For trail/ Hunting....



I guess I am a imtermetiate rider. I have just rode my girl friends horses over the years and barrowed horses at feild trials.

Id like to get my own though.



Ive rode arabs, Quarters , and tennesee walkers.



I like my present girl freinds tennesee walker , only thing I notice about her is she looks around alot as we trail ride and she doesnt pay attention to the trail sometimes . The walker is fun to ride though. My girl friend claims a Quarter horse cant keep up with a Walker and will tire.



My girl friend also has and likes Icelanics. Kinda small looking but sturdy.



Do Tenn. walkers make good elk hunting horses and for Rocky mtn terrain?



Im looking for a trail/ hunting horse.



Im sure it all depends on the horse no matter what kind I choose. My guy friends that have horses all swear by quarters but they all do ropeing and penning too.

Only one I ever used was a Morab. She had a backend like a jackrabbit and could take off like one when asked. I miss her! derf

We called the "Western Saddle Breed" I think that was a fancy way of saying MUTT. These horses lacked "spirit" which to me meant they were safe to ride! My father favors Appaloosa and I always liked Quarter horses for speed (sports car if you will but too damned spirited for real riding), but for the long haul the Morgan (a F350 4X4 ).

ASS_Clown

I've never hunted off of horseback, but I do train dogs and field trial with my horse. My first choice would be a Tennessee Walking Horse and my second choice would be a Missouri Foxtrotter.

GSP7:

If you are looking for a good Morgan, try Thorpe Mountain Morgans in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. They are my folks neighbors, and I have bought two mares from them. I have handled, ridden, and been around a lot of their horses. Their horses tend to be well mannered, versatile, and sensible. Also, since they are born and raised in the mountains at about 7,200 feet, the horses are already acclimated to altitude, and since the owners hunt and shoot, the horses are already used to the noise of a rifle.

Dave

Loud n Boomer thanks for the tip. I just looked at a used horse trailer yesterday and the young girl there recently got a 2 year old morgan at a auction and she uses him for barrel racing and realy likes that horse.
Morgans are supposed to have realy good temperments

Rick

I have never met an Arabian I liked, far too spirited (read scared of their own shadow) to be safe for trail riding, in my experience anyway.

Last advise, stay away from stallions and geldings. Get a mare, she will be less temperamental and have greater stamina, overall a far better trail horse.

ASS_CLOWN

Ann,

Never have had any experience with TB, although I think draft horses are the very best breeds from a human / horse interface perspective.

I think you may be right with regard to 1/4 horses. The only 1/4 horses I have ridden (two) I also broke so they did not screw with me. Having said that, my stallion Zim would buck around and harrass anyone else who ever tried to ride him, for me however he was well behaved boy, so you may very well be right. Experienced the same behaviour with a Palamino stallion I broke too.

ASS_CLOWN

I'd still take a good quarter horse, of all breeds some are trail horses some aren't. In my opinion the first use of a horse is to work cattle, so the quarter horse is the way to go.

i have a saddlebred pinto for sale appox 14.3 hands 7 years old stocky built super smooth and fast walk gaited has been used in mountains will go anywhere over anything through anything sure footed strong and powerful kids ride a littlecautious
when you go to put the saddle on doesnt want you to hurt him
due to the other horses bulling him at feed time
kids climb right up his backlegs
will make one heck of a good hunting horse or trials horse just needs more ridding time price $1200.00 due to moving a little more training should bring $4000.00

e to the other horses bulling him at feed time

I'm going to side with Quite Hunter on this. I've owned Arab Arab/saddlebred cross, Paints and now foxtrotters. Since I don't work cattle, The foxtrotter is the best solution for me. I ride several times a week in the mountains of Utah. I pack in the summer, hunt all fall. This breed does great.

The arabs will win the 50 mile endurance race. But my foxtrotters will finish the 50 milers and I feel a whole lot bertter after a day int he saddle.

My daughters still prefer the Arab Arab/Saddlebred horses. They have young bodies and don't mind the posting.

The Quarter Horses will beat me up a steep hill first thing in the morning. But they won't be any where near me 12 miles into the day. My MFT can dog walk as slow as any quarter horse. Just depends what gear I put them in. So I can slow down and see the country or speed up and get back to camp.

I think you might want to prioritize between hunting and trails because they can be very different. If you want to ride trails with your girlfriend get a walker or foxtrotter because otherwise her horse may walk right away from you. For hunting I would much rather have a quarter or even an Arab. I find that in broken country (I'm not usually on a trail while actually hunting) that much of the advantages of the gaited breeds are useless or a hinderence. For example while hunting I usually like to go pretty slow, second its hard for the gaited breeds to get into their gait while riding through downfall, creeks, over logs etc and to me they start to get stumble footed. Plus while hunting I frequently have pack animals and it takes a very special lead pack horse/mule to keep the experience anything but miserable if you are on a gaited breed leading them. I actually really like the arabs for their smaller frame and endurance.

Hmmmm never experienced any footing probs on mine, but YMMV. One reason I liked that breed was because of the way she handled the narrow, rocky, tight trails I rode. Slow wasn't a prob with the Paso, but with the Tennessee Walkers I found that they normally don't like slow paces. I don't have your experience with packing, so I can't speak to that. The wonderful thing about having such variety of breeds is that one can always find one they like.

Damn - I just spent 4 hours trying to figure out which calibre was best and then I run into this. If I figure out the calibre I still got to decide what horse to ride. Seriously though, I have a 4 wheeler. Much easier to catch in the morning - harder to get started though.