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Embert has a knack for tearing blankets, loves chomping on peppermints and can hardly resist a scratch behind the ears.
He stands a tall 16.1 hands, has a white snip on his muzzle and a swishy tail. He loves his job, his owner and munching on hay.
Embert is a horse who does normal horse things. What makes him different from most riding horses is his breeding.
A standardbred, he was bred to chase the finish line with a driver in a cart behind him.
He is a pacer, who moves in a way unconventional for most riding horses.
Instead of trotting, where legs move in a two-beat diagonal pattern, his legs naturally want to move in a two-beat lateral pattern; Instead of his left front and right hind hoof hitting the ground in sync to trot, his left front and left hind touch down together to pace.
His owner Lindsay Brunette said the motion isn't that tough to ride, once one figures out how to move with it.
In the last few years though, Brunette began breaking her 13-year-old gelding of his old habits to help him become a more traditional riding horse. The proud owner can now say her former racehorse walks, trots and canters on cue.
While she is well on her way to bringing up a show horse, the 23-year-old rider said she faces quite a few nay-sayers who question her for riding a standardbred. Because the horses are bred to race, there is a certain stigma that follows them when they make the transition to saddle horses.
“A lot of people think they're hot-headed because they're race horses,” Brunette said, but this theory couldn't be further from the truth.
“(Standardbreds) see everything at the race track,” she said. “They're handled on a daily basis from a young age. They are exposed to everything and anything.”
From the time they're young, standardbreds are exposed to high-stress environments, regular brushing, trailering, blood work and other “spooky” things that aren't so common for riding horses. As a result, they're “a dream to handle,” Brunette said.
During the summer of 2012, Brunette decided to clear up some misconceptions about standardbreds. She was prompted to do this after news broke that horse racing in Ontario may be coming to an end.
If the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation carries out proposals to modernize the gaming industry, it will start a downward spiral that will ultimately lead to the death of the horse-racing industry in Ontario, according to the president of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association.
This will happen via the elimination of the Slots at Racetracks revenue-sharing program effective March 31, 2013, which will take those funds away from racetracks and, as part of the larger picture, the horsemen who built their livelihoods upon the industry. Essentially, it means the province's race tracks likely won't be able to compete with the casinos being planned for the province.
For people like Jason and Chantell Roberston, owners and operators of Robertson Stables on Bonin Road, it could mean the end of a career. They built their entire business to cater to the horse-racing industry.
In an interview with Northern Life earlier this year, they said moved to Ontario when the province announced its Slots at Racetracks program, because it presented them with an opportunity to settle down and set some roots.
And, like the thousands of people who face the unemployment line, the welfare of countless standardbreds is on the line, Brunette said.
According to the Ontario Race Horse Industry Association, between 7,500 and 13,000 Ontario horses will literally be put out to pasture. Some horses, who are successful on the track, may find race homes out of the province or even out of the country.
It sickens me that all those horses will be out of job and most of them will end up in slaughter.
Danika Morin,
standardbred horse owner
Some may find jobs in Amish communities, where they will be used for transportation. Some may even find loving forever homes as companions and pets, but many will not. Thousands will end up going to slaughter.
Wanting what's best for the horses, Brunette set out to help others understand what great partners they can be.
“They love to work,” she said. “For people to have these black figures around these horses is confusing to me.”
Joanne Colville, administrator and events co-ordinator at Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society, said there is a higher-than-usual number of standardbreds currently in foster care, looking for forever homes.
“We're overcapacity and headed into an uncertain future,” she said. “We're struggling to try to rehome. There are lots of horses on the market right now.”
This has put Brunette's concern for the breed as a whole into overdrive. Brunette made it her mission to help more riders and owners become aware of what the breed is really like, in order to prevent the horses from unfavourable fates.
Brunette and three other riders proudly showcased their former race horses at a Warren Horse Club horse show, showcasing their ability to perform in a variety of disciplines.
Embert and Brunette tried their hand at dressage, a form of figure skating on horse back. Another rider showcased a quiet, calm pleasure horse, while another put in a speedy barrel-racing run. Danika Morin even had her mare Secret ready to jump.
Morin has owned the 10-year-old standardbred for the last year. The retired race horse put in eight years at Sudbury Downs, before finishing her race career injury-free.
“When I first bought my horse, she knew how to accept a rider on her back and walk forward, halt, turn and all the basics,” Morin said. “We are currently working on her cantering and progressing her jumping experience.”
While it has been quite a bit of work to teach Secret to trot and canter, instead of pace, Morin said she doesn't mind. When the mare is unsure of herself, she still resorts to her old ways, but with Morin's help, she is working out of the pacing habit.
“Working with a standardbred is very challenging but very rewarding,” Morin said. “My inspiration for owning a standardbred was seeing how she had so much potential in her. I could see she was very willing and loving.”
The young rider is hoping to continue Secret's training to the point the mare can comfortably canter in a balanced manner around a course of fences.
“By having hope and patience, you can succeed,” she said. “It sickens me that all those horses will be out of job and most of them will end up in slaughter. It's cruel and inhumane. They deserve a chance.”
Sarah Merriam, the owner of Go and Play Stables in Lakefield, Ont., has known this for years. Since 2000, she has been involved in the standardbred industry. In more recent years, she has been training and rehoming standardbreds for sport careers.
“I do what I do because I love them,” she said.
Her horses compete at standardbred-specific shows, where classes are offered in English, western, games and driving.
“We want to show the versatility,” she said.
Like many others who believe in riding standardbreds, she has faced her fair share of challenges from fellow horse people.
“The reason people are so against them is the pace,” Merriam explained. It's simply not a good enough reason to bash the breed.
“All of them trot, and all of them canter,” she said. “It all comes down to basic training — (horses) are all the same.”
Brunette couldn't agree more — after all, standardbreds are just as much horses as any other member of the equine family.
“They're just horses at the end of the day,” she said.
As the horses find themselves out of work, there couldn't be a better time to promote the breed.
