During preflight; a B737-300 Captain realized the Standby Rudder System would not operate because there was no power to the Standby Hydraulic Pump. Circuit Breakers for the 'Standby Pump Normal' and 'Standby Pump Alternate (Alt)' had been pulled and collared without the proper documentation.

Narrative

I arrived at gate. I found on preflight that the standby rudder system would not work. I called my Dispatcher and he connected me with Maintenance Control. I described what I had found and entered the write-up into the logbook. Maintenance Control called for Local Maintenance to look at the problem. The Mechanic started trouble shooting the system and found everything to be in order. We wondered why there was no power to the Stand-by Pump. We started looking for circuit breakers and found the 'stdby pump normal' and 'stdby pump alt' circuit breakers pulled and collared. We then reported this to Maintenance Control. They asked for time to look at the history on the airplane to make sure there was no reason for this. After a while; Maintenance Control called back and instructed the Mechanic to reset the breakers and test the stand by rudder system. The stand by rudder tested fine; the write up was signed off and we departed with no problems. I have no idea why the breakers were collared. I do know that the stand by rudder system test can be missed if you are rushing. I flew the airplane the previous day with no problems. Never again will I miss a preflight test.