Trail riding with others - horse etiquette

[Scandias]

I’ve been riding my Morgan mare out by herself. Last week I ended up riding with another lady and her Haflinger. My horse kept wanting to take the lead. I kept having to do circles to slow her down so that the other horse could keep up. I never realized that she was going kind of fast when I was riding her by myself.

I really wanted the Haflinger to take the lead since she’s familiar with the trails.

What is the proper group trail riding etiquette? Does the more experienced horse take the lead? Do you let the horse decide who takes the lead?

[ehwaz]

Talk with the other rider- see if you can switch off being in front.
When I go out riding with a friend, her horse, E hates to be in front. E will stop and pull to the side of the trail, trying to let my horse pass her. My horse would much rather be in front. Most of the time, I am in front, but we do switch off at times, even if the horses aren’t happy about it. Our horses are pretty much equally experienced, although E is capable of finding everything terrifying if she is in front and doesn’t want to be.

[Scandias]

[QUOTE=ehwaz;7518887]
Talk with the other rider- see if you can switch off being in front.
When I go out riding with a friend, her horse, E hates to be in front. E will stop and pull to the side of the trail, trying to let my horse pass her. My horse would much rather be in front. Most of the time, I am in front, but we do switch off at times, even if the horses aren’t happy about it. Our horses are pretty much equally experienced, although E is capable of finding everything terrifying if she is in front and doesn’t want to be.[/QUOTE]

My mare seems tense like she’s going to spook at any moment but she rarely does. That’s why I figured she would enjoy walking aka hiding behind an experienced Haflinger. Nope. She had to be in front.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=Scandias;7518773]

What is the proper group trail riding etiquette? Does the more experienced horse take the lead? Do you let the horse decide who takes the lead?[/QUOTE]

I think more than etiquette it is more a case of communication or lack there of. Why not simply open your mouth and talk with the other person?

[Scandias]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;7518950]
I think more than etiquette it is more a case of communication or lack there of. Why not simply open your mouth and talk with the other person?[/QUOTE]

I did. We decided to have me take the lead since my horse clearly wanted to be there. I was just curious how others work that out in a group setting. Not everybody can be the lead horse

[ehwaz]

[QUOTE=Scandias;7518963]
I did. We decided to have me take the lead since my horse clearly wanted to be there. I was just curious how others work that out in a group setting. Not everybody can be the lead horse ;)[/QUOTE]

We either rotate- if both riders are comfortable with dealing with a bratty horse. If dealing with green rider/green horse, we tend do what the greenie would prefer- makes for less drama, unless the greenie is being trained to be ok with being in back.

[trailpal]

A good thing to do is to play “leap frog”. You pass them, slow down, let them pass you, back and forth for awhile then settle into position for awhile, then more leap frog. Once they get the hang of it, the front doesn’t have to slow down all that much. It gets both horses used to leading/following and lets them know it’s ok to have another horse pass.

[SharonA]

The other thing is that some horses are faster than others, and that’s just the way it is. To ask a horse with a forward, marching walk to constantly be slowing down and circling, in order to wait for a horse that just likes to amble along, makes for a bad time for everyone. The fast horse gets frustrated, the fast horse’s owner feels embarrassed and angry with her horse, the slow horse is upset about being asked to go faster than he enjoys going, and his owner feels alternatingly bad about how slow her horse is and uncomfortable with the fast horse’s antics.

In those cases, it can be better to ride alone, I think.

Trailriding with others is only fun if all the horse-and-rider teams are well-matched for preferred pace and psychological comfort zone.

[tabula_rashah]

Sounds like a typical Morgan to me. All of my Morgans that I’ve ever had want to lead and walk way faster than most horses. Honestly I used to try and hold them back to a “QH” type walk, but it’s not fun for me or them. I let them walk their normal pace and then stop every once in a while and let others catch up.

[Emilia]

Another Morgan owner here. I can see, why cavalry used to like them so much. They are born soldiers! They can march all day, ears pricked forward, and not even break a sweat.

I do what Tabula Rashah does. We just walk way ahead of everyone, then park, and munch on grass before others catch up.

He is not particularly brave, just forward. In this, we are alike. I also have a very fast forward walk and get frustrated, if I am out on a hike walking with someone, who “ambles.”

[ehwaz]

I think it must be morgan trait- my mare who loves to be in front is Morgan too.
E, the horse we ride with alot is 1/4 Quarter,1/4 Morgan, 1/2 Arab- hilarious to see E and my horse plotting to get my mare back in front.

[Simbalism]

I usually do what works for the group. My old mare usually starts out kind of slow, but once warmed up she will stride on pretty fast. She will go in any position so no problems. My younger mare is just starting to learn about group trail rides(more than two) She went in every position without any fuss on her first multi horse ride.

[quietann]

Well as usual, my Morgan is the “exception who proves the rule.” She is happiest at the back of a group, and can have a slow walk heading out. She is a herd mare and likes to keep track of everyone… which also means “fun times” if the horses is front get too far ahead, or on a big group ride where there are horses all over the place. However, because she’s so dominant, if there is a horse who tends to rush on the way home, we’ll put my mare in front because she has the “don’t pass me!” body language (she can hold off a 17.2 hand WB!), but her homegoing walk is sufficiently quick that most horses won’t try to pass her.

We use her as a babysitter for new-to-trail riding horses, because while she isn’t super calm, she will take on the “looking out for bears” task, which calms other horses, and if the other horse does something silly, she’ll usually just give them The Look. (As in, “I can’t believe you’re acting so ridiculous!”)

I like who she is though some people want a horse that doesn’t assert its view of herd dynamics so much… And I will admit she’s actually a much easier ride when I take her out by herself.

I did lease another Morgan mare for a while, who was one of those zoomy sorts who liked to be out front; I sometimes felt like I was being run away with… at the walk.

[Scandias]

[QUOTE=quietann;7522098]
Well as usual, my Morgan is the “exception who proves the rule.” She is happiest at the back of a group, and can have a slow walk heading out. She is a herd mare and likes to keep track of everyone… which also means “fun times” if the horses is front get too far ahead, or on a big group ride where there are horses all over the place. However, because she’s so dominant, if there is a horse who tends to rush on the way home, we’ll put my mare in front because she has the “don’t pass me!” body language (she can hold off a 17.2 hand WB!), but her homegoing walk is sufficiently quick that most horses won’t try to pass her.

We use her as a babysitter for new-to-trail riding horses, because while she isn’t super calm, she will take on the “looking out for bears” task, which calms other horses, and if the other horse does something silly, she’ll usually just give them The Look. (As in, “I can’t believe you’re acting so ridiculous!”)

I like who she is though some people want a horse that doesn’t assert its view of herd dynamics so much… And I will admit she’s actually a much easier ride when I take her out by herself.

I did lease another Morgan mare for a while, who was one of those zoomy sorts who liked to be out front; I sometimes felt like I was being run away with… at the walk.[/QUOTE]

Ana seems completely unaware that there is another horse with us. She’s so busy looking around, that she will accidentally cut off the horse’s path so I really have to watch her and try to keep her on a straight path and at a reasonable pace, and say “sorry about that” a lot to the other rider :o

[katyb]

LOL - that’s probably not an accident. Most horses will “butt block” another who tries to pass.