If you want well broke, endurance sound and safe-be ready to pay $2000-5000. Of course you can find some cheap ones that may or may not fit the bill but a good trail horse is worth their weight in gold. If you are ok with quirks, training issues and some soundness issues-sure try the $1000 “good” trail horse but you do get what you pay for most of the time.
[QUOTE=clanter;8867127]
yeah but we used to compete against Elmer Bandit, a half Arabian… I believe he won his last ride at age 37… that was a 55 miles over a two day weekend[/QUOTE]
Yes!!
I currently trail ride primarily, but used to be more of a dressage rider, so I thought I’d chime in.
- Have you considered a mule? They tend to be sure footed and non spooky, and make FANTASTIC trail mounts. The rider just need to be fair with their aids and build a relationship based on mutual respect rather than dominance; they aren’t stubborn, but their brains process things differently than a horse. They are also permitted to show in USDF shows, and trust me, experienced trail mules with lovely dressage movement can easily be found in the $2000-$5000 range. This is the option I chose (and my mule is cute in English tack).
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You are in mustang country, and mustangs also make FANTASTIC trail mounts. The state of Oregon has special adopt a mustang programs, and I believe some training is included (PM me if interested, I know people who know people). These horses used to go for around $500 most of the time. Burns, Oregon has a big BLM mustang adoption center, FWIW.
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Contact your local horse rescues. Believe it or not, rescues tend to get plenty of sane and sound trail horses, though some may be older. Fees vary, but most don’t seem to go for more than $1500. Thouroughbred rehoming organizations also often seem to have some great trail prospects.
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If you are confident in selecting horses, go to the auctions yourself, and rescue a horse. A lot of nice horses are available; plenty of working horse operations unload horses at slaughter auctions. It’s the horse equivalent of going to the kill shelter and adopting a dog or cat.
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One other comment, with regards to gaited horses. They certainly can walk trot and canter, as long as their hooves are trimmed normally. However, gaited horses are generally not permitted to do so with a rider, so the English rider needs to teach them about walk, trot and canter. And they will still gait, IME, but the gait may not be as extreme with normal hoof trimming. My gaited mule knows that the English tack means walk, trot and canter work, whereas western tack means he can gait. I don’t know how he figured it out, but he knows.
Since you’d be ok with an Arab and you want something more forward, that would probably be your best bet for a good deal. I’m in So Cal but I don’t think it’s all that different up there… a nice AQHA trail horse is easily $5k+. Cheaper ones are probably older and/or have a soundness problem. Arabs may be easier to find for $2-3k, especially if you don’t care about papers.
