NEWS & ARTICLES : So You Want Just a Trail Horse, huh?

So You Want Just a Trail Horse, huh? (originally published in PetFolio magazine)

ìI donít want anything fancy or expensive, I just want a trail horse.î

ìWell, if she canít do anything else, she can always be just a trail horse.î

My husband and I just look at each other, as always, and smile wryly as we listen.†

††ìJust a trail horseî means different things to different people.† But to me, this horse is far more special than most give it credit for being. Show or arena experience and a lengthy pedigree doesnít a trail horse make. Most horses could become good trail horses with proper training and exposure, but not all are cut out for the task.

†A great trail horse must be able to stay rock steady despite roaring motorcycles, flocks of bicycles, barking dogs, horse-eating bushes, trees and rocks, or bottomless puddles. The patches of desert trash or flapping plastic are just waiting to pounce upon a poor unsuspecting horse.† Six-year-old boys playing with Tonka trucks and squirt guns can be exciting, and we havenít even gotten to the quail or rabbits, yet.

†Aside from the neighborhood raucous, a good trail horse must know where itís feet are at all times, stepping carefully through obstacles it may not even see clearly, and handle things like streams, logs, rocks and ruts. Working a gate or a cow should be a piece of cake. Add packing or hunting, and we get extreme trail. I particularly like a horse that loads at the mere invitation of an open trailer door, and stands quietly while hobbled or tied, even in the dark. Oh ñ and happily cuddling up to a rock, stump or trailer fender sure helps us short folk climb aboard.

†So, hereís to the lowly ìJust-a-trail-horseî horse, the one everyone dreams about but few can find.† Remember that, too, next time someone says, ìAll I want is just a trail horse.î† Tell them, ìGood luck!î It takes a really special horse to be a successful trail horse.

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