I have the PERFECT trail horse! Do you?

[sublimequine]

I love my mare. She is the PERFECT trail horse… FOR ME! We mesh so well together, she’s exactly what I want in a trail horse, and I seem to have a riding style that really agrees with her as well.

She’s the horse that is more than content to mozy along the trail and enjoy the sights… but get up out of the saddle a bit and give her a cluck with my tongue, and we can engage the rockets like flipping on a lightswitch!

Last night, I didn’t have a ton of time, and just wanted to sit on her and mozy around outside for a few minutes before it got dark (it was dusk when I got there). I rode her with her halter and reins attached, bareback, in jeans and tennis shoes. She trucked along with head between the knees (she’s a QH, when she’s relaxed that’s where the head ends up :lol: ) and ears perked, happy as a clam. As much of a firecracker she CAN be, I love that sometimes I can just be lazy and sit on her, and not worry about her being silly or too forward when I’m not asking for it.

So! That’s why my mare is the perfect trail horse for ME! We can tear it up like no other when the situation calls for it… or we can mozy along lazily with next to no tack on, with no worries! It’s great.

How about you guys? Why is your horse the PERFECT trail horse? :winkgrin:

[Auventera_Two]

Sounds like you have a wonderful little (not!) mare there! :lol: :winkgrin: So good to hear about the great trail horses. They really are worth their weight in gold bricks. In your case, you’d be richer than an Iraquie oil tycoon! :eek:

My QH is a good trail horse too. She’s the same way - will plod along carrying dear old dad, or will haul bunns down the trail when carrying me. She knows the difference in tack and knows what’s expected. My endurance horse, well…not so much. She’s in rock 'n roll mode all the time. I’ve offered for a few of my trail riding friends to ride her and they say “No way!” LOL. Sometimes it is nice to climb up on one of the two older fatties and just have a relaxing trail ride.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;3164208]
Sounds like you have a wonderful little (not!) mare there! :lol: :winkgrin: So good to hear about the great trail horses. They really are worth their weight in gold bricks. In your case, you’d be richer than an Iraquie oil tycoon! :eek:

My QH is a good trail horse too. She’s the same way - will plod along carrying dear old dad, or will haul bunns down the trail when carrying me. She knows the difference in tack and knows what’s expected. My endurance horse, well…not so much. She’s in rock 'n roll mode all the time. I’ve offered for a few of my trail riding friends to ride her and they say “No way!” LOL. Sometimes it is nice to climb up on one of the two older fatties and just have a relaxing trail ride.[/QUOTE]

Sometimes the ones that are always ‘up’ are fun though too! It’s just all in what your personal preferences are. I’d think for an endurance horse, that’d be a good thing too. I love my maresie, but with her build and lack of constant “GOGOGO!”, she’d go 3 miles and be ready for a break and a nap. :lol:

[Auventera_Two]

LOL :lol: I ride with a lady who has a real “goer” but the problem is that she “goes” for 8 miles strong and then poops out. At 8 miles I feel like I’m finally getting my horse focused and in the groove. When I try to walk to stay with her mare, I end up getting the “dink dink dink” parade trot in place for mile after mile. I always say - hey, I’m getting my miles in…they might be vertical miles, but they are miles nonetheless! We laugh about that all the time.

[Kerrysmom818]

I’ve got one too!

Love, love, love my little mare - we were made for each other. Took about a year, but once she figured out I was hers and she could trust me - well, she’ll go anywhere and do anything I ask . . .

She is gaited and thank goodness she prefers to go out alone on trail (as do I) because no one can keep up with her - even her flat walk puts away the big hunters and jumpers - did I mention she’s the smallest horse in the barn?
(14.3)

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

Having had both types, I think I prefer my current trail horse. He’s kind of like a perpetual motion machine - unless you tell him to slow down, he keeps going. Last weekend, we went to a paperchase by ourselves. I had to get to a family event that afternoon, so I arrived very early and made sure we were the first ones to go. Since we were moving along at a good clip (mostly trotting and cantering, a little walking) we didn’t see any other horses for the entire ride. After 6 lovely miles, we cantered across the finish line to the cheers of the riders waiting to start… walked around the perimeter of the parking field once… and he was completely cool and rested, telling me he was ready to go around the course again

[ayrabz]

the answer is NO. I do NOT have the perfect trail horse!
But he’s my horse, he’s my ‘do it all’ horse, like it or not! Daughter shows this horse, and I ride training and enjoy trails, so it all works out for ‘us’…(he has other ideas, I’m sure)-------point being: he’s our one and only, and I want a horse we can enjoy all on. Is he the best trail horse? Heavens, no. He’s concerned, reactive, and yes…lives up to his ‘crazy arab’ reputation. But we go anyway…down the trail, haul to trail rides, and do our best. Then, he’s got to be sport horse and dressage show horse when daughter is at the helm. I wouldn’t have it any other way. We believe in ‘Dancing with the one that brought ya’…not swapping out for something more ‘akin’ to the task. Its part of our journey, our enjoyment, and I do believe, very good for his brain to have the cross training. Easy? No. But important to us to share it with him, not keeping him ‘exclusive’ to something.

[matryoshka]

Yep!

I’ve got the perfect trail horse for me. I doubt he’d suit many other people’s taste, since he bucks and is quite emotional. But he’s perfect for me at this stage of my life. Challenging enough to keep me interested and sensitive to the point where he mirrors just about every weakness I have. So, we ride and learn every time. Who could ask for more?

He’s an OTTB. Right now I’m blessed with a few good trail horses, but only one of them is perfect for me. One other is a Haflinger pony mare that belongs to Equihab and needs to find a home. She is a lof of fun to ride, especially with rhythm beads. Jingle, jingle!

[gothedistance]

I have the perfect trail horse. :yes: And he’s only 6, a purebred Section B Welsh pony (a large – currently 14h which is very unusual for this breed to be this big!). He’s still a baby – or is “my baby” in my eyes because he’s still growing physically (should mature 14.1 1/2)… but mentally he’s like an old tried-n-true campaigner. As a matter of fact, every time I sit on his back and turn his nose towards the open trail, I remember why I fell in love with riding decades ago. He’s so sweet, so good, so gentle, and SOOOOOOO quiet! Just happy to go wherever you point his nose. Happy to walk, happy to trot, happy to do that darling rocking horse canter that is sooooooo delightful. Happy to hop over logs, happy to splash through creeks and puddles. Happy to go out for miles and miles on his own. NO bucks, spooks, scoots, or any stupid tricks no matter what the situation. He’s honest as the day is long, and 100% respectful and trusting of me as his leader. He is the type of horse that everyone dreams of having.

Today I took him on a 5 mile ride on all the boggy, wet, yucky, sloppy trails – and he just splashed through them all at a walk and a trot. His tail is so long that it got all wet at the end, and every time he swished it at a fly, I got hit with the wet ends! It was too cute! We also took one trail that has lots of tripping rocks and he did a good job learning where to put his feet. We strolled through and alongside rushing streams – he wanted to stop and play in the water but I said “not this time” and off we strolled, trotting and cantering through big open fields with deer leaping and rushing away. He barely looks at them, just flicks an ear and says “stupid creatures” and keeps on trucking.

What a sweetie!! He’s my future foxhunter and endurance pony… but he will ALWAYS be my baby! I fully expect the both of us to grow old together, forever enjoying the trail, forever in harmony.

Tomorrow I’ll ride my endurance horse up the mountain – guaranteed he’s going to spook the entire way over, and entire way back. :rolleyes:

[Jess1]

I have one that WILL be a perfect trail horse! Right now she is currently “in the making” :lol: But she moves out [she’s a trotter, I usually prefer canterers, but I can deal - her trot is enormous]. She’s only been on the trails for less than a month, so once she gets past her Arab “I HAVE TO SEE EVERYTHINGGGGG!!” ness, she’ll be awesome.

[jumpingpercheron]

My girl is the perfect trail horse She’ll go along nicely in just a halter and clip reins with me bareback in shorts, and barefeet. (I know, I know, but that is how we ride over to the beach to get in the water) We can go out for an easy (or hard) trail ride or we can work hard in the arena, she can do anything, including traffic with np. She loves to do stuff. I took her running with me on the trails today and she can even do that too with np at all! She trots very nicely next to me She can go easy and be relaxed as a horse can be or she can be the girl that she is in the youtube link in my sig :yes:

[Shadow14]

To have the perfect trail horse it needs to be able to STAKE OUT. YOu are in the middle of no where and you want to stop, spend time, hours, days. What do you do with your perfect trail horse??
You tie a rope to one hind leg, the other end to a bush or tree and forget about him??? He doesn’t tangle, doesn’t figit, just grazes.
How many here take the time to teach a horse to hobble, quick easy way to secure a horse, how many teach to stake out???
For a perfect trail horse I feel these are important things.
Ground tying is also required. I have left my horse on his own for over a hour without tying, just leave the one rein over his neck and walk away. He will still be where I left him hours later.
A horse must be handy in staying as well as moving out.
I would throw my horses again any trail horse over obsticles , rivers or whatever and then stake them out at the end of the day.

[jazzrider]

My trail horse for years was my now retired OTTB who was spooky and difficult to ride, and threw me a few times too many. So right now my standards for a perfect trail horse are really low. That said, my new boy Luke has become my perfect trail horse. Since he’s a TWH he’s content to just walk, walk, walk (really fast!), and right now that’s just fine with me. He’s done wonders for my confidence (though some of my “recovery” should be credited to my QH Jazz, who is still recovering from an serious injury). He’s got a sweet, easy personality, he isn’t spooky, he loves to trailer (because it means a trail ride!) and we’ve bonded in a way I was never bonded to my OTTB. He’s easy to ride, isn’t a “diva,” and falls asleep tied to the trailer about 5 minutes after we get back from trail. I’m still getting used to the whole gaited thing (I can’t seem to hold the running walk on trail :(), but I do think I’m a convert!

[paintedtrails]

[QUOTE=Jess!;3165687]
I have one that WILL be a perfect trail horse! Right now she is currently “in the making” :lol: But she moves out [she’s a trotter, I usually prefer canterers, but I can deal - her trot is enormous]. She’s only been on the trails for less than a month, so once she gets past her Arab “I HAVE TO SEE EVERYTHINGGGGG!!” ness, she’ll be awesome.[/QUOTE]

I am hoping mine WILL be a perfect trail horse too! We haven’t hit the trails yet, we are working on being near the road (have to go about a block or 2down on the side) and being in new places. I can’t wait to get into it all! :yes: We’re thinking about ponying him soon, once we can figure out a buddy that will go for it!

[HiddenStars826]

My horse is the perfect trail horse for me! I can honestly say that I am amazed by it. The first time I ever took him out on the trails it was the ride from you know where. I basically should have just taken his bridle off, for all the good it did. He was up the other horse’s butt the entire ride, he kicked one horse, kicked AT another, and jigged the entire time. I got back to the barn and swore I’d never again take him out there. EVER. A year later, I had him in his rope hackamore and was bareback because we were playing around in the ring, and my friend and I just decided to take a quick loop in the woods. I just went with her, not thinking, and boy was I surprised! He hadn’t been out there undersaddle for a year, and he was perfect in his hackamore. No issues whatsoever.
Fast forward to now (4 years after the BADDDD ride). I’ve had maybe 4 more bad rides out there, but thats it. Now, he’s perfect- so good that I took him out alone a few times last year and didn’t worry. He doesn’t spook out there, if something catches his eye he just pricks his little ayrab ears forward even more and stares at it (to a fault, he’s almost walked into a few trees that way!). He’s content to just walk, but he’ll happily pick up the pace when asked. He loves to lead, loves to choose the direction when we hit a fork in the trail (and usually picks the trail that goes further from home!), but on the way home he slows waayyyy down and mosies along, as if hoping to have the other horses decide to turn around and go back out on the trails. Cars go by him with no effect, he’s great at “reading my mind”- there have been numerous rides where I want to find a particular trail that we’ve only been on once a long time before, and he always ends up finding them for me. He’s great to take out with green or problem horses, always behaves like a gentleman, but adds his own fun in when we are out with a seasoned horse (he knows when he does and doesn’t have an important job!!). Never hesitates at water, mud, obstacles, but is always paying attention to changes in the ground. He rocks
I never thought I’d say my horse is an awesome trail horse, but man is he ever! I’m so glad I took that second ride on him and gave him a chance to really show me what he could be. We hauled out to the state park the other day for only his second time ever being there, and he just took it in like an old pro (except for the pigs…but we’ve already established that those bother us!).

[Romantic_Rider]

The perfect trail horse for a certain person doesn’t have to do everything perfectly IMHO. They just have to be just right for that person. I have my perfect little trail horse, flaws and all. My adorable little Arab mare has way too much personality and attitude, is opinionated and temperamental. But I trained her and am the only one who’s ever ridden her and I have her the way I want. She has heart and spirit and is very willing. I would rather be out on the trail with her than any other horse I’ve known. She’s not perfect, and we have our little discussions sometimes. But she’s just right for me and I wouldnt’ have her any other way. If she was absolutely perfect, I’d be kind of disappointed. I’m sure alot of people wouldn’t get along with her, but I do, so she’s perfect for me.

[Shadow14]

I was out running trail this afternoon and had 2 gates to manover through. My horse is taught gates. He positions himself beside the gate, head to the hindge. I touch his side after undoing the latch and he side passes to open it, backs and rotates through the opening and then sidepasses to close the gate and moves forward to redo the latch. This is all in one smooth motion with my left hand held firmly on the top of the gate to control it and at the same time he makes sure I don’t have to stretch to maintain contact.
Another thing a well trained trail horse needs to know.

He must also be willing to slide down steep banks into water, fearlessly enter water and drinking is sure preferred.
He must be fearless of motorized vehicles since you encounter dirt bikes, snowmobiles and dune buggies all the time.
He must also be a good traveller, load easily and unload in a mannerly fashion.
All this is part of the perfect trail horse.

[Equine_Obsession]

Well, I’m pretty happy with my guy. I’m not a huge fan of deadbroke horses. Similar to the plodders in good tourist trail strings. My horse is responsive and alert all the time, I like that in a horse. Yet we can still plod along on the trail from time to time. He has quite a bit of va-voom with bad brakes. :rolleyes: But it’s fun.

He’s uber headstrong and usually crap for any sort of arena work, but I have no problem sticking to trails. He’s improved quite a bit since I first got him. I enjoy noticing how far he and I have both come. He used to be so spooky all the time. Now I and he have both learned how to deal with and how to avoid that sort of thing.

I have taken him up mountains on overnight rides, let him graze with other horses in the basin without any sort of fencing, haltered and ponied horses from his bare back, gone over freeways, on hours of trails, watched shows, ridden during all hours of the day, had good rides, bad rides, phenomenal rides, jumped higher obstacles than I ever have, faced him with unusual and sometimes very strange situations, and he performs. Sure he spooked at a rock in the forest 5 minutes after we went quietly over that freeway, but that just gives you more reason to love him.

I love not having the same kind of ride every time. It’s always different.

[sunridge1]

My giant ASB gelding that I raised, is fearless on the trail. He’s 10 years old this year and has been an absolute joy of trail horse. Whether it’s water, bears, mountains or grouse slapping him in the face he’s unflappable but VERY go forward. When I ride in groups I spend a lot of time alone. But since he has energy galore we usually ride ahead and turn around again to meet back with the group. He is absolutely the horse I’ve always dreamed of as we have an incredible bond with matching personalities. I just wish I could have been physically younger when he came into my life.

Mary

[12hooves]

No. My husbands’ horse, that I trained, is the perfect trail horse! Many people have asked me if he was for sale. I’m still workin’ on mine, (when I have time).