# gypsy trotting horses



## ProperBo (15 July 2008)

am been a bit dim here but what do they look like as such and breed wise what info can anyone give me on them? 
not your normal black and white cob types though.


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## BigRed (15 July 2008)

Some gypsies have bought proper TB trotting horses and they pace rather than trot.   We often bump into them racing on the roads around Gatwick and Horley.

So the type we see are often just bay or brown TB type horses.  They drag the poor things out of a trailer and race up and down the road and then shove them back in the trailer and disappear off before the police arrive.


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## JM07 (15 July 2008)

some are fabulous animals...worth a bloody fortune..


http://www.yorkharnessracingclub.co.uk/


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## crazyponys (15 July 2008)

the bays that pace rather than trot ? tracey01 ?
surely there the pacers !!!! not trotters !!!!!!!!
my friend has some fantastic trotters and theres big money in the road races, and the horses.


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## simon0605 (15 July 2008)

A pacers breed is a standardbred they come in all colours shapes and sizes, we are starting to see more and more coloured ones been bred. the horse when pacing use the fore and hind legs of the same side together rather than diagonionally like a trotter or a riding horse. if you want to learn more about these they have there own website at www.bhrc.org.uk it is also shown on sky tv's welsh channel s4c some monday nights, you can find out dates etc by going on there website at www.s4c.co.uk/rasus, they can pace upto and around 30/ 32mph races are normally run over 1-1 &amp; quarter miles.  the carts the drivers use are called sulkys and are lightweight. they also use hobbles around there legs for the horses to strike them again this will be a differant length for each horse depending on there own length of stride. there are weather permitting grass tracks made at certain events (ie appleby) throughout the summer also hard tracks which run in most weather conditions within reason at york, tir prince, corbiewood etc they have also started race meeting at hereford and kempton park race courses. they also run trotting races along side the pacing ones, which bhrc also cover on there website. the racing season starts in may and runs till  the end of october, a big racing event held once a year is mussleburgh 5th &amp; 6th august, where owners trainers and drivers come from wales, england, ireland and the scots trying to win the big race the atmosphere is electric. to become a driver you have to apply to bhrc for a provisional licence and drive in atleast 3 qualifing races along side 2 experienced drivers, if you show you can manage safely you then have to get the track to sign your provisional and send it back to bhrc. its a great family day out &amp; like any other racing events has a bar &amp; betting etc. sorry its a long one but hope it helps you?


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## Donkeymad (15 July 2008)

Trotters with the gypseys can be anything. We have them near us and they use anything from half shires to show ponies with stick-pin legs.


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## ProperBo (15 July 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
A pacers breed is a standardbred they come in all colours shapes and sizes, we are starting to see more and more coloured ones been bred. the horse when pacing use the fore and hind legs of the same side together rather than diagonionally like a trotter or a riding horse. if you want to learn more about these they have there own website at www.bhrc.org.uk it is also shown on sky tv's welsh channel s4c some monday nights, you can find out dates etc by going on there website at www.s4c.co.uk/rasus, they can pace upto and around 30/ 32mph races are normally run over 1-1 &amp; quarter miles.  the carts the drivers use are called sulkys and are lightweight. they also use hobbles around there legs for the horses to strike them again this will be a differant length for each horse depending on there own length of stride. there are weather permitting grass tracks made at certain events (ie appleby) throughout the summer also hard tracks which run in most weather conditions within reason at york, tir prince, corbiewood etc they have also started race meeting at hereford and kempton park race courses. they also run trotting races along side the pacing ones, which bhrc also cover on there website. the racing season starts in may and runs till  the end of october, a big racing event held once a year is mussleburgh 5th &amp; 6th august, where owners trainers and drivers come from wales, england, ireland and the scots trying to win the big race the atmosphere is electric. to become a driver you have to apply to bhrc for a provisional licence and drive in atleast 3 qualifing races along side 2 experienced drivers, if you show you can manage safely you then have to get the track to sign your provisional and send it back to bhrc. its a great family day out &amp; like any other racing events has a bar &amp; betting etc. sorry its a long one but hope it helps you? 

[/ QUOTE ]

you seem to know a lot so do you do this then!?


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## christi (15 July 2008)

gosh Corbiewood, the last time i was there was about 10 years ago ...


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## simon0605 (15 July 2008)

yeah i have done both driving at home and getting them ready for the track on race days but i didnt drive them at races, would of liked to tho. im still a keen follower as i have shall we say a vested interest in it lol. its good fun and i take my son to watch he enjoys it.


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## Natassia (15 July 2008)

I hate seeing them, the pikeys near me are so brutal with them and make them trot quickly for miles along busy roads...generally they're ponies no bigger than 14.2hh and coloured. They're always quite lightweight but they're so young they aren't ald enough to have filled out. Its so cruel, they're absolutely terrified and they're being beaten along the road by a fat gypsy in a cart. I know some gypsies look after their horses but the travellers near me give them all a bad name.


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

your going on what you see! not all are coloured and upto 14.2 they can be any shape and size. they do race them as 2yr olds as there is races for them just the same as flat racing. you may see the ones near you do that, but i can only go on what i see and a proper events under rules they do use whips but if you look close you will see them using the whips to may a noise or hitting the shafts of the sulky to encourage them to pace faster. under rules they can get into trouble for over use of the whip the same as in flat/national hunt races.


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## brighteyes (16 July 2008)

Read what she^^^ put.  It is what she sees!  We all know about the 'licensed' stuff, and it's not what is being discussed here................


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## ProperBo (16 July 2008)

simon - funny how your only responing to my posts and are new!!!! would you like to elborate??
I am very curious as to your intentions.

responses are based on peoples own personal veiws ad opinion and not a generalisation.


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

properbo sorry i dont understand elborate on what? intensions of what??? i answerd you because you were the one who asked the question in the 1st place, yes i am new to this site but thought the hole point of this forum was to answer other people questions and have an oppinion? maybe i am mistaken!! you asked if i did what i wrote about and i answered you yes, well to the harness racing &amp; not to the flogging and/or the whiping. and i answered the person after me that generalised gypsy trotting horses at no bigger than 14.2 and mainly coloured and i wrote that they can come in any shape,size and colour. sorry but really confused!


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

brighteyes= i did read what natassia put which is why i wrote that she is going on what she see's!!! (sorry natassia if you took it the wrong way). i was also answering her that they do start them young because there is a need for it as there is races for them, SOME NOT ALL of these that are flogged up and down the roads will at sum point in there lives be involved in some form of racing. some of these will be ex trotting horses that once ran under rules or maybe the ones that arnt fast enough to race under rules that have been sold on because they cant or are to old to do the job they were bred for. and just for the record NO i dont agree with SOME gypsys yolking them up and flogging them up and down the roads, nobody does.


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## ProperBo (16 July 2008)

was just saying you have only answered the posts that I have put up thats all. Just wondered why.


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

i answered your post because you asked me the question is that what i do (harness racing) i have also answered other peoples posts too! i always try to answer people that ask me a direct question it would be rude not to. i still dont no what you mean by my intensions?


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## ProperBo (16 July 2008)

nevermind - it wasnt just this post i meant.


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

why have i replied/posted to you before???? dont think i have, but could be mistaken. normally just read post &amp; not who posted it.


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## Natassia (16 July 2008)

No I didn't take it the wrong way at all I know about organised harness racing that isnt cruel to the ponies, but I personally don't think that the gypsies near me have ever done anything like that, they just seem to take their ponies on the road without any consideration for other road users or the ponies. 
They leave the ponies (stallions, mares and foals) in fields with no water during the summer and tether them on busy roads...near me we have a lot of problems with the gypsies so its something I feel quite strongly about.


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## simon0605 (16 July 2008)

some people just give a bad name to everyone dont they!! im not saying it wont happen near us too but i havnt seen it, the ones near us that i have seen try and get fields with water for them &amp; dont tether unless they have too but they always have full water buckets. i passed some tethered on a wide stretch of grass last year on there way to appleby and the man had just given them there breakfast and was going to fill his water butt up to give them a drink. when i was talking to him he told me he was travelling in the evening because it was cooler for his horse. i saw the couple at appleby where there horse was tethered again but with a bucket full of water and lots of grass and shade from a big tree, all the horse did was pulled them there and back home (no flashing on the lane etc etc) wouldnt it be nice to hear more of the likes of this couple instead of just the bad ones!


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## ProperBo (17 July 2008)

personnaly i dont agree with tethering horses esp near roads or anywhere.


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## icestationzebra (17 July 2008)

I've not read all of this thread so apologies if I am repeating what anyone else has said....  But providing grazing, water and shade is the very least all of us should do for our horses - why should we pat these people on the back for just fulfilling their responsibilities?


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## simon0605 (17 July 2008)

icestationzebra= if you read the post before mine you will see that i was answering natassia's post. 
properbo thats upto you, its your choise. i personally wouldnt want to tether my horses but then i dont need to.

i just think that sumtimes its nice to read about the ones that do look after there horses right instead of always reading about the ones that dont.


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## ProperBo (17 July 2008)

simon - horses  were born wild and to run free it is bad anough that we have domesticated them (although I am grateful!) but I think we owe it to their natural side to at least let them be freee rather than tethered! I have seen in my line of work many an accident and have rescued more than my fair share of horses in roads, cars and anywhere else other than a nice secure field!!  I dont need to tether mine either and personally if i had to use public land  or rough land to tether a horse I would seriously doubt why I had a horse in the first place!!!


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## Foxfolly (17 July 2008)

We have some really responsible travellers near us too, they always have their horses tethered on a wide stip of verge and they always have water and feed them hay in the winter, they are a picture of health and usually rugged whenever its raining.
They actually had their coloured cob mare stolen last year which must have been awful. 

I don't think anybody is patting them on the back for doing their duty but mearly pointing out that people always remember the bad ones not the good ones.....

Jamie Gray didn't need to tether his horses to cause them no end of suffering!!

In centuries gone by when things were a lot more basic I think it was the norm to tether horses, I wouldn't choose to tether mine, but when done safely I can't see the problem with it!!


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## ProperBo (17 July 2008)

thing is no one wants to hear about the good stories!! in anything really!!


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## Fransurrey (17 July 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
I hate seeing them, the pikeys near me are so brutal with them and make them trot quickly for miles along busy roads...generally they're ponies no bigger than 14.2hh and coloured. They're always quite lightweight but they're so young they aren't ald enough to have filled out. Its so cruel, they're absolutely terrified and they're being beaten along the road by a fat gypsy in a cart. I know some gypsies look after their horses but the travellers near me give them all a bad name. 

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what I see. The poor pony has its head in the air and is hammered along the A25 and through Brockham. Considerably in some discomfort, very young looking, but the fat guy driving is oblivious. You get an evil glare if you meet him on Brockham bridge - he doesn't bother waiting, just whips his pony on and you have to avoid them.


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## simon0605 (17 July 2008)

thank you foxfolly, your not that far away from me maybe 8/10 miles away if that. i was begining to think it wasnt worth having an oppinion because unless you agree, you just get some sh***y remarks!!!


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## simon0605 (17 July 2008)

lets get it right anyway how many of you's would welcome a traveller onto your livery yards etc etc?? and how long before they were accused of stealing a mis-placed/lost item??  for sum of these travellers they have no choise but to tether there horses because 9 times out of ten they are moved on within 2 weeks or so. they are not allowed to settle in an area so how can they make arrangments for there horses when i bet they dont know where they will stop &amp; for how long before they are moved again.


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## ProperBo (18 July 2008)

no one gave you sh**ty remarks - THey gave YOU THEIR opinion as YOU gave YOURS 

I merely asked why you replied too just my posts, was simple question you gave your answer and that was that! 

some agree with tethering and trotting and gypsies.. some dont. We are all different and dont beleive the same things thats all. There is no right or wrong ( well there are better ways to look after horses etc) more like preferences. what one person deems suitable for an animal is not another persons way! 

hope that clarifys the situation


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## Natassia (18 July 2008)

So are you a traveller then Simon??


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## simon0605 (19 July 2008)

natassia=
no im not but i have some very good friends that are. george one of them god i wish i had the talent and ability that he has. (no he's not one for flogging them either!)
i've watched him on loads of occausions on different horses getting the best out of them not though fear or beatings, he just seems to have this understanding with them. it's amazing. i watched him ride around a x-country course (including steps both ways etc) with a dressage saddle on because the owner forgot to put the other in the trailer he had only ridden it a couple of times, he didnt move!


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## simon0605 (19 July 2008)

thank you properbo for claifying the situation but i didnt mean you or just this post.
i didnt think you were giving me sh**ty remarks, we were having a kind of debate.


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## stevec (27 July 2008)

hello,i am new on here,i race pacing and trotting horses on the road,so please feel free to ask me any questions you have about,if i could say any horse that is road racing is treated as good as any horse could be,there is always exceptions including you riding poeple,but my best 2 horses which are coloured 9/10 full breds(standard bred),when getting them fit which takes between 8-12 weeks it costs me roughly £100 a wk per horse,so forget the myth that a road racing horse is mis-treated,they eat better than i do,you only get out of a horse what you put in as some of you must know,also they take a very big commitment to train all in all 2-3 hours every day, please dont think that all travellers horses are mistreated,some are like some are with all types of poeple but if you see some racing early in the morning i can almost guarantee they are very well kept and looked after. any questions on this subject i would be happly to answer,


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## EthanbBoi (9 April 2010)

Firstly for all the people that think that the horses are treated badly are wrong, i can more or less guarantee you that troting horses have the better food and all the suppliments than any of your horses, mine are shoed once a week sometimes twice!! its in the horse to go like that and its the natural movement all we do its progress on it. secondly racing on roads i personaly think is safer for the horse because on the circuits there are lots more accidents where a horse gets its front legs caught on the sulky in front and if that happends it brakes its leg and gets put down, i can agree with all the road users who get stuck behind it all and it is annoying but as it is such a popular sport why cant there be allocated roads for us??? im not saying that evrery travler treats there horse properly but non travelers dont always treat thers in the right way either, and i think its rong to tar everyone with the same brush!


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## Shilasdair (9 April 2010)

EthanbBoi said:



			Firstly for all the people that think that the horses are treated badly are wrong, i can more or less guarantee you that troting horses have the better food and all the suppliments than any of your horses, mine are shoed once a week sometimes twice!! its in the horse to go like that and its the natural movement all we do its progress on it. secondly racing on roads i personaly think is safer for the horse because on the circuits there are lots more accidents where a horse gets its front legs caught on the sulky in front and if that happends it brakes its leg and gets put down, i can agree with all the road users who get stuck behind it all and it is annoying but as it is such a popular sport why cant there be allocated roads for us??? im not saying that evrery travler treats there horse properly but non travelers dont always treat thers in the right way either, and i think its rong to tar everyone with the same brush!
		
Click to expand...


Wow, you brought a 2yr old thread back from the dead.
S


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## daydreambeliever (11 April 2010)

Shilasdair said:



			Wow, you brought a 2yr old thread back from the dead.
S 

Click to expand...

Snap thats what i was thinking. How did such an old post get to resurface  Amazing


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