05/01/2025
“I’m just looking for a horse I can take out on the trails by myself, nothing fancy.”
This is a sentence we, and many others in the horse industry, hear ALL the time.
If we dropped you off in a place you’d never been before, with an acquaintance you’d met once or twice, where they spoke a different language, and asked you to just be relaxed and explore…how would you feel?
I’m sure there is a subset of you that would be ok with that, and even enjoy the adventure. But for the majority of us, that probably sounds pretty stressful.
What if we did the same thing, but this time you got to go with a friend or family member that you knew well and had a good relationship with?
I bet a larger subset would be comfortable doing that. But some would still find the situation overwhelming.
That’s how we view taking a new horse out on a new trail by yourself, expecting them to be relaxed and not do anything “silly”.
The reality is, there are a lot of horses we can take out on solo trial rides comfortably, but we are also confident in how to handle them getting a little uncomfortable and needing more support. We also have ALWAYS spent time developing a relationship and foundation with that horse before we take them out on the trail.
That doesn’t mean someone could come out, ride them one time, and take them out for a successful solo ride (or many times, even a successful group ride).
Trail horses have to have a high level of confidence both in themselves, and in their riders. Especially if we expect them to never spook, speed up, or do anything else like that.
That confidence can either come from extensive training and experience on the horses part, or the riders. Often, a combination of both is ideal.
So next time you say you’re looking for a trail horse, we encourage you to take the “just” out of the sentence. 🙏
