I have a TWH that was previously shown. He was pretty flighty at first, until he figured out that trail riding was for fun and relaxation. It took time and baby steps to get him to be safe on the trail but it happened. Part of that could be due to the fact we ride a lot and there are lots of good horse people in our group. I think it’s important to look at the total picture and not just at the horse. Take it easy and make it fun for your horse. You’ll get there!
I totally agree w/the confidence of the rider usually can make a HUGE difference. I ride w/a wide variety of people. It seems like the nevous nellys that pester their horses are usually the ones that have issues.
If you give your horse the freedom of a loose rein, they will relax. If you try to constantly contain them, w/tight reins, they will usually get worse, gain more energy, which can lead to an explosion.
That said, a good trail horse takes MILES, but the kind of horse makes a big difference. One w/a solid mind will be a lot easier than one that is very reactive.
It is all about exposing them, but again, even if you have to fake it, you must be a confident rider. They do feed off of you.
Definitely you have to fake confidence, even with a “bombproof” horse. Sooner or later they are going to test you, however half-heartedly, and it’s good to be able to ride through it. Maybe a session or two with a calm trainer who gets out of the ring herself, and works with human psychology as well as horse psychology, could be useful.
Would be nice if more people would consider older horses.
A friend of mine got a great horse when she decided to change disciplines from eventing /dressage( she had an OTTB mare). She ended up with a nice little QH mare that she tried at a sorting clinic she went to. She was a little green, but had a great brain and with just a little work(wet saddle pads) the horse is an awesome trail horse. I have an awesome TB mare who not only trail rides great, but I can pull out and do low level dressage or combined tests, team penning, fox hunting, hunter paces etc. If I ever had to sell her, I’m sure she would go by word of mouth to someone in my riding club. She is not a beginner horse because even at 19 she has some get up and go, but is sane and sensible. I am currently window shopping for her replacement, knowing that I do not have a huge budget and will have to make up my next trail horse.
[QUOTE=lawndart;7046248]
Because people tend to by for looks, not usefullness? My eye is caught too by a flashy horse, but IME if it is pretty, a good price, and no one nearby has snapped it up, you need to pass on it, or at least I do!
Sometimes the best horses are the jug headed, the not so conformationally correct, and a little bit older. Even then, if people have a good horse, they tend to keep it, as the guest horse.
Also, I think a good trail horse is seriously undervalued in the horse world. I can see the value in a horse that can jump anything, look pretty under tack going in a arena, and is so push button that it makes dressage look easy.
However, you are trusting a trail horse to take you miles from home, meet wildlife, rough terrain, loose dogs, screaming children, bicycles, motorcycles, vehicles of all sizes, and get you back safely. That takes a good mind. Sometimes a good mind comes in a pretty package, but I tend to look for the plain ones, the smaller than usual horses that get overlooked. I can still get in trouble with that criteria, by letting other people (DH) talk me into buying something I’m not quite sure of.
You can retrain a horse to be a trail horse, fix wrong angles on feet, fatten them up, slim them down, make them look prettier, and certainly you can add muscle and topline. But you cannot make a flighty minded horse into a good solid trail horse without out a lot of miles, wet saddle blankets, and quite a bit of risk. I’m too old for that stuff. :)[/QUOTE]
^^^^Well said.
I’ve owned six “Keeper” trail horses in my lifetime. I laid two to rest at ages 27 & 29. My current four are 17, 18, 25 & 27; all retired. Two due to health issues, the other two because it is I who can’t ride like I used to anymore.
I trained four of them and by golly, two of those are Tennessee Walkers from show blood lines who didn’t “make” as Performance Walkers. <—those crazy headed show Walkers, anyway:D
All different shapes, sizes and mentality.
Anyone of them would walk a two foot wide trail with a 100’ drop off on one side and a 50’ rock cliff on the other. They would crawl over rocks in a fast running river, ride down the state highway and never flick an ear when some a** in a semi let his Jake Brake off beside them, the list goes on.
Some of them were (are) drop-dead gorgeous traffic stoppers, others not so much.
There was none of these densitization games at home. I wanted to ride, we rode, Sometimes by ourselves, sometimes on the back end of a 30 mile ride organized ride, sometimes with a few well-seasoned trail horses if the New Horse On The Block had more confidence issues than what I deemed normal.
It’s all between the horse and rider. If the rider is going to keep sucking in their breath every time they come to a low lying branch or a creek crossing, pretty soon the horse is going to wonder what’s up.
Horses are not motorcycles. “If it has a heart and pumps blood, it’s unpredictable”. The rider has to be prepared for that, regardless of the in the show ring or on the trail.
If a person “just cannot find a safe trail horse”, they probably aren’t too safe for the trails themselves.
I’ve been trail riding far too many years and ridden a lot more than my own horses out on trails, to always be blaming the horse.
I have only ridden one horse in my lifetime that was happier in the show ring vs. riding on a trail. While he would have been perfectly safe on a groomed Metro Park trail, he would not have been safe for the kind of butt sliding/knee digging riding I was accustomed to. ONE out of so many horses I can’t count, constitutes barely one per cent of the horses are unsafe for trails.
Granted, not all riders are capable of dealing with every type of “horse mentality”. But to say a good trail horse just cannot be found, is telling me it’s more the rider than it is finding a good horse.
A lot of good posts and info.
Some of it perhaps is that a horse that is a seasonsed, reliable trail horse in one environment may not translate to another. Some horses are sxcellent in groupd or with a buddy, and awful at going out alone. If their rider always rides with friends they may not even know this, then the horse is sold to someone that rides alone , for example.
A horse may be very good in wooded trails, and then sold to someone who rides a lot in open fields along horses running in paddocks, for example. Said calm trail horse was never exposed to this before and might not take it in stride.
As others said, even with a very seasoned horse, takes a while to form a partnership and the horse has to feel safe with rider as well.
I have a bit of a different take than some here…imo, a good trail horse can also be worked /schooled in an arena as well. Stop, go, respond, slow down, all can be schooled when not on trail and the horse that is used to responding and slowing when asked, for example, will also do so on trail. Some people take zero time schooling their trail horses and just expect the horse to know everything and do everything on its own.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;7047660]
I have a bit of a different take than some here…imo, a good trail horse can also be worked /schooled in an arena as well. Stop, go, respond, slow down, all can be schooled when not on trail and the horse that is used to responding and slowing when asked, for example, will also do so on trail. Some people take zero time schooling their trail horses and just expect the horse to know everything and do everything on its own.[/QUOTE]
I agree 110% with that:) All my horses were well schooled on whoa before I even know I want you to whoa, go, back up, neck reining, and how to stand in a ditch in the woods so I could get back on them after a “tree” break.
It’s all that flapping of tarps and garbage bags on sticks that I have never done. I have one well seasoned trail horse who thought the abandoned refrigerator around the bend was going to eat him alive, no matter how many times we passed it, during a riding season. My other horse didn’t flick an ear over it.
I was bush hogging yesterday and I was wishing for the buggy whip because my horses have no fear of the farm tractor or anything, besides grass, that might fly out from under the bush hog. Yet, they have six kinds of panic attack if Mr. WTW is on the tractor, and would get wide-eyed, if they passed one mowing hay next to the road.
I have never taken a green, unpredictable horse on a cliff-hangar trail either - I like living - lol lol lol
[QUOTE=BeckyS;7046728]
Gaited horses can definitely jump obstacles on the trail. They won’t win you a jumping class in a rated show, but they can get the job done. Gaited horses usually have a pretty mild temperament and are absolute sweethearts. They make excellent trail mounts not just because of their gaits, but because they typically have a good mind as well.
.[/QUOTE]
While gaited horses are not my thing I thought I’d mention that I fox hunted a Walker for a couple of years. Rough hunting country and very respectable jumps.
This boy did fine and kept up easily with the field. No reason they couldn’t handle some trail jumps.
I agree 110% with that All my horses were well schooled on whoa before I even know I want you to whoa, go, back up, neck reining, and how to stand in a ditch in the woods so I could get back on them after a “tree” break.
I am just a recreational trail rider ( a dressage wannabe), but I like being able to go out on trails. And no matter how much we try to get a horse used to things, stuff happens…so if they are obedient, or we can get through to them with our aids, when they balk at the stream/speed up when they hear hooves etc , we have a place to go with them and can redirect things etc.
My horse has what I call “meltdowns”, and cant avoid what will make him have that…so I worked like crazy on his obedience, and sure enough, on a trail ride the other day he had a melt down (as opposed to just a spook), but, because I had worked so hard on obedience, I was able to get him to stay with me, focus, not run off, etc, and it took him a good ten minutes to steady down but nothing terrible happened in the meantime…just a lot of snorting, passaging airborne instead of trotting etc (in the past it would have been bolt and spin). 95% of the time he’s fine…it’s that other 5%.
So yes, trail miles and exposure and de sensitizing helps but no substitute for obedience and listening to rider. If a horse can’t back up to close a gate or easily leave his buddies on the home turf, why would said horse do any of this on the trail?
My 13.2 hh Paso could jump 3’6" although I didn’t do it often. She loved to canter and jumped anything I pointed her at. I haven’t found another one quite like her, but gaited horses can jump.
I have had QHs and now I have a Kentucky Mtn Horse, all great trail horses. We bought the QHs when we lived in East Texas ranch country - those horses are broke, broke, broke! Now you do have to find one that suits your size and “speed” because they’re all individuals but they are out working in the country every day and essentially nothing spooks them.
As my QH mare was retired (cancer sadly), I decided to research gaited breeds. Fact is, if you stay away from the show circuit, most gaited breeds are actually used for trail-riding. I was crewing for a friend who does endurance and, while she was out riding, I always spent some of time talking to people about their gaited endurance horses (granted it’s a minority at this point). Not only learned about different breeds but actually became friendly with a woman who, months later, sold me a gelding that she had “graduated” from to a faster horse. Suited me perfectly! And the personal contact really helps you evaluate and trust what you’re getting.
So several points: look at QHs, especially from areas where they’re “using” horses. Second, consider gaited breeds: TWHs, Kentucky Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Pasos, Fox Trotters,etc. (sorry if I’m leaving any out.) You can find great trail horses in any of those breeds. (A great site for TWH that specialize in trail is http://www.cloud9walkers.com I have nothing to do with it, they just seem like they have good horses and they really train and ride them all over TX, TN, etc.
Third: do as others have said and get involved in trail-focused groups in your area. If you don’t have a horse to ride yet, just volunteer, meet people, learn. Take your time and do as you would with any horse purchase: try out multiple times if you can and have them vetted.
Fourth: do look at conformation, don’t necessarily look for “beautiful,” “elegant,” “big movement,” etc. Trail horses are about fun and safe, not about having the most attention-getting horse on the trail. Pretty is as pretty does…
Good luck!
I can tell you from personal experience, it’s because people lie.
I was selling a big pretty TB that was sweet, great disposition, but I sold him because he was buddy sour and would test me too often for my liking. After a couple of months and too many tire kickers I agreed to let someone sell him on consignment for me and they would do some “brush up” on him while he was there. Holy Crap-- their ad shows their 7yr old son on him and calls him a kids horse. NEVER EVER would I call him a kids horse.
Is he safe with kids on the ground with kids? Sure.
Is he ok to maybe let them ride him in an arena after you worked him? Maybe. Would I toss a kid up on him and let them trail ride? Never in a million years.
I was horrified to see the ad…even more when I saw someone with a 5 yr old respond to the ad. (needless to say, he’s not sold)
Oh- and the pictures of people standing on their horse, sitting backwards, etc? Yeah, my SIL has done that too…after the horse had the crap worked out of him for 2 hours. So I totally don’t believe it when I see those in ad’s
That said- I was riding my friends QH that I’ve ridden dozens of times (packs little kids around, is a total angel, ride in a halter type of horse) 3 weeks ago and when I asked him to just stop and wait while I talked to someone he totally freaked out. He ended up coming over on top of me. It was the most bizarre thing I’d ever seen. I hopped back on and rode him home with a single rein (the other broke in the incident) and I’ve ridden him since then, and he’s totally fine. The only thing I can chalk it up to is a bad day. Luckily neither of us were hurt too badly in the process. 
Until I sell something, I’m riding my other TB who’s a jumper but at least trail safe for the average person. He’ll go across bridges, down hills, through water (now), fine around dogs and other horses-- but he REALLY likes to trot and canter which makes him difficult if you just want a relaxing trail ride. So very shortly I’ll be in your same boat…
Katherine, I also agree sellers lie. I know because I sold a former horse through a pro trainer and I disclosed EVEYRTHING to her, including that I had had two (re broken bones) injury falls from him due to spooking. A lovely horse, sweet, yes, rapid spook and bolt (due to green) yes.
She advertised him as no vices, and quiet enough for anyone to ride. I called her up and chewed her out. Fortunately, he ended up in a good, appropriate home with a woman that would be working him full time with a trainer. That is what he needed .
I personally know of two other horses with serious issues who had injured their owners advertised as no vices, safe enough for an amateur, etc. (one by the owner herself, so it’s not just trainers)
Maybe it’s safer buying the few horses that are advertised as having issues, lol?
It’s hard, because likely there are horses who are as nice and quiet as their ads or owners/trainers represent.
I think a buyer has to ask a LOT of questions, very specific questions, and try a horse multiple times and if possible, lease or trail them at home barn.
Example: I knew one man, an ammie recreational rider, who wanted a bombproof trail horse . He bought one sight unseen, from out of state, but the horse was not cheap, had glowing references, was photographed in parades, carrying their owners along a road in traffic, etc.
Horse arrives. Sweet, quiet horse. Bombproof on the trail…until, asked to canter. Then all hell broker loose, violent bucking till rider came off.
Turns out the former owners ONLY walked and jogged him in parades and along side of road in traffic, the horse had no real training and hated (or was in pain, never figured it out), cantering. Did it with trainers, every rider who tried him. The buyer never asked specifically about cantering, assumed it would be fine. He finally gave the horse to some folks who I hope knew what they were getting.
Great discussion, so glad I am not the only person who found this out when looking. My problem was that I ride in the arena when it’s hotter than he** in the summer here and during the week. But winter time and weekends I travel around going trail riding. If I would have had a large enough budget I maybe could have found a horse to do both without any big issues but in my price range they either did arena or trail, not both. I looked for an older school master but all of those had major health issues. So I ended up with a 6 year old OTTB. Stupid? Maybe, some days I feel like it. However, her mind is unbeatable. Bombproof, you bet. She is unflappable. She loves trail, not the arena, but does dressage reluctantly and is learning to jump. Water crossing the first time, cliffs, bikes, all handled easily with her great mind. She just doesn’t get over excited, and she likes to analyze and figure out a situation before diving in. BUT, that TB personality and ex racing has it’s drawbacks. Horses trotting or running off in front of her trigger her to go. Not bolt but move faster. Other horses in a group getting really wound up do the same to her. I elected to move to a barn where we can experience this over and over until she is immune. I didn’t get a group riding trail horse or a dead broke one but I think in time she will be dynamite, and still young! But I am thinking it’s three years of practice…
[QUOTE=carp;7046325]
Two reasons come to mind.
One is the breeding.
The other reason is training. [/QUOTE]
Excellent answer. I would like to add that you can have a purebred turn out well-bred and useful for trails. Was this not the reason for breeds in the first place? Each made for a specific reason? Those who did not make the cut were most likely culled.
Unfortunately, our use for horses as hobbies tends to favor looks and movement with temperament being excused if the horse has the former. The same holds true for any domesticated animal. We created these animals for our use and when the use changes, the trends follow.
I have pictures of my TWH mare with a trainer standing on her. I could easily get more pictures with her under a tarp, umbrella over her head, etc.
If you actually want to ride the squirrel bait horse out on the trail though, you better have a good seat and not be easily rattled.
Amy, sounds like you got a gem!
Best way to make a good trail horse…
“Keep a leg on each side and your mind in the middle”
(old hand saying)
Yes yes yes to lying. I can’t believe the horses I looked at that were advertised for beginners (I’m not a beginner, I just wanted a quiet trail horse). Lots of barn sour horses, and most had really dangerous behavior. The owners would just say, “oh, he hasn’t gotten out much lately, he’ll be fine once you start riding him regularly”.
One of my weirdest experiences was a mentally fried Paso Fino, which they wanted me to test ride around the property bareback with only a halter. They looked surprised when I asked for a saddle and bridle, and to ride in the arena. Turned out it can only be ridden if someone is hand walking the horse. Advertised as a great trail horse for beginners.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;7048503]
Best way to make a good trail horse…
“Keep a leg on each side and your mind in the middle”
(old hand saying):)[/QUOTE]
Love it!
Last week I took on a horse for a friend to ride/train for the summer. she’s a BIG draft cross who hadn’t been ridden for six weeks. Other than a few squeals and a half hearted buck, she’s revealed herself to be a great trail horse. I’ve taken her out several times now and she’s pretty unflappable, even crossing some scary bridges.
I think some of it is just innate and the rest is wet blanket therapy.
