I did a search but couldn’t find a thread… anyway, I know a couple of people who will set horses loose on the trail. One rides one horse and the other is loose. The other rides one, ponies another and the third is loose.
I haven’t ridden with either but one of them had her loose horse take off and gallop back to a camp a couple miles away down very narrow, winding trails - if they’d met another rider on the trail, cue disaster!
I’ve never heard of this before - is this normal/acceptable?
Neither normal nor acceptable.
I encountered this once before- it was a mare, being trail ridden, and her six month old filly. The filly did not even have a halter on, so that had there been an issue there was no way to catch her or control her.
I do not think it is acceptable, but rather a recipe for absolute disaster. I happened to be on a mare, who hated other horses, and it was all I could do to keep her from going after the filly who kept coming up to her out of curiosity. I told the teenage girl owner, who thought this was cute, that I would not be responsible when her filly got hurt by my horse.
I’ve ridden with people that did this, however we were in a very remote area. The horse that was intentionally let loose stayed with the group for the most part, but I was concerned about her running in the way, kicking, etc. At one point we were trotting and she stopped dead in front of us.
I, personally, would not do this. I would have ponied the horse.
I wouldn’t do it, or ride with anyone who does it. I do have a friend who has ponied a horse out and then set them loose, or let them just follow. I can’t wrap my head around it, but I don’t share trails with her and to each their own I suppose.
Like most things, it depends. I often pony one of mine, and I have turned my old mare loose a few times, in specific spots. I’d say it’s inappropriate the vast majority of the time, but sometimes awesome.
Now, she does NOT roam from me. In 11 years of riding, she has never left my side, and I often leave mine loose while I eat or take a potty break or whatever. Again, it depends on where you are, what your companions think of it (obviously they need to be on board) and the loose horse’s behavior. I have one I have ponied a ton that I wouldn’t ever let loose on a public trail. She’s just one to mess with everyone and everything.
My horses aren’t the sort to run off, but I often think that is because they are used to quite a bit of freedom. Being untethered doesn’t give them a thrill, since they are regularly loose. (By this I mean grazing loose in my yard, not turned loose downtown.)
[QUOTE=Xanthoria;8483123]
I did a search but couldn’t find a thread… anyway, I know a couple of people who will set horses loose on the trail. One rides one horse and the other is loose. The other rides one, ponies another and the third is loose.
I haven’t ridden with either but one of them had her loose horse take off and gallop back to a camp a couple miles away down very narrow, winding trails - if they’d met another rider on the trail, cue disaster!
I’ve never heard of this before - is this normal/acceptable?[/QUOTE]
If this was 1815, no problem. If this was 1915, maybe. In 2015, no.
G.
You’re not even supposed to have your dog offleash in most of the parks around here, never mind your horse!
If I remember there was a COTH member that would do this. I have not seen her online in a while.
I can see ponying not loose. I would not want to risk something spooking the loose horse and them leaving the scene.
I might feel differently if I am really way out in the mid of nowhere like on a Texas or Western scale not anywhere in the East. I am thinking if I am riding in the middle of a 1,000+ acre ranch, maybe. But I doubt it as I would be too paranoid.
Any place public with any remote chance of running into someone else- no way would I let a horse loose. I have done it on private property when it was just me before.
Ponying- sure no problem. I do that all the time
I did this a long, long time ago but it was on private property and the terrain was flat and surrounded by water on 3 sides. I ponied horse to a certain spot, let it go and re-caught the horse again at that spot before going home.
No way would I do it where another horse/rider could be encountered and certainly not in a group setting or on public trails.
No way, in the situation you describe! Not adult horses, not on public land where you can encounter other people. My old trainer would ride her mare with foal at side, halter on, pony it to the private riding trails, once on the trails let it follow the mother. The foal very quickly became trail smart, but once they started to think for themselves, they were ponied and not let loose.
I’ve encountered one person on trail doing this, with a very well behaved old horse, who just followed along. No issues occurred, but I would worry too much about horse spooking/running off because, well, they’re horses and do the unexpected!
Absolutely not. You can do what you want on private land, but on public land I don’t see any circumstance under which it would be acceptable.
I have ridden with loose horses before- on private, fenced land, in a very remote area, surround by other horse properties. This was at a boarding/breeding operation and we took the broodmares out on trail with their foals loose to get them use to being on the trail/crossing creeks, etc.
On public land, no. I have almost been run over by someone elses loose horses though.
There is one woman in my area who has done this for years. She’s an active endurance rider who rides with one to two loose horses through land that encompasses both open space and county parks. Her horses run along ahead of her, barreling down single track trails on the side of some of our steep hills. She cares less if she runs past green riders/horses, mountain bikers or people hiking with children in the park. And she is the most defensive, hostile person I have ever met in trail.
I confronted her once about 20 years ago when one of the horses I was with was sideswiped by her loose horse and my friend came off. When I got off my horse to help her, CrayCray rode her horse into me…like straight trotted her horse’s chest into me. Said we deserved what we got because we were horrible riders and took off at a canter with her entourage (oh yes, she has a very naive fan club).
I cannot believe she hasn’t seriously hurt anyone or been sued (maybe she has?), or hasn’t had one of her horses hurt. I know she has been reported to park rangers but she just back doors her way into the parks.
We work hard to maintain relationships with our other trail users around here. Open space is limited in Orange County and we try to be good stewards and play fair with hikers, mountain bikers because we all want our trail systems to stay open. She is absolutely everything that is wrong with our entitled culture here.
Private land, do what you want. Public space, follow the rules and be mindful of the safety of others.
We’ve done it occasionally with a pack horse or extra horse when we were in the wilderness but it’s never worth it. The loose horse nearly always gets into some sort of trouble or causes trouble for someone else. The most exhausted pack horse bringing up the rear will still turn into a green colt hopped up on sweet cob when you turn him loose! :lol:
Before I bought him, as a long yearling, he learned how to unlatch his stall door and routinely went on walk abouts. This is the suburbs, with a major highway on one side of the park where the stables were.
It made him a very reliable horse. As an older horse when he got loose he’d calmly go where he wanted (visit the ponies! He loved little equines), and stood still when you came to get him.
I didn’t train him or deliberately let him loose but it was handy that he had the experience.
X - We need a lot more information from you (location, private or public lands, etc) before anyone here can hazard a guess as if what you describe is normal, or not.
As so many have said in a blanket statement:
[LIST=1]
There are always ignorant, self-important people who think they …and their horses…can do no wrong. Those are the ones you need to watch out for…and not copy or condone their stupidity.
UlysMom - I’m so sorry that you had to meet some jackass stupid rider like the one you did. Too bad you didn’t press charges for reckless endangerment. Would love to know this moron’s name…and if she’s still riding and competing.
This. I hate dealing with loose horses on the trail.
We used to do this all the time as kids bringing the horses to and from distant pastures. Then someone got kicked in the leg and had it shattered into about 5 pieces. Lesson learned.
I have ridden moms with the babies following along but only when they’re very little and in safe places: pastures, remote trails off peak hours or on the equestrian community closed system.
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