Never tought about it but you’re right! I owned two buckskins and both had a great consideration of themselves
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I second that. I have one and she is most certainly queen of all she surveys and afraid of nothing. Except rabbits. They’re terrifying.
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I think Morgans enjoy having a job. Feronia wasn’t easy to trail ride at first but I think she figured out that in a dire situation, her job was to save my sorry butt, and hers, and that made it better.
But I swear - give her a job like “herd those geese” or “lead this other worried/green/silly horse over/through whatever it’s worrying about”, she was 100% All About The Job.
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Jobs
Ours have been used for multiple disciplines. Most notable to me was daughter took her Morgan to a three day event placing well, the next weekend she took him to Morgan Nationals as a working hunter taking reserve champion in their division, the following weekend she hauled him down to the Davis Mountains for a NATRC competitive trail ride that was about a 55 mile ride in the mountains between 6500 feet and over 7500 feet, there were over fifty head at this ride, she won her division, her horse won his division and missed overall ride champion by one heart beat The winning horse came from the Rocky Mountains whereas daughter’s horse is kept in our barnyard at 600 feet elevation,
During this three week period he had been hauled over 1600 miles going from one event to the next. And he was no worse for wear, to him it was the way he liked it
Others we would use in multiple disciplines they just learned without being taught to adjust gaits to the tack they wore.
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I would love to have a “do all that” Morgan, but it’s not in the cards.
Meanwhile, Feronia still enjoys having a job. A few days ago, she gave a lead to the other retiree at the barn, over 2 bridges the other mare would not cross on her own. Not bad for a gimpy 26 year old.
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The wild filly I adopted was from a herd that they believe were descended from a morgan breeder. They are all just as you describe - versatile, hard workers, and LOVE people.
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I would definitely ride the horse and not always the breed.
A gelding I owned was by far the best trail horse and was a purebred Arabian gelding. Had feet like iron, surefoot as anything, sound until the day he died at 31 with zero injections, and worked hard as a lesson/trail horse for probably 20 years.
My current Arabian mare doesn’t have as many trail miles and may give the side eye at the occasional weird thing but every ride she’s bolder and just so game and enjoys being out. I think horses either have that desire for the unknown or they don’t and have spatial awareness or they don’t lol.
I also really enjoy a good Morgan and have loved and shown a number of Morabs. So I suppose I would suggest just seeing if you can try a potential horse on the trail and see what you think and if it’s something you’d enjoy. 
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Yes you do!!! Maybe you can teach Grundy a nice running walk lol
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I’ll start “don’t buck me off” and work on the running walk next! 
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Went to look at a 3yo yesterday owned by an acquaintance - appaloose/QH cross. She was an “oops”. Handled, hauled, ponied and saddled, but not yet ridden. She was a really nice mover, but pig eyed and pushy. I can fix pushy, but I was just so turned off by the eyes. I know that sounds shallow, but I plan on keeping this horse forever and I need to be able to bond with it. I’m disappointed because I saw her as a weanling and just loved her. She wasn’t for sale then. The daughter is now 18 and lost interest in horses which is why she’s for sale now.
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Could I ask, are you sure your goals match up with a young green horse?
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This is a hard NO for me. I recently brought a horse home on trial that had pig eyes. I didn’t keep him. He reminded me of the lesson I learned about pig eyed horses 20 years ago. Just no.
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Agreed. I’ve never met one I liked, they were all pretty unpleasant to deal with.
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I prefer young horses. I actually like to get them before they are two so I can make sure that by the time I get on, they are very well mannered. I don’t like fixing other peoples mistakes. I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t mind teaching a young horse the trails. I pony them off of my more experienced horse so that by the time they have to do it themselves, it’s no big deal.
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If you like to cover a lot of ground and are not afraid of a forward moving and sensitive horse , get the Arab. If you can post the trot for extended periods of time and enjoy doing so, get the Arab. If you intend to ride regularly and keep the horses mind and body engaged, get the Arab. If you intend to work your way up to 3+ hour 15km + long rides, get the Arab.
If any of the above does not apply to you… do NOT get the Arab. Get a QH. Or a draft cross.
Would not recommend a gaited breed to anyone who rides with non-gaited breeds. It’s a world of frustration. Also, gaited breeds can be quite hot. They like to move and cover ground. When held back from their natural tempo they often are unappreciative.
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I am totally going to use this characterization. It does so much heavy lifting in a sentence, and can be used for four feet and two feet alike.
“When my horse was not allowed to do the Highland Fling as his friends moved out ahead of him, he was… unappreciative.”
“When the cats were told, yet again, that dawn was too early for breakfast and they needed to settle back down and sleep some more, they were… unappreciative.”
“When I came home to find sports gear scattered all over the freshly vacuumed living room and a sofa-full of smelly teenaged boys, I was… unappreciative.”
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The second one killed me LOL
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My experience with my two Arabs was that when they were young, they were both quite spooky and definitely not ideal for a person who just wanted to go on relaxing trail rides. But luckily when they were young, I was too, and I did tons of trail riding and endurance with them so they were perfect for me. They really started to settle down at around age 12 or so and by the time they were in their late teens were totally solid trail horses that were really close to bombproof. I would look to a teenaged semi retired endurance horse for a nice safe experienced trail horse
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So I went up to see the wild herd. They had just castrated 25 colts/studs and I was just curious to see what was up there. I really liked one of the yearlings, but he looked like he had a hernia. Then I saw a filly and fell in love. She’s somewhere between 6 and 8 months old. Solid black with about 6 white hairs on her forehead. I and some reinforcements are going Sunday to try and get her into the catch pen and then my trailer. Wish me luck!! I’ve never done the “catching” before.
Here’s a pic of some of the herd surrounding my truck. There’s about 100 of them total.
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Sorry to hear your QH isn’t sure-footed. That makes me sad. I’m not really a QH person but I used to ride a grade QH and she was hands down the best horse I’ve ever taken on trails. I think a DNA test may have showed that she was half mtn goat. For fun, she would choose the more technical footing, to the extent that I had to stop her at times. I rode her on trails for years and she only spooked 1 time – and I don’t fault her for spooking at a mtn lion.
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