Couldn’t figure out how to word the title without it being really long. But how many of you just trail ride and walk on your rides? Or do you always throw in trots and canters?
I’m limited now on what I can do (it’s not physical)
It’s a LONG story but he (the horse) can’t go to another home and I can’t afford another one.
We do fine walking (we can walk for miles and miles) and just trotting on certain areas. He has plenty of space at home to run and play and be a horse (5 acres). So he’s not cooped up.
I see other people out on the trail just moseing along walking. Older people.
But I’m curious as to how some of you trail ride…
On my trail riding days we mosey.
I keep my horse on a bit of a fitness program but on days when he’s a little off… Or I’m a little off… or one or the other or both of us are a little blah… we stroll.
I mosey when with others and walk, trot and lope when alone to keep my horses in shape. I try to keep my horses fit at home which usually involves varying gaits, but have seen too many wrecks with groups of horses moving out. I might do some trotting in a group but usually don’t move out any faster than that.
Depends who I’m with and why I’m on the trail. With friends and husbands? Sedate moseying with a little jogging. With most of my friends minus husbands? We’re out to explore so lots of trotting and cantering. If we find a good spot to do it, we let the horses gallop flat out.
If on a training ride (I do endurance), it’s deliberate trotting, cantering and the occasional sprints. I try to do as much dressage work on the trail as well.
we just walk…since the horses are both gaited it’s a FAST walk - 4 - 5 mph - but we keep it to walks.
Depends on the group but lots of walking, some trotting, occasional canter if it’s the right group. Sometimes I’d like to trot and canter more but many of the friends I ride with can’t or won’t go faster and I’m a firm believer in traveling at the comfort of the least capable rider.
[QUOTE=littlebaypony;7670146]
Depends on the group but lots of walking, some trotting, occasional canter if it’s the right group. Sometimes I’d like to trot and canter more but many of the friends I ride with can’t or won’t go faster and I’m a firm believer in traveling at the comfort of the least capable rider.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely agree with that last sentence. The group I normally ride with all has about the same capabilities. When we have the husbands with us or other beginners, we definitely tone things down to their level. Otherwise, we’re frequently blasting around.
My TB is pretty good riding out but he sometimes has issues getting behind my leg and being silly. At my old barn in PA (when I had what I consider trail rides) we did a lot of power walking because I mostly went out alone. With other people, we’d do what was appropriate for the group. Usually it was the more experienced barn kids and my former boss, so there were a few gallops thrown in. 
Now out here on the ranch, 90% of my schooling is done in the various pastures. So trail rides = schooling. W/t/c, lateral work, transitions, the occasional gallop, sometimes chasing cattle which actually incorporates pretty much every basic dressage skill a horse should have.
My horse is an OTTB. Sure she can walk but she would prefer to gallop. So we compromise. We start of at a walk but then throw in some trotting, when she’s warmed up we do a controlled canter (she has to pick up the lead I ask for). Then walk, trot, controlled canter, trot, walk, a little faster canter, I don’t let her go faster than 85% canter on the trails around here. I’ve let her go 95% on rare occasions- usually only at the beach when the footing is very consistent. I would be VERY BORED if all we did is walk- not to mention my mare would want to kill me.
We also do some lateral work, circles if space allows, back up. etc etc. and if there is anything we can jump and it’s safe, we jump.
My horse moves out about 4 mph walk (he is not gaited) trots anywhere between 7-12 mph and canters easily. I’ve found trail buddies that can keep up are in short demand and I’m preferring solo rides as a result. I also hate just walking, so boring and doesn’t do much for endurance conditioning!
Depends on the horse, where we are riding, and who is with us. The last ride I did (months ago due to being pregnant), we walked only for seven miles both days. I wasn’t comfortable with anything else.
Normally it is just me and one friend (the same one each time). We walk and chat a lot, but we also jog and lope the horses. Both of our geldings are slow-pokes so we aren’t moving fast, and that’s ok. We both have mares who want to be endurance horses. She’ll let her mare move out, but I keep mine collected and slow even at a lope/canter as she has a tendency to lose her mind if I let her really go.
When I lived in California and had an Arabian, I mostly trotted - I often rode alone or with my dog. Trotting kept my horse paying better attention to me - too much walking and he’d entertain himself with silly spooks. We’d walk down grades or when it was too rocky - but of course, he was paying attention to terrain then.
Recently I came back to the east coast and went gaited. So we will either walk (and yes, it’s a fast walk compared to my arab) or gait. I don’t do near the mileage I used to do on my Arab, but it’s fun and comfortable.
usually depends on who I’m riding with- if it’s just me or with a like minded person, we mostly trot with canter thrown in where we can and walk where we need to. If I’m with a student or greenie who needs a lot of walking then that’s what we do
interesting to hear all the different stories. I have a horse that is fairly good but can’t be trusted. At this stage in my life, I’m DONE trusting people who are selling their horses and I don’t want a young one. This will be my last horse as I think the older my husband and I get, we both want other things in life. We want to get a little beach house to go to for one. At one time, I thought I would have horses in my life FOREVER. ha, ha… People change.
I ride with my husband only and we mostly walk and only trot in certain areas where I feel safe. But all I want to do is get out and see the scenery. Both horses are 16. So it would either be on his back or hiking. I don’t think I walk any faster than he does. Both horses prefer to walk too. Which is kind of funny. Unless we’re at this one trail area and they want to trot. My husband’s horse is really good but she spooks and can spook big!! Doesn’t bother him tho.
Mine came from a bad handler so he has issues. We’ve made progress but I don’t think it will all go away. So I keep him in my comfort zone. He’s great to have around the house, he doesn’t spook on the trail so I’ve come to terms with him and good with what I can do.
I see a lot of my older friends out there poking around and most of them are too afraid to go past certain obstacles so they just go back to the trailer and call it good. At least I’m not that bad!!! 
I hit the trails 4-5 days a week, and spent between 1 - 4 hours out each time. The vast majority of the time I am riding alone, and can’t say I ever go out in big groups (occasionally someone will want to tag along 
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The speed I ride depends on the footing, and the distance I will be traveling that day.
12 mile ride, including 5,000 of elevation change - then that ride will be mostly (brisk) walk, with some shorter trot sets. My horse has a fast walk, haven’t met a horse yet that can keep up. I hardly ever “mosey”.
Some shorter rides are spent almost entirely at the trot. Other rides include a number of canter and hand gallop sets (we practice cantering up and down hills for XC jumping).
Footing is an issue as well though. I am in CA and the ground can get rock hard come mid summer, so the areas I can do “fast” work are diminished. I love spring - when our ground is soft and the grass is green - means I can have more fun galloping around
And because everyone likes pictures - here is a snapshot from one of our summit rides recently.
Try your horses on magnesium. I read a thread on another board about horses that are spooky possibly being magnesium deficient. It started a year ago and several people tried their horses on magnesium. Some found their horses were naturally spooky while others had calmer horses.
It’s worth a shot. The fact both of your horses are spooky does make me wonder if your area is magnesium deficient. Have you had either checked by a vet to see if anything was found?
I had mine tested last year and mag. levels were fine. I put him on a supplement anyway and it made no difference. But mine isn’t spooky. He will kick up his heels when he feels good. A few times it was hard enough to be a buck. Never know when it’s going to happen. Not every ride. I’ve seen him do the exact same thing at home when he’s playing.
Good. You at least know that’s not it.
What do you feed him?
Have you had a trainer ride him? A trainer might be able to help with that behavior.
Do whatever makes you happy with your ride. That’s pretty much the only point of the ride, right?
I usually ride alone and try to mix it up a bit. He has a wonderful western jog that I could ride for hours so we spend a lot of the ride in that gait.
I usually ask him for a nice canter, and an occassional gallop. But, if he gets too revved up he can be more horse than I want to deal with, so I have to keep that in mind and not develop that tendency in him.
When I ride with others I’d rather just walk. I find that a group moving out isn’t that much fun for me unless I’m hunting. Trail riders that I go out with have a tendency to want to talk on their phones, text, and yak the whole time and I don’t trust that they are riding their horse if you know what I mean.
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