What breed was your favorite/best trail horse?

Not necessarily for endurance competitions (I know Arabians are a popular breed for that), and I know any horse can be a great trail horse despite the breed.

But what breed of horse did you have that was the best/most fun/most brave/handy/whatever trail horse? Just for a fun topic. :slight_smile:

Mine has been my 12.3 hand stocky Welsh cross pony. He has solid hooves, is quick and responsive but will walk on a loose rein, loves to lead but will follow too, goes anywhere you point him, and is extremely handy and brave. I adore him. :slight_smile:

A MIXED ASB ~~~ SPOT CALLED ā€œRINGOā€

My very favorite ā€˜trail’ horse was a mixed ASB gelding ’ spot" named "RINGO " ```` he was sensational ~! :cool::D:yes:

RIP ` Ringo `` knowing you will always be loved and remembered ~

Years ago I bought a 22 year old Missouri Foxtrotter for $600 dollars. Best $600 I ever spent. He was awesome on the trails, and I got another 6 years of riding him before we had to put him down. He would just go anywhere you pointed him, very reliable. I miss him sometimes…

I still own her! She is 29 years old now and doesn’t have the endurance she used to but she is still good for shortish trail rides…couple of hours tops. She is an Arab/QH cross and I only wish I could have another 20 years with her.

The best horse I’ve ever had is my Connemara/QH. He was given to me. We’ve done many miles of trails, fox hunted and limited distance endurance. He has been tough as nails, goes through anything, dependable, safe, with just enough spunk to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, he has a suspensory injury and doesn’t seem to be recovering very well, so he may be retired. I’ve been looking around for another horse. When people ask me what I’m looking for I say, ā€œAnother Zipā€. I don’t think any other horse could ever fill his shoes.

Oh, gosh, hands down it was Lady. She was a grade QH, nice enough looking and as calm and sensible as could be. She’d canter, going away from home or toward home, would stop, would turn, rode alone wonderfully, easy to open gates off of, would march through puddles and even swim. I never worried in vehicle traffic, she was just an all around nice horse.

All of my Morgans have been exceptional trail horses- sure footed, sturdy, bold and can go all day.

Non gaited : an arab.

Gaited: Rocky Mt horse.

Have trail rode, and endurance ā€œrodeā€ LOTS. Both breeds have high high marks in my book.

Trail riding now on a rocky. Still have an arab, but he is retired.

Thoroughbred!!!

Definitely my Arab. He’s my all around, do anything buddy. His main job is endurance, but last weekend we were at a cutting clinic and had an absolute blast.

My old Argentine TB was terrible on trails. He jigged and danced and pranced and acted like a doofus the whole time. He’d never refuse to go anywhere, he just wanted to go there at Mach 10. ā€œSlowā€ was not in his vocabulary. Then again, I’m not really sure what I expected when I took a 19yo badly abused polo pony (not that all of them are…he just had a particularly shitty upbringing) out on trails.

I also adored riding the horse we sold to my friend. He’s worth his weight in gold as a trail horse. He’s an Appendix QH who just knows things. He rarely refuses to go somewhere, but if he does, its best to listen. Every time we push him to go anyway, we’ve regretted it later on.

My current horse is my favorite/best trail horse. She is a 15.2h TB mare. She is sensible, goes where ever I point her. She has her own engine, but is easy to control. She leads,follows, goes in the middle. She trail rides the best, hunter paces, has foxhunted, done show hunters. We are currently dabbling in dressage/musical freestyle and low level CT’s. She also team pens and parades. She is a little flat footed, but with shoes she goes anywhere. She has good feet and holds her shoes. (oops let me knock on wood! hehe)

That would be my current horse, a TWH gelding. He’ll be 14 in May; bought him when he was three and a half. I still remember test-riding him before I bought him and just thinking ā€œthis is it - this is my new horse.ā€

He’s stocky, but not particularly big. . .nimble as a cat through the tricky footing, and (as one friend put it) ā€œthat horse will do anything for you.ā€ We’ve been through a lot together, from swimming across flooded gullies to sliding down steep muddy hills, clearing trails and riding alongside farm machinery and cantering through fields. He’s attentive to things, he pays attention and does his own share of planning where he is putting his feet. He can go out on his own without a second thought, or he’ll take the lead or the middle or the drag in a group. Like me, though, I think he kind of prefers rides when it’s just the two of us.:slight_smile:

Yep, 10+ years together and he’s still a ā€œkeeper.ā€:yes:

I rescued a BLM mustang years ago who was top notch…super fun to ride and a superior trail horse. Most recently our Spanish Mustangs have become fantastic trail horses. They are like riding mountain goats, show good sense in a bad spot, are very athletic, and are quiet by nature. We took them to Grayson Highlands last year…both greenies first time out on a big ride…and they took on that place with class. My mare never even hardly saw a rock in her life being raised in lowland VA, and she was scrambling over some of the worst rocks I’ve ever seen sure-footedly.

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As a kid I had a little Mustang that I could do anything on. Now I have an Arabian I can go anywhere with :). I have a QH too but haven’t ridden her much on the trail yet.

My horse growing up was an Arab/QH cross gelding that was a fantastic all around horse. I did trails, camping, swimming in lakes & the beach, parades, halter, western pleasure, hunt seat, jumping, and games at various times with him. He never refused an obstacle, spooked at anything, had a good fast walk, could ride alone or in groups, boy was he special.

We didn’t have a trailer and to show him, I used to have to get up real early and ride 2.5 hours at a fast pace to reach the showgrounds, would enter 10-12 events, then ride home again. I never found the bottom on that horse as he could go all day. Course I was a lightweight then. He lived to be 30 years old and is still my favorite all time horse.

My current SSH is excellent, but he isn’t the horse Diablo was.

Hands down, my Morgan mare. She just turned 19 Monday, and I’ve had her for 11 years. I compete my Arab mare in endurance (and she’s great) but she’s just nowhere near as FUN as the Morgan. The Morgan is about the best company I could ask for. I’d take another one like her in a heartbeat, and hope to have her around for at least another 19 years…

Mangalarga Marchador.

Easy way of going, very athletic, sound temperment.

G.

Mine is a registered QH. He has a nice fast walk, no spook, goes through anything and can go for miles and miles. Truly a trail blazer. :slight_smile:

My ASB Echo. He’s 14 now but has taken me from my back yard to the mountains of MT. Never quit on me, never lame, fearless, and enthusiastic to a fault. He’s in beginning stages of allergy induced COPD, just like his mother so our big riding days are mostly over. Maybe he will start walking now.:yes:

Mine was a 14.3 Tiger Horse mare - she was pretty much fearless and would go anywhere I pointed her. Smooth as the day was long, she could out walk all the trotters. Good thing I liked to ride alone - no one could keep up with her. (She was also my sidesaddle parade horse.)