Trail Horse Hunting

A recent article in one of my horse magazines had me thinking about what I was looking for in a good trail horse. Trying to find a horse with a good temperament, courage, trail experience, and calmness can be a daunting task. In the age of Internet shopping for everything, horse shopping is no different, but you want to be able to be sure that you have the time to check out a horse fully. There are no serial numbers to tract for the horse's history.

We took several months to find my Fox Trotter, and in this time we created a folder full of contacts. Visiting farms, checking out the environment where a horse is raised or trained is a must. One contact led to another, leading us to my current horse. She was just four at the time which made me hesitate, but she soon won me over with her temperament.

You see her owner breeder had ponied her on trail from the time she was a baby, so she'd been exposed to trail. I think this is why she loves trail so much. Her owner had me ride her on a variety of trails, some quite difficult with river crossings and she performed like a trooper.

I came to the conclusion that I had not only been horse shopping, but I'd been trainer shopping as well, and all lived happily ever after.

Happy Trails, Kathy, Horsedrivensite.net