Poet

[Lacey]

Twist biting at him? Haha that doesn't sound like Twister at ALL. hahaaaa //not.
Feel free to kick his butt if I'm not there, or just throw him in his stall and shut his gate too.
I have yet to see you with this beautiful creature! But he looks nice
Good luck with the training! Let me know if you need any help!

[jubag]

He is such a beautiful horse!
I also heard poles are wonderful for pacers to encourage the trot! Talk to Renee or Becca on here, they have lots of experience with Velvet, a rocky as well! i'm sure they could give you some helpful tips to help with getting him out of those gaits.

Definitely second the lunging ! IMO every horse should be good at lunging (both with rider and without).. It's so useful in a number of ways : )
Good luck!

[Kayla D]

Pm'ed

[Danielle]

March 4th.

Thanks to the freezing rain. no ride today I worked a little on bridling him and he's getting much better! I put him in the crossties and after a couple tugs, he calmed right down and just stood there, not even trying to wander! I was amazed at how calm he was compared to yesterday, he barely even pawed and didn't kick once today. Hoping to start working on him with lunging as soon as the weather and riding conditons. Very, very good day

[ridersup]

Not meaning to offend, but why is gaiting bad ? Gaiting or "ambling" is comfortable to ride. Poet is bred from champions to do exactly this.
Some RM's trot very well,but I would improve his NATURAL gaits before attempting to change what he is bred to do. If he offers the trot, then work away, I just think that focusing on CHANGING him might be a bit unfair at this early stage.
He is very green, and will work more willingly if he's doing his thing. Once he becomes more balanced, then he can be encouraged to use and develop his trot.
IMPORTANT : This is NOT meant as a criticism of anything you do. I am genuinely asking the question...why NOT gait....as he is bred for it?

[hjcayus]

Well stated Ridersup. Poet is gaited and the rack is a more lateral movement than diagonal. Gaited horses have varying degrees of lateralness and that means the pace can show up more than one might want. One needs to understand how the intermediate gait in question works (with the horse in question) and how it feels when done well and consistantly. One cannot remove inbred ability and tendencies. Enjoy what he is bred to do. And as Ridersup said, if the trot is offered utilize it.

[Danielle]

I'm not really trying to change him out of it, just more so I want him to be able to trot too, as it's needed for the show ring. I'm not actually working too much for a trot yet, just getting some ideas on what to do when the time comes. Right now, I am just working on controlling him and keeping him moving, and right now, I ask for a trot, but if he racks, I just ask again and if he doesn't, then I don't punish him in anyway. I'm just collecting as many ideas as possible for when I do start working on him, as I have no idea how to yet. Trust me, I really want to have that racking for when I start trail riding with him, but I'm really hoping to have him okay at the trot for this summer, so I can put him in walk trot classes. But I will certianly not rush him into it if he's not ready.

March 6th.

He was good as gold in the crossties, even for bridling! Then I took him out and had to fight with him to for 5-10 minutes to get on him. Then riding was another battle. He was stopping and sidetepping and turning, doing everything to do opposite of what I wanted. I managed to get him to walk a few times around and then a couple rails of rack. Once when I asked for a trot, he cantered! I was amazed but had to pull him back, because I don't have the control or trust to continue at that pace yet. I got off shortly after that and left him alone. Very good day!

[Danielle]

March 7th.

Took Poet out today. He was pretty bad at first, slamming me in to the gate and fences. He tried to lie down in the snow and he wouldn't go past the gate at all. I got some help from a friend of mine who has experience with rackers and he seemed very willing to go past the gate and he seemed to enjoy moving up to a canter and a little bit of trot too! Very very pleased with progress

[htrimm08]

he slammed you into the gate? ... I really hope you did something about that.

[katie muise]

wow! thinking exactly what heather said! ^
very dangereous and if you let him away with it once, he may try it again and again..

[ariana]

WOW! Gate slamming? That must of hurt , hopefully he's getting better !

[langb80]

Are you working with a coach or trainer with this horse? He seems quite unpredictable and a little dangerous. I hope you have some experienced help.

[Danielle]

I did tell him off for that, but our gate is really just a board and he figured out if he knocks it hard enough, it'll fall down. He stopped it after a few times. And my trainer hasn't been able to help me yet. He had a bit of a bad start today, but behaved nicely after.

[Amyy]

I am pretty sure Poet is at Adventure Stables. In which Kathy would be her coach!
Which means she is in excellent hands.

[langb80]

Thanks Amy