speed to start your flat walk. This will be the hardest part, do not try and go any faster, stay at your flat walk. He must be able to flat walk well with the correct foot fall before you go faster, and this will take 3 months.
If at any time he tries to pace, stop and back up 5 steps and then immediately go forward, do not give any rest. Anytime he is flat walking well with no pace, stop and give him a rest on a loose rein. Then start again after a couple of minutes. So, he is rewarded when he gaits and given more work when he paces.
4. Condition your horse to gait. Some have never been conditioned correctly. Work his flat walk in the arena as above and on the trail, but do not go any faster. Work this flat walk for 3 months if possible. This will increase your horse's strength, balance, so he will be able to go faster once conditioned. It is better to stay at the flat walk too long then too short when conditioning your horse. A month is not long enough. If you try and go faster before he is conditioned, he will try and go back to pacing.
Flat Walk all the hills on the trail and make sure your horse keeps his head down and you feel him pushing with his hindquarter. Go very slow down all the hills and serpentine if room to help keep your horse out of the pace. Down hills make horses go more lateral toward a pace, so you need to stay very slow and keep him on his hindquarter not on his front end.
5. After 3 months start to ask for more speed, if you feel them getting pacey on trail, then only do your intermediate gait up the hills and otherwise stay at a flat walk, till they gain more strength to hold it on the flat. Your horse needs to learn to push with his hindquarters instead of swinging his legs.
In the arena, if still pacey as you ask for the next gait, use poles, and only speed up in front of the poles. You can even make a circle of poles and only do your intermediate gait in the circle. Over time your horse will build the strength and not need the poles, once they have been conditioned and have the muscles to gait. Slowly remove every other pole as he gets better, then more poles as he is able to hold the speed and his gait. Then use your lateral exercises if you feel any bit of the pace starting and this will separate his legs and get him back toward the gait.
6. Make sure you are riding your horse balanced. Keep your shoulders over your hips and your heels underneath your hips. Keep your weight right behind the horse's withers where he is the strongest. You can try tipping your pelvis forward as this sometimes will help a pacey horse. Do not sit like you sit in a chair, this will usually cause them to pace more.
7. Teach your horse to trot over poles loose or on a lunge line. By teaching him to trot, he will start to use other muscles which will help him get stronger but also to square up his gait. If he will not trot, add more poles or bring the poles closer together, so there are only 3-4 of your steps in between the poles. Reward him with rest when he trots, so he understands.
Do not trot undersaddle or you will have another issue. This is just to do when he is loose. Many gaited horses can trot when loose, so do not worry that he is all of a sudden going to trot undersaddle. The trotting will build his strength and teach him to pick up his feet which will help to get you the 4 -beat gait.
7. Cantering will help break up the lateral movement of the pace. If you teach your horse to canter, it will help him to separate his legs and make him stronger. You may have to use poles or a jump to get him into the canter. On trail use hills to canter not the flat until he can canter well.
8. Each horse has a limit to the speed of their gait. If your horse is smooth when he is slow but paces as he goes faster, then you may be riding him past his gaiting speed. Remember most horses intermediate gait speed is between 5-7 mph. Some will gait faster, and some will be slower.
All these things I have listed, will build strength but if you keep riding your horse past his speed to gait, then you will always get the pace. The pace and trot are at the end of the gaited spectrum
Trot- fox trot- fox walk- flat walk-running walk or saddle gait- rack- step pace - Pace
So, keep this in mind, that maybe you are just riding him too fast. Have a gaited trainer take a look or ride the horse or send a video to me or another gaited trainer and get their opinion. I have seen so many riders and non-gaited trainers ride the horse past their gait, then claim the horse just paces. When in fact the horse gaits well, but not as fast as they are trying to get. Remember their gaits are below the pace and the trot not faster than the pace or trot.
By Gaye DeRusso
Most horses that pace are usually high headed with an ewe neck (usually a straight neck with more muscle on the bottom side of the neck instead of an arched neck with muscle on the top side of the neck) they get this neck from bracing against the bit and they tend to have a tense hollow back.
When they pace, they swing their legs and tense their back instead of picking their legs up and driving with their hind quarters. The pace is uncomfortable to ride but it can also make your horse trippy since they are not picking their feet up very high. It is a 2-beat gait, and if you want a smooth gait, you must get your horse to do a 4- beat gait.
There are many reasons horses pace. Here are a few -breeding, conformation, saddle fit, unconditioned, stiffness, pain and riding your horse past its gait speed, to name a few. So here are some ways to help fix your horse from pacing.
1. Have a chiropractor or body worker evaluate your horse. They can relieve sore and blocked muscles and help him to become more flexible. They can also give you good stretching exercises to do with your horse in between sessions. Some horses are carrying so much tension in their body that it causes pain when they try to do the correct gait. So, they pace to be comfortable.
2. Make sure your saddle fits correctly and puts you in a balanced position on your horse. If the saddle pinches your horse, it may cause him pain to gait and therefore, he does not want to gait. If the saddle puts you in a chair position with your leg out in front of you, instead of a balanced position with your leg under you, this can also cause pacing and puts more pressure on your horse's kidneys.
3. Teach your horse how to relax, round its back and lower its head. It is not just the lowering of its head; you also need to teach it to stretch their back and relax the muscles they use for pacing. First, teach the horse lateral flexion, then vertical flexion to bring its head down. Then do a plain walk over poles to get it stretch its head and neck forward and use its muscles to pick up its legs instead of swinging its legs.
Practice lateral bending exercises - circles, serpentine, spiral circles, leg yield, shoulder in and haunches in. All these exercises will make the horse more supple, relaxed, build strength and help separate the horses' legs. Once they can do this well at a slow walk with no pace, start to add a little bit more speed to start your flat walk. This will be the hardest part, do not try and go any faster, stay at your flat walk. He must be able to flat walk well with the correct foot fall before you go faster, and this will take 3 months.
If at any time he tries to pace, stop and back up 5 steps and then immediately go forward, do not give any rest. Anytime he is flat walking well with no pace, stop and give him a rest on a loose rein. Then start again after a couple of minutes. So, he is rewarded when he gaits and given more work when he paces.
4. Condition your horse to gait. Some have never been conditioned correctly. Work his flat walk in the arena as above and on the trail, but do not go any faster. Work this flat walk for 3 months if possible. This will increase your horse's strength, balance, so he will be able to go faster once conditioned. It is better to stay at the flat walk too long then too short when conditioning your horse. A month is not long enough. If you try and go faster before he is conditioned, he will try and go back to pacing.
Flat Walk all the hills on the trail and make sure your horse keeps his head down and you feel him pushing with his hindquarter. Go very slow down all the hills and serpentine if room to help keep your horse out of the pace. Down hills make horses go more lateral toward a pace, so you need to stay very slow and keep him on his hindquarter not on his front end.
5. After 3 months start to ask for more speed, if you feel them getting pacey on trail, then only do your intermediate gait up the hills and otherwise stay at a flat walk, till they gain more strength to hold it on the flat. Your horse needs to learn to push with his hindquarters instead of swinging his legs.
In the arena, if still pacey as you ask for the next gait, use poles, and only speed up in front of the poles. You can even make a circle of poles and only do your intermediate gait in the circle. Over time your horse will build the strength and not need the poles, once they have been conditioned and have the muscles to gait. Slowly remove every other pole as he gets better, then more poles as he is able to hold the speed and his gait. Then use your lateral exercises if you feel any bit of the pace starting and this will separate his legs and get him back toward the gait.
6. Make sure you are riding your horse balanced. Keep your shoulders over your hips and your heels underneath your hips. Keep your weight right behind the horse's withers where he is the strongest. You can try tipping your pelvis forward as this sometimes will help a pacey horse. Do not sit like you sit in a chair, this will usually cause them to pace more.
7. Teach your horse to trot over poles loose or on a lunge line. By teaching him to trot, he will start to use other muscles which will help him get stronger but also to square up his gait. If he will not trot, add more poles or bring the poles closer together, so there are only 3-4 of your steps in between the poles. Reward him with rest when he trots, so he understands.
Do not trot undersaddle or you will have another issue. This is just to do when he is loose. Many gaited horses can trot when loose, so do not worry that he is all of a sudden going to trot undersaddle. The trotting will build his strength and teach him to pick up his feet which will help to get you the 4 -beat gait.
7. Cantering will help break up the lateral movement of the pace. If you teach your horse to canter, it will help him to separate his legs and make him stronger. You may have to use poles or a jump to get him into the canter. On trail use hills to canter not the flat until he can canter well.
8. Each horse has a limit to the speed of their gait. If your horse is smooth when he is slow but paces as he goes faster, then you may be riding him past his gaiting speed. Remember most horses intermediate gait speed is between 5-7 mph. Some will gait faster, and some will be slower.
All these things I have listed, will build strength but if you keep riding your horse past his speed to gait, then you will always get the pace. The pace and trot are at the end of the gaited spectrum
Trot- fox trot- fox walk- flat walk-running walk or saddle gait- rack- step pace - Pace
So, keep this in mind, that maybe you are just riding him too fast. Have a gaited trainer take a look or ride the horse or send a video to me or another gaited trainer and get their opinion. I have seen so many riders and non-gaited trainers ride the horse past their gait, then claim the horse just paces. When in fact the horse gaits well, but not as fast as they are trying to get. Remember their gaits are below the pace and the trot not faster than the pace or trot.