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Warmblood trail horses and riders? Update with trail pictures!

Endurance and Trail Riding
#1

So is there a clique on here for trail riders who ride warmbloods? Anyone else who bought a horse bred to be a jumper or dressage horse that you juts know wants to be a trail horse?

I am seriously thinking of giving up on my aspirations to event and seeing if my mare would rather hit some long trail rides. I might buy a western saddle this week and just hit the road.

My mare is a coming 6 year old Hanoverian, but only 15.2 hands tall, short coupled, and everything thinks she is an arab or morgan cross anyway.

Anyone else have a non-traditional trail horse breed, that seems to look at the hills in the distance longingly?

#2

Hi Perfectpony! Where do you live? I have Warmbloods that I go on the trails with. It’s not their main job though, it’s more a time off from their main job to relax. I’m one of those crazy Dressage riders that thinks trail-riding (and jumping) will actually make for a better Dressage horse! :wink:
I use my Dressage or All-purpose saddles for trail-riding. On some of the longer rides, 4+ hrs, my butt does get sore but oh does my mind feel good! :slight_smile:

#3

I have the ultimate “non-traditional” trail horse: a Clydesdale/Standardbred cross! :winkgrin:

Go for it. No pressure. No judges. No trainer. Just you, the horse and God’s creation. It don’t get much better than that :smiley:

Oh, and don’t feel the need for a western saddle if you don’t want. I ride in a loffly deep A/P english saddle. Much more comfy for me. :slight_smile:

#4

Your horse is a great size and should be pretty handy on trails. I have a coming 4 Trakhener that I plan to ride on trails, do dressage , and even chase cows with now and then. He’s 15 3 right now, hoping he doesn’t grow to much more. Have fun with your pony !

#5

I am down in the East Bay, but have a friend in the foothills and hope to get up there to ride once GG gets herself together.

I would love to chat with you sometime Reiter, as we are thinking of buying property in Somerset! (We are looking at Grass Valley, Cool and Somerset for our - hopefully - vacation and eventual retirement property!). My husband and I ride motorcycles out off Omo Ranch Road around PiPi and do a lot of camping in that area, maybe sometime I can drag the horse and trail ride while he goes out on the bike?

I would love to hear more about the area.

Oh, and the western saddle. My mare has a spin on her. She’s a good girl and very brave and outgoing, but the only time I fell off is when she spooked and spun around like a reining horse. So, I am buying a western saddle!

#6

Aha! Yeah, that would do it for me too! :yes: :winkgrin:

#7

I had to retire my eventer from competition due to injury (warmblood cross), and we spent many years trail riding before I had to retire him for real. He absolutely loved it, and with his long stride, he could outpace nearly everyone I rode with :slight_smile:

#8

My Duncan (25 yr old Hanoverian upper level dressage horse) took to endurance like a duck to water. We did our last 50 miler when he was 23 yrs old (a hard, hot one too - Gold Country) and usually finished in the middle of the pack. You can see us there if you go to COMH under Prudence, or my user description here too. The vets used to comment on his great recoveries; he almost always was down below 60 on coming into rest stops. He does have a heart murmur but some of the best endurance Arabs do too; I was told 1/3 of endurance horses have them.

Go for it! There are 3 Hanos registered with AERC (all mine) and I would love to see more.

PS Watch out for those low branches on the trails while riding your tall horses. Duncan is 17 hands and almost 1200 lbs when he is in “racing” condition. And absolutely HATES the arena now!

#9

Small world! I used to live in the Bay Area and I had a super huge ShireXTB that my friends used to think I was crazy to trail ride with. lol I rode her in my jumper saddle and while we were out had fun jumping logs and other things. I also used to be crazy and jump in and out of the arena with her. I had a blast with my mare. I say go for it! You two will have so much fun.

#10

So when are all of us getting together to go trail riding here in Northern California then?? My friend “Pocket Pony” wants to go on a trail ride, where would be a nice place to ride somewhere around Sacramento?

I really want to do some horse camping too :slight_smile:

I have been eying a bunch of threads about saddles, there seem to be a lot of inexpensive, good trail saddles out there. What saddles seem to fit your warmbloods best? So far it seems like GG fits best in a Arab tree.

#11

It’s a surprise to me that, somehow, a horse knows what we call him and will react accordingly! Do you think all Hanoverians have this secret wish?

#12

I don’t know! I DO know that mine does. There is a 100 acre pasture behind the barn that one day the trainer took her out hacking on. Ever since then she tries to drag me towards the gate to the pasture, as if to say “please mom, can we go for a trail ride?”

To be honest, I think horses were bred to be out in the open, and to roam. I imagine trail riding closely resembles that natural instinct much more than sitting in a stall and running in circles.

#13

PePo I’m not stalking you, I swear! I just saw this thread and so decided to start a “get-together” thread for all us NorCal-ers!

I don’t have a WB so can’t join in the WB party, but would love to have GG come up and join us!

#14

[QUOTE=Perfect Pony;3090267]
I am down in the East Bay, but have a friend in the foothills and hope to get up there to ride once GG gets herself together.

I would love to chat with you sometime Reiter, as we are thinking of buying property in Somerset! (We are looking at Grass Valley, Cool and Somerset for our - hopefully - vacation and eventual retirement property!). My husband and I ride motorcycles out off Omo Ranch Road around PiPi and do a lot of camping in that area, maybe sometime I can drag the horse and trail ride while he goes out on the bike?

I would love to hear more about the area.

Oh, and the western saddle. My mare has a spin on her. She’s a good girl and very brave and outgoing, but the only time I fell off is when she spooked and spun around like a reining horse. So, I am buying a western saddle![/QUOTE]

Hey, my neighbors place has been for sale for a while (bad time for selling, good time for buying)! :slight_smile:
I ride a lot in the national forest/logging property up off of Omo Ranch Rd. It’s absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately they have been doing a lot of logging up there lately! I also love Sly Park Lake and the area up there. Would love to get together! :slight_smile:

#15

I ride a friend’s mare occasionally that she has given up on in the aspect of makeing her into a dressage horse. A big TB x Oldenberg mare, GORGEOUS, huge movement, but hates “work”. She tried for years to get her as a dressage horse, but she was a terror in the ring, bucking, throwing fits, finally she said “FINE!” and now the horse is a happy (and flashy) trail mount! I think she would have LOVED going cross country though, if she were a little younger. the mare is about 16 or 17, I think.

#16

I have a very good friend who trail rides with me on either her Trakhener, or one of her two Oldenberg geldings when she hits the trails. They are her eventing mounts, but their “mental health” days are spent trail riding. Pretty funny to see a 17.2hh horse out there with the rest of us on our little 15.1hh QH and Paints, but her horses are stellar on the trail.

#17

I have a huge update today! I got a saddle! :slight_smile: Not only that, but I braved the BIG HILL behind the barn in it. You can see this BIG HILL in this picture behind GG’s big nose
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2680663540052562123yUUwnV

It was so nice. She is still pretty bad down hill (there are some steep ones) and she got a little upset when the horses in the pasture started running around, but I felt so much more secure in my western saddle.

It’s a used Arab saddle, discontinued now but this is it
http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=CIR2131/468.0
The one I got is plain though, just pinstripe tooling, not all the floral stuff. It’s pretty damn comfortable and the guy threw in a really nice wool felt pad with a wither cut out.

So I am now ready for the trail!

#18

Can I go with you if I have a Hanoverian in foal, but ride a QH? The Hano is a very good trail horse, but she is busy at the moment.:winkgrin: PP, how about doing an interim ride before you head for the Sierra foothills? We can get Houserabbitz to bring her Hanoverian, who is a super trailhorse. Are you in Walnut Creek or Martinez now?

#19

I have a dressage reject- Oldenburg QH cross, premium foal, the works, 16.2 hands, 1300 lbs. It was declared early on that he would never go past 4th level, so he was given to me, since he likes to jump.

He doesn’t care for dressage, it’s true, though if you tell him that if he gives you a good training level test you can go jump, he will happily oblige. But mostly I do trails with him. Usually English, but western if we are packing into the back country. He hobbles, he can be a Really Big pack horse (and is very good at it), stays tied anywhere. I have used him for Pony Express a few times, too. He has a handy feature- can trot a mile in 2.5 minutes- which is useful when we are on paved roads with steep grades, where I realllllly don’t want to canter or gallop.

#20

Hey there! I meant to email you directly and tell you that I’m now ready for the trails! Let’s definitely get out there soon. I can do any Saturday or Sunday except next weekend (3/29-30) as I am working!! :frowning:

I have GG back out in Briones. I am looking for someone in the area that wants to do the reservoir loop.

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