Hi folks,

My horse and I will be riding our first hunter pace in two weeks.  I will be going out on my 11 year old Appendix Quarter Horse gelding who is good on the trails as well as a nice jumper in the ring during our lessons, and we will be with my husband, who is a solid rider and will be taking out one of my trainer's horses (who also has never done a pace, but is very level-headed generally.)  The pace is a very popular event in our area, and takes place about ten miles from our barn.  They tell me it takes an hour to an hour and a half to ride the course, and we will be doing the Pleasure division.  All the jumps have optional go-arounds.  Of course we are not thinking about winning anything, just finishing safely and spending a nice spring day outside with the horses.

Does anybody have any tips for me, or thoughts about this?  I appreciate any input at all.  I can't wait, but I am also a little nervous.

 No tips, just have fun. It sounds like a great time!

don't be nervous!  the nice thing about hunter paces is if you are uncertain about a jump you can go around to check the landing side, you can trot the jumps and you can even go around and do it again!  you are doing the pleasure division so just relax and enjoy the ride!  be ready for the unexepected though, we had deer run out in front of us at one pace and that just freaks the horses out!! cows can be iffy for some horese. one year someone jumped a log with a bees nest in it and horse were flying out of the woods riderless....not so much fun! but that stuff can happen on any trail ride. also if there are hunt club riders in your area riding in the pace watch out for them because they often times take the paces way to seriously and will come barreling up behind you. depending on the pace they may have a vet check in the middle and  a place for you and your horse to get a drink, thats always nice! let us know how you do!!

 You're going to have so much fun! I love hunter paces because it seems like the horses enjoy them just as much, if not more so, than the riders. Just remember to stay relaxed and don't feel like you have to gallop the entire thing like some crazy folks will be doing. Heh. 

I hope I don't sound completely clueless, but....what exactly is a hunter pace? I've heard/read the term a lot, but am a little unclear on the specifics. Is it like a hunt-less hunt?

 A hunter pace is basically a timed trail ride.  You try to get as close as possible to the optimum time.  There are usually multiple divisions for different paces and with or without jumps.  

And nothing to be nervous about, it really rides just like a trail ride, you should have no problems, have fun!

 You'll have a blast!  Just go out and ride and have fun.

I've done a couple paces here and had a great time.  There are the people that blast around the course, going for the optimum time, but you certainly don't have to do that.  You can jump as much as you want, or not at all.  Jump a few things that look inviting and maybe bypass the harder ones.  Do only what you feel like, it's all up to you.

My claim to fame to our local pace was having the slowest time on course.  I think the "record" still stands.  I went with a friend and we just planned to bop around the course.  We ended up escorting a new rider trying out a horse and that did not go so well.

The pot luck after was the best part!

Good luck, have fun and most importantly, come back and tell us how it went!

Hunter paces are fantastic, I really wish we had them in our area.  My childhood pony was gaited (half Tennesee Walker) and my trainer thought she was completely useless because she is a dressage instructor, but she could clean up at hunter paces, she'd just hit a comfortable gait and pop over everything with ease.  Most fun EVER!  I'm so jealous!

Thanks for all of the support, everybody!  For the person who asked what a hunter pace is, I'm going to add a little more detail about the one I'm planning to ride, since I only found out myself exactly what it is a year or so ago. 

Apparently, a member of the local hunt rides a prescribed course at some kind of "ideal" pace, both for "Hunt" division, which is faster, and "Pleasure," which is moderate.  (Our pace also has Junior and Western divisions.)  The time it takes is noted.  On Hunter Pace day, teams of two to four riders begin the course at prearranged times so that everybody isn't riding in a crowd.  Those who finish in the time closest to the timed rate (not necessarily the fastest) for each division "win" the pace.  The trick is, you don't really know of course how fast the huntsman/huntswoman actually went, so there's not necessarily an advantage to going as fast as you can.  However, they tell me that the Hunt division is actually quite fast.  At this pace, there are fences, but they all have easy go-arounds.  The pace takes place in the morning, and then everybody has a nice lunch.

 Congratulations to the person with the SLOWEST time at your local pace.  That's very amusing.

LPC:

Congratulations to the person with the SLOWEST time at your local pace

Well, we all have to excel at something,,,,,

LPC,

Wow, that sounds like a good time! I wish we had those down here in Miami. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things we don't have - trails, XC courses, hunts, hunter paces, etc. Yes, we are quite lacking! Oh, well, I guess the mild winters somewhat make up for it.

Yeah, the next time you feel envy about our nice jumpable stone walls and bridle trails through the woods and hunter paces up here in southern Connecticut/New York, think about how I just gave up and gave my horse a three month vacation this year due to the freezing weather, rock-solid frozen mud on the ground, and lack of access to an indoor arena!

I envy you folks in FL a LOT when it's 10 degrees out!  I have dreams about horses with nice short shiny coats and riding around in the sun with a T-shirt on, or maybe complaining that I have to put on a little sweatshirt or something!!

I'm serious; this winter was terrible for riding in the Northeast.  Normally the temperature fluctuates some and you get some mild riding days in, but it got cold in early November and didn't let up until the end of March.  It wasn't just the cold, either; in places with snow at least you have decent footing, but without snow, it get's really slippery.  I know, the folks in the Midwest have it much much worse, but relocating to the south seems mighty appealing at times!  Whew!  Thanks for letting me vent.  I am now going to take advantage of this gorgeous spring day and go outside.  Happy Mother's Day, everybody.

Lol, LPC - yes, living in the tropics does have some advantages. However, there are also some definite disadvantages, as well. In order to make you feel better, I shall list a few:

1.) The Summer. It lasts for about six months and is basically the equivalent to living in an oven...or on the sun...or maybe an oven on the sun.

2.) The bugs. They outnumber you by about 950,000 to one and some of them are mutant-ly huge. Also, we have Palmetto bugs, which is just a fancy name for roaches with wings.

3.) Hurricanes. While I haven't been through anything catastrophic yet, *knocks on wood* the week to two weeks before a hurricane is absolute chaos. It turns into a war zone - two hour waits for gas (if you can get it), complete mayhem @ the grocery stores and Home Depot, and a general air of panic. I have literally seen people climbing the shelves @ Home Depot, on a crazed mission for tapcons and batteries.

4.) The sun. Yeah, did I mention that we pretty much live on it? I slather on SPF 50 every day like my life depends on it. People down here are at a much higher risk for skin cancer, especially us pasty white Irish lasses.

That said, it's still great fun to call your northern friends in the middle of the winter and tell them you're sitting on the beach, wearing a tank top and sipping an alcoholic slushy. Those screams of frustration will never get old!

Oh, boy everybody.  Thanks for all your encouraging words, but my hunter pace experience was terrible!  I'm so disappointed.

I really thought I had schooled my horse adequately prior to this--we rode trails, we did lessons several times a week, I rode without stirrups like crazy, and we had the advice of our trainer on how to make this a good experience.  We borrowed a trailer from an acquaintance and loaded up the horses, and I really thought that my horse, being a solidly schooled 11 year old with plenty of mileage, would be the more dependable of the two--he's been to shows and all kinds of places, but never with me.  My husband borrowed my trainer's 6-year-old, who is very calm but still green.  Was I ever wrong about who to worry about!

We got to the pace without incident, as both horses are good shippers, loading and riding in the trailer quietly.  My trainer was along as our coach for moral support (and also for fun.)  The horses were excited when we unloaded and saw all the people and horses, but I expected that--why wouldn't they look around excitedly?  I did too!  So although I was nervous, I mounted up and rode my horse around, keeping the reins loose and my legs relaxed.  I patted my horse on the neck and told him we were going to have a nice day.

We arrived shortly before our scheduled start time, because my trainer said if we kept the horses standing around, they'd get fussy and anxious, so we should just get there and head out.  Now I wish we had gotten there an hour early so I could ride until my horse was exhausted before attempting to do anything organized.  And we signed up for an early time, figuring it would be quieter there if we did that, and therefore less stressful for the horses, but evidently eight a.m. wasn't early enough, because it was already really busy.

So we walked off towards the start, which was across a field, down a slope, across another field, and then down another gentle slope.  As we walked down the first slope and reached the second field, I started feeling my horse's tension and energy building, and he started accelerating, tossing his head and prancing.  I wanted to keep him on a fairly loose rein to keep everything relaxed, but lots of teams were making their ways toward the start, and I had to ask him to wait our turn a little bit.  Plus, we were getting way ahead of my husband.  An energetic walk or a trot would have been fine but I couldn't let him just race ahead because he felt like it.  So I did all the things they tell you to to regain your horse's attention when he's excited--leg yields, circles, half-halts, pulling him out of line so we could go up and down, reassuring him calmly, scolding him--anything I could think of to show him that fretting doesn't get him there any faster.  He just got more and more worked up, hopping and bouncing, and spinning in place when I asked him to turn, evading my aids every way that he could.

I basically ran out of ideas, and started to realize that the more I asked him to calm down, the more worked up he got, but I didn't think I could let him have his head either and couldn't think of anything else to try, so I hopped off him--I kind of thought I was about to end up on the ground soon anyway!  I held his reins and he trotted around me in frantic circles, and then suddenly I was face down in the gravel and he was galloping away.  I popped up immediately, yelling, "heads up; loose horse!"  He ran a few hundred yards and then stopped when he got to some really good grass.  I walked up to him and took hold of his reins, and he didn't resist.  I don't think he was running AWAY from me, I think he was just--running.  And I don't think anything spooked him.  I think he was just over-excited, like a little kid.  I was crying in frustration and from nerves and my husband was upset for me--he got on my horse and rode him around, and he agreed that my horse seemed to have a real "edge." 

I am so discouraged!  And I didn't think getting back on right then was a very good idea, either.  Whatever was bothering my horse, in his head or outside it, was probably still there.  We walked up to the trailers again, and my trainer was shocked to see us!  Unfortunately, my trainer has a neurologic problem that makes it very hard for her to ride, and she can't really hold on to a fractious horse very well due to lower extremity weakness.  I know she wished that she could ride up and down that slope a thousand times until my horse would do it quietly!  I guess the solution is to borrow trailers a million times this summer and go all kinds of places with my horse so that he just doesn't care anymore. 

Some people also suggested half a CC of acepromazine!  I didn't realize people did that, but I see how it might've helped.  So my hunter pace day was quite memorable, but more due to disappointment than anything else, and also that nagging feeling that if I were a GOOD rider I would've ridden through it somehow.  Thanks to any of you who have bothered to get to the bottom of this very long post.

 I'm so sorry for your disappointing experience! It sounds like my nightmare of what a hunter pace would be and why I've always been afraid to try one. But please don't call yourself a bad rider because of this. I know how easy that is to do, and I'm starting to realize that getting down on yourself only makes things worse. Pick out the things that did go right and figure out how to build on them. You used good judgment in dismounting. You warned the other riders about a loose horse. You easily caught him.

My horse is the quietest thing in the world, but the last time I took her to a show - a very small, low-level show - she broke her lead rope twice because she didn't want to be tied at the trailer while her buddies were being ridden just out of her sight. She hasn't been out much either, and I really believe the only solution is to show much more - which I'm not going to do because I just don't enjoy it (HATE braiding and get too nervous about competing). At this show, I disqualified in three out of four classes and go no ribbon in the fourth. But the positives were: I learned what I needed to practice on to get better; my horse got a little more experience away from home; and she was absolutely obedient in the ring itself. So yes, it was a little embarrassing but I'm glad I went.

 I really think you should get back out there at least once - but not necessarily to a hunter pace. Have you done other types of shows? Small local shows often have game classes that are lots of fun. The game classes I was in (that I DQed in) were western oriented but it was totally okay for me to compete in my English saddle. You said your horse has shown before, but have you? It does take some getting used to. Think positive! You learned some important things. Now, what to do about them?