You just have to get the right gaited horse. My guy can do a dog walk with QH’s all day long on the trails, on the buckle. If they trot, he can do a flatwalk and keep even with them. Only the running walk will make them rush to keep up. He also has a beautiful canter. It’s the jumping that would undo him. Oh, he would try but he Supermans over them, all he’s missing is the cape. You need a horse with trail miles that someone has a dressage base on- that’s how mine was trained. You don’t want one that someone yahooed on the trail and all he knows is go go go.
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Paso would not be my first choice for trappy terrain but most of the others would be fine.
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Do Hackney’s count?! Tough as nails and can go all day (and jump).
I had a Hackney horse X Welsh pony that was incredible. Hot but fun!
I’ve ridden probably 10 different Walkers and a smattering of other gaited horses. Every single one went a little differently. Maybe only 2 of the 10 Walkers were naturally smooth going down the trail–the others were various types of pace-y and took more work to get into a decent gait.
That’s something to be aware of when riding with nongaited horses. They can hear the other horses trot and the ones who are weakly gaited will fall out of the gait.
And I second the warning about horses with trail-only training. A lot of people just get out and go as fast as they can. They don’t teach their horses to carry themselves properly or even to adjust speed. Walkers are perfectly capable of working through their backs and being rateable, but they have to be trained to do so like any other horse. Ditto jumping.
On the plus side, they tend to have excellent brains and will calm down.
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[QUOTE=Kodiak;8960606]
We have both TWH and pacing standardbreds in our hunt that jump just fine under 3’. They do, of course, need trained like any other horse. The Walkers jump from the canter. I’m not a fan of jumping from a pace or running walk since it doesn’t have a lot of impulsion behind it, but some people don’t seem to mind.
Concur. An earlier remark about “flat” jumping due to lack of bascule is also correct.
I wouldn’t call the whole “OMG, it’s hard to ride w/t/c horses with gaited because they travel at different speeds” thing from trail riding that much of a deal-breaker for the hunt field. There is such a huge variety in the field already–from little slow-legged critters to super power-walkers–that everyone has to adjust to the group. Remember: unlike trail riding, hunts have a field master setting the speed, and the speed they choose is affected by what else is happening in the hunt. Riders and horses have to adjust to the hunt or go home. A big-moving, very forward TB can be much harder to ride in a hunt than something gaited.
A nice thing about gaited horses is that it’s generally easy to find one with lots of trail mileage, they’re generally sensible, and frequently have good feet.[/QUOTE]
Concur, again The reason a lot of gaited horse types have “trouble” riding with trotters is that the gaited folks seldom learn to “rate” their horses. It sort of “gospel” in some communities that gait only has one speed and that’s all she wrote. It’s not true but there’s a catch. A trot is a trot is a trot. Speed, by itself, does not alter the nature of the gait. With the soft gaited horses speed IS an issue in maintaining proper gait “form.” That’s one reason why military forces seldom used them. Mixing in close formation at the intermediate gait can cause problems with some horses. This is more an issue with the laterally gaited horses than the diagonally gaited ones, but it’s a real issue. Since the hunt field in not done in sets of fours it really ought not to be a major issue! 
G.
A Missouri Fox Trotter wuld be a good choice for the Hunt. Mine has the walk,4 beat trot, fox trot,running walk and canter. She also can turn like a quarter horse and takes small jumps easily. I ride with a women who has a big Irish draft and we have a blast, she in her extended trot and my little mare at the fox trot, flying down the trail.They love to compete.
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My 16 hand Tennessee Walking Horse has been hunted. He will jump but not like a thoroughbred. The one catch is that his running walk covers more ground than many trotting horses. If I want to conserve his energy I will allow him to do a slow canter alongside the others as they trot. A horse is a horse is a horse. Individuals are different and must be judged on themselves. There are a lot of misconceptions among gaited and non-gaited people in regarding gaited horses and considerable prejudiced (snubbery) against. Second and third flight are easy enough many horses can’t do first flight
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Six year old zombie thread
I found it interesting
My friends have converted me into a gaited horse fan. I am borrowing my friends wonderful little Paso Fino. He will jump logs and most things but he has a touch of attitude. I think his attitude is the limitation rather than his ability. He often disagrees with me. Nope I don’t want to go in front today. He is a fantastic and fun ride for the most part. But not totally trustworthy over jumps because of said attitude.
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