Another here who suggests you learn to rise to the trot.
The reason halter horses don’t usually ride is because most of their owners don’t ride.
He could be a bit rough because he needs to find his balance and build strength but he could also just be a bit rough at the jog. If so you can always post on the trails or two point, even western.
I am a great believer in that you don’t ride papers so give him a job and enjoy him.
Halter horses are not good riding horses for a few reasons. They are bred to have small hooves, short upright pasterns. The small hooves are not good for weight bearing and the posty pasterns are a rough ride. Seems a waste to breed a horse that isnt useful for its life span.
[QUOTE=China Doll;8171661]
Halter horses are not good riding horses for a few reasons. They are bred to have small hooves, short upright pasterns. The small hooves are not good for weight bearing and the posty pasterns are a rough ride. Seems a waste to breed a horse that isnt useful for its life span.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you in principle but halter people breed for halter classes, not performance, and a halter horse that shows well in halter (if nothing else) can be useful for his lifespan if he’s winning.
I don’t believe in breeding just for halter and not for performance, but your logic within your logic is faulty, China Doll. If a halter horse is useful as a halter horse, he’s useful.
Not that that has anything to do with OP’s OP.
You could try putting some front shoes on him.
Also I wouldn’t worry about him getting too beefy, if anything it looks like he could use a few pounds.
No reason why he cant be a trail riding horse . He is pretty downhill so your schooling exercises should focus on teaching him to shift his balance to his hindquarters . There are lots of good exercises to be found on line for western horses.
Good luck with him, have fun!
[QUOTE=Appsolute;8167444]
Can’t be any worse than the broodmare page - check out “Shez Not Guilty”. She has the most horrifying hind quarters + post legs + roach back that I have ever seen. (interestingly enough, she is now owned by a beef cattle breeder).
http://www.clarkrassi.com/main.html[/QUOTE]
I need eye bleach:eek:. While I have a mare with Impressive breeding and she does look a little stocky (14.3 hh) she is no where near the conformational nightmare those mares are.
OP, my mare was breed for halter and her former owner bought her as a weanling and showed her in halter for a couple of years before being trained under saddle at 3 yo. I bought her at 5 yo. for DH because she was very low-key and closer to the ground. She is a decent trail horse and I have worked on her jog so it’s not like riding a pogo stick.
If you have papers they should have the HYPP status on them. Kid Clu, if I remember correctly, is double Impressive. If the papers don’t have the HYPP status, you should have him tested. Because that is a whole 'nother ball of wax in terms of care and safety. Sorry, didn’t mean to de-rail.
OP, I’ve been following this thread (there’s a lot of information, eh?) and I just wanted to pop in and say that I like your horse. He needs some wei8ght, but he definitely doesn’t look like a typical halter bred horse. As soon as I saw your photos of him, I immediately thought he moreso resembled a Thoroughbred fresh off the track. He looks a little tucked up.
For a trail horse, he’ll be fine. Sometimes, the rough trot can be smoothed out a bit if you teach them how to carry themselves better… but sometimes, you’re just luck to find a horse with a jackhammer of a trot. If he’s calm and willing, and you learn to post, there’s no reason you two won’t have a blast on any trails.
