STOP marketing low-grade minimally trained horses as "trail horses"! A rant

[Blueeyedroan]

Going through the Facebook sales groups and Kijiji ads. Looking for low priced prospects to spend my entire income on and never make a dime… the vicious cycle that seems to have shaped my life. Another rant for another day.
Constantly I see the ads advertising “trail horse” “would make a good trail horse” - phrases attached to budget priced horses that aren’t broke or are barely broke, have been “green” for 7 years, have behavior problems, bad conformation, soundness issues, and have flunked out of sport horse programs across various disciplines. And I see amateur equestrians falling for this just as often. Purchasing these horses hoping for the best, rider gets injured, horse gets shipped, and the dream is over.

Here’s just a few of the things I expect from a “trail horse” and what I have DONE with a horse by the time I market them as a trail horse:

Mounting : Stand absolutely still to be mounted. From the left. From the right. From the ground. From a log. Standing in a ditch. Literally be okay being mounted in ANY situation from ANY position and not bat an eye. As an added bonus, if I stand on something and kiss the horse is to sidepass up to whatever I’m on with its left side, present close and stand square.

Lateral movements : Sidepass left and right softly and responsively. I want to be able to handle any kind of gate without dismounting. And without letting go of the gate. Right or left handed. This goes for travelling under low branches and objects, being on trails that are 24 inches wide with a 100 foot drop off beside me. The horses reaction to my leg must be absolutely crisp, and fine tuned.

Finer movements : Turn on the forehand and hindquarters are required. I have been in many tight places where it is imperative that I need to turn a horse on exactly the ground its on. Or step just the hind quarters or front end over 2 steps. The ability to control EACH foot and where it lands.

Reactivity : Horse cannot bronc out when a stick gets caught in the tail. Or when tall brush pokes up between the hind legs. Or a branch snaps back and slaps the horse upside the flank.
If a leg gets caught in wire the horse has to GIVE TO THE PRESSURE AND STOP. These things can be taught but the horse has to have a good mind and the trainer needs to do some fairly unorthodox things to condition a horse for these situations. Bogged down in Alberta muskeg? Your horse CANNOT panic and thrash. You need that horse to keep it together so you can help him.

The aids : You think placing well in a dressage test proves how responsive your horse is to the aids?
Try seeing how many buttons you still have when a bull moose walks out of the bush into the trail 40 feet in front of you. Or a bear stands up on its hind legs and huffs at you. Do you still have any control? A trail horse needs to be SO responsive and respectful of the aids so that you still have the ability to control a dangerous situation. These horses have to be so on the aids that they will let YOU override their most base natural instinct. This is no small feat.

Herdbound : You have to be able to ride away from another rider to get help. Or meet other riders and then ride away. Horse has to oblige. Your horse cannot bolt because the other rider went ahead. Back to - you need to be on a TRAINED horse.

Balance and collection : Yes. This is important. When you’re sliding down a vertical clay bank into a creek you better be able to rate that horse.
Got lost and darkness is coming - you have limited time to get back to the trailer? Another rider got hurt? You came across someone else who is injured? Gotta be able to canter over rough terrain AND downhill. This means having a horse that can shift their weight back, sit on their hocks, lift their shoulders and canter downhill without bowling onto their face.

SOUNDNESS - Hills, hard pack, slippery clay, rivers with round rock in the bottom, constantly varying terrain. A trail horse has to be as sound as they come.

The list goes on. These are just the basic things, there are many more.

In my opinion a true trail horse has to be one of the most highly trained animals you ever throw a leg over. Or, at least, the most broke.
A trail horse is one of the few horses that gets ridden in a 100% uncontrolled environment with no safety features around for the rider.
A horse that is your partner.

Please stop advertising throwaway horses as “trail horses”. People are going to get hurt.

Also - normalize well trained trail horses being priced just as high as their show jumping, dressage, reining, barrel racing counterparts. They are just as trained and twice as reliable. You can’t put a price on your safety.
Now - go enjoy the wild beauty in those mountains.

[fordtraktor]

Hmm. Are you having trouble buying or selling?

FWIW I had no trouble at ALL selling a trail horse such as you describe for low fives. But my dressage horse is worth mid-high fives because his sport requires a level of quality in conformation, movement, and training that the trail horse lacks.

My trail horse can half pass. My dressage horse can score an 8 on a half pass in USDF competition. Big difference.

[Blueeyedroan]

Neither, I have 2 good horses. The roan was broke and trained by me , and I’m bringing along an OTTB project for this season. I likely won’t be selling her - project for myself. I would love to train and sell good broke mountain horses but the market isn’t there for it. The time and effort it takes to make one would not be rewarded in the local market. Up north it’s becoming more of a thing.

But I see many cases in the industry where people market anything that doesn’t “make the cut” or has issues as “would make a good trail horse”. Like a trail horse is the lowest designation or easiest thing that a horse can be. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

And have seen many adult amateurs fall for this marketing and it does NOT end well for horse or rider. They see cheap horses sold as trail horses, and think that trail horses should be cheap.
Cheap is rarely safe.

[MorganMaresVT]

@fordtraktor

My trail horse can half pass. My dressage horse can score an 8 on a half pass in USDF competition. Big difference.

Yes, one of those half passes can save you from a cliff, a bear, or a swarm of angry bees.
The other half pass can get you a ribbon

I jest.

But I completely agree with the sentiments of the OP. I’m in the market for a young distance horse that has the conformation and temperament to do 700-1000 trail miles a year, mostly solo. Sifting through all the green, lame, badly started horses presented as “trail horses” because that’s perceived as an easy step down from “real” competition/sport horse is very frustrating. And I really feel for breeders producing suitable horses and being hit with a constant barrage of requests for a horse that can do everything OP describes with a low-4 figure price tag.

[tabula_rashah]

I always find it ironic that there are so many can’t step outside the ring riders who are all “heavens no Dobbin can’t go on a trail ride his brain will explode and I will surely be launched to my doom” but who are also the same folks thinking trail riding is an easier/ less training involved life then what they are currently doing

[Blueeyedroan]

Right?? It makes MY head want to explode.

[endlessclimb]

I can train just about any horse to be decent in a ring.

The same can’t be said for a savvy trail horse. Some horses will just never have it.

[Djones]

yeah this has been a thing forever, and I don’t see it ever changing. The people who need lessons to learn how to ride often refuse to, because ‘they are just going to trail ride.’ Those same people won’t spend much on ‘just a trail horse’ because they see these ads for cheap ‘trail horses.’

The horses who need lessons to be safe on trails don’t get them, because they are 'just going to be a trail horse." So the horse that maybe isn’t much to look at, who maybe doesn’t know much and isn’t insane on the ground in someone’s back yard…TADA, it’s a trail horse

[fordtraktor]

People do this all the time. “Would make a good dressage horse” = “too lame to jump,” “crazy outside an arena,” “has 4 legs of mostly equal length.”

I do think that people are getting good prices for horses that are very trained, especially if they are colored. I have a friend who sells gaited horses and she gets very good money for them. Not dressage money, but she also isn’t paying $15k for a weanling like dressage people do for a nice baby.

If I was in this market I would buy strictly flashy youngsters. The fancy colors do by far the best (though the one I sold was plain bay with not a speck of white. He had a gorgeous, curly mane and tail though! And the cutest ears. Very appealing horse and very broke MFT.)

I could sell my “trail” horse easily because she’s a palomino. IDK why color makes people open the purse strings, but it does.

[fordtraktor]

“Dobbin can’t step outside the ring” is code for “I’m too old to get dumped by the side of the highway on my fancy dressage horse.” I can speak from experience. I simply don’t have it in me, time or nerves, to desensitize my show horse to trail riding AND show ring stuff. Nothing wrong with trail riding, but it isn’t that interesting to me.

[Blueeyedroan]

I have had to swallow this issue as well. Color sells. Flashy sells. When buying projects it’s now a major consideration… which makes me want to throw up. I was taught that’s the LAST thing you look at. But apparently the rest of the horse world missed that memo.
Colour = more money and easier sales. Ugh.

[Texarkana]

My personal favorite is how questionably sound horses are always advertised as prospective trail horses.

If he can’t stay sound for a 3 minute class in a well manicured show ring, what makes you think he could stay sound for miles over terrain?

[KBC]

Slight sideways turn.

I hate it when people describe themselves as just a trail rider. Me, I’m happier doing stuff in a controlled environment, I think trail riders rock, for all the reasons that are mentioned in qualities for a trail horse.

[tabula_rashah]

A well trained horse should be just as well behaved in the ring as outside it. I spent several years working for one of the top dressage facilities in the US- all of those horses hacked out

[MsM]

Another problem is that “trail horse” means very different things to different people.

To show people it is a horse that can maneuver the poles etc. of a trail class.

To endurance and CTR people it is a horse with all the attributes that will let it be successful over many miles of challenging terrain.

To many people who ride lightly for pleasure, it is a horse that can hack outside the ring on well groomed trails for an hour or less without being likely to kill you.

[Texarkana]

@MsM

To many people who ride lightly for pleasure, it is a horse that can hack outside the ring on well groomed trails for an hour or less without being likely to kill you.

I agree… But even for that, at very minimal, the horse needs to be sane, sound, and responsive.

I don’t want to be 30 minutes down a trail on a horse that’s lame, even if it is the easiest of terrain. I don’t want to take a short hack around the property on a wickedly barn sour or spooky horse. But for some reason, people think that lame OTTB or that half broke backyard horse will make great trail prospects.

[fordtraktor]

Like many people today, hacking out requires me to trailer to a different location. There are no trails or safe roads to hack on at my property. I’d hack my horses daily too if I had the property of your former employer!

[candyappy]

@Blueeyedroan

But I see many cases in the industry where people market anything that doesn’t “make the cut” or has issues as “would make a good trail horse”. Like a trail horse is the lowest designation or easiest thing that a horse can be. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

@Blueeyedroan

Looking for low priced prospects to spend my entire income on and never make a dime… the vicious cycle that seems to have shaped my life.

You see this in so many disciplines not just for trail horses? If you are shopping on a low budget you are kind of getting what you pay for? As you said above you are shopping for a prospect??? To me that means it is pretty much untrained.

[Blueeyedroan]

Those of us who are experienced know we are getting what we pay for. But the 40 year old women who have always had the dream of trail riding and just got settled on property DO NOT know this. Or the well meaning parents of teenagers wanting to trail ride. All they see is horse after horse after horse advertised as a “trail horse” for cheap. They haven’t learned to distrust every single aspect of the horse industry yet, just see what horses are advertised as and go fork over the cash believing that these animals ARE what they are reported to be. Trail horses.

I’m always shopping for low priced prospects because I am allergic to money, addicted to bad choices, and only feel alive when a 1000lb animal is trying to un-alive me.
I am 100% a victim of my own decisions and ONLY my own decisions. I know better.
Not inexperienced. Just a poor decision maker.
That roan in my OP was purchased off Kijiji for $1,750 sight unseen- off of 2 photos , no videos, unbroke , from 2 provinces away. LOL.

[candyappy]

@Blueeyedroan

Those of us who are experienced know we are getting what we pay for. But the 40 year old women who have always had the dream of trail riding and just got settled on property DO NOT know this. Or the well meaning parents of teenagers wanting to trail ride. All they see is horse after horse after horse advertised as a “trail horse” for cheap. They haven’t learned to distrust every single aspect of the horse industry yet, just see what horses are advertised as and go fork over the cash believing that these animals ARE what they are reported to be. Trail horses.

This ( sadly) is nothing new in selling/ buying horses. While I agree it is awful when people buy a horse who isn’t a match for them , It was happening all the time when I was a teen at my first boarding barn and that was many decades ago. People buying unsuitable horses and suffering the consequences.

I’ve seen a lot of it since I’ve gotten old too. If you frequent u-tube trainers at all you can see it is keeping them in business. It is the buyer responsibility to know what they are doing or enlist help from someone else they trust who does.