IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Trail riding may not be the next best thing to heaven for everyone, but for many, trail riding is the next best thing to heaven. There must be some irresistible attraction since more than sixty percent of riders from all horse disciplines do some trail riding. As long as you can fork a saddle it is not too late to do what might have been done, to dream a new dream. There is great joy and peace that overwhelms riders heading into high alpine – God’s country.
The satisfaction of the adventure has little to do with how many trails and how many horses a person has ridden. What does make a trail ride go well so that it can be enjoyed, particularly a back country trail ride, are simple but important techniques, tips, and attitudes and behaviors.
What we are after is a good day on a horse and on the trails, as opposed to a bad day. You need to cut out bad habits and bad behaviors with a sharp knife and load up on the good stuff. If these suggestions below seem on the simple side, know that with trail riding it is the simple things that count. Foundation training and respect and doing the little things right is what keeps your outfit and your journey going smooth and safe.
It has always amazed me what an inexperienced trail rider with a good hands-on attitude riding an experienced, calm and steady horse, can accomplish. And it has always amazed me how the wrong choice in a trail horse can make anyone’s ride, the day, the trip, go sideways. If your horse is persistently nervous and spooks and hangs on to that behavior, then there comes a point, hopefully sooner rather than later, that you need to realize the horse just may not be trail riding material. How many people have been hurt when the horse spooked at birds, paper, cans, cars, bicycles, etc, who knew that their horse had this ingrained issue and made repeated excuses for the horse or just put up with it? Hundreds, maybe thousands. Do not fall in love with a horse until it has earned your trust, and, you have earned its respect as the alpha being. If the world of horse training is foreign to you then go out and find that solid, bombproof, ‘kids’ horse.
A horse that is difficult to catch at home can be a nightmare on the trail. There is nothing that ends your adventure quicker than a horse that simply hobbled off or got loose and left the country because it just does not like people. I have made it a point to not have those horses in my outfit. I do give the horse a real chance to change its ways through training and getting to know and trust me, but if the horse quits the bunch and always wants to head off, it has to go.
There is not time in this article to explain details of the body type we look for, but countless horses limp back to the rail head every year because of foot and leg issues. If back country trail riding over variable terrain from steep and rocky to soft bog is your thing, then buy foot insurance. Buy a horse with thick, solid hoof walls and bigger bone. That is your insurance that the horse will have less chance of breaking down. I realize that a horse does not have to have a big foot to have a good foot, but I am talking about variable loads, some larger than they should be, regularly over rugged ground through a season and through the years. It has always bothered me to see a 250-pound rider on a small footed 900 to 1000 pound horse. It has been a great lesson for me to see virtually all foot problems disappear when we began to use draft and Fjor crosses.
Good trail riders need to be like good trail horses – calm, willing, easy keepers, good feet, don’t spook at paper on the ground – ok I’m kidding, sort of. I find that, in general, eager outdoors persons; hikers or hunters or adventurers in general, pick up on handling horses and adapt well to the trails. It is not that a city bound person or an arena bound horse cannot adapt, they might, but give the horse and the person a chance to familiarize themselves on easy trails before attempting big trips. It is always good to turn city horses into a field with water and mud and forest prior to trips to get used to the new environment.
If you are knotty and do not know your knots you will knot have smooth sailing. Time and again you need to tie up and if you are clumsy at it and takes too long, or are too sloppy, horses can get loose or leads slip down trees or knots get jammed. All of it very serious on the trail. I have known a few riders whose horses have been killed on the trail because the lead slid down the tree and the horse pulled back and it broke its neck. You should know one good quick release knot and the bowline knot, for times when there you expect pressure on the knot. You need to know how to secure knots and keep them from sliding down smooth trees and poles.
Trail riders need a longer than normal lead rope for tying around trees, for leading other horses, for emergency lunging a silly horse while on the trail, and safely walking ahead of your horse through difficult terrain. We prefer 10 to 12 feet double braid nylon.
Do not have loose coats and items tied loosely on the saddle, use securely tied saddle bags and a cantle roll that you can easily get your leg over when you mount.
Be sure that your horse is trained to stand statue still when you mount or dismount. Give him an inch and he will take three steps. On the trail there are too many distractions and too much debris and too many ropes that can get stuck under tails to allow that nonsense.
Balky horses can get you into all sorts of trouble in the back country. Spend lots of time training your horse to step out the moment you kiss or cluck or tug the lead. No second cue needed.
All trail horses need to be hobble broke. You will want to turn them out for the night if you camp, out for an hour to graze as you eat lunch, have them stand patient rather than paw at trees. And you will find that once you have the right to control your feet you will have a better-behaved trail horse in general.
Last but not least, it is just plain dangerous to have a trail horse that is not completely desensitized – ropes around their legs and feet, under their tales, tarps over their backs, and working around ears and mouth. Learn to desensitize properly, and that means take your time and do it safely.
You do not become experienced overnight, but you do gain experience by the minute, so get out there and enjoy the trails. Out on the trails it truly can be a Wonderful Life!