What breed of horse?

[EweAreKiddingMe!]

If you are older I highly recommend gaited horses we have had lots of them and they are wonderful please remember that even though the horse is a breed that is typically gaited doesnt mean that particular horse is gaited

 

[Mini Horses]

When a youngster, horses were my every thought. I got my first at 12. Over the years, as an adult, several have come & gone, been enjoyed, loved on & loved by.

There are days I'd love to hop on a horse and ride a while....but, I honestly don't have the time I want to devote to one. So no riders here now. Occasionally, I ride with a friend -- her horses -- it's plenty and enjoyable. I still own 2 saddles tho in case.

 

[Ridgetop]

Problems with gaited horses is that they are great rides but not suitable for children to use in gymkhana playdays, or do the cowboying stuff that kids like to do. Our first TWH mare was a really beautiful and well bred TWH lady. She was sold to us by a second-year college student that was no longer home to ride her. The owner had bought her as a teenager wanting to show in jumping, playdates, pole bending, barrels, etc. We had to have the horse get a tune up with a professional trainer to get her back into proper work. She never lost her gaits, but was so confused by the other stuff that she needed reworking on her cuing. Beautiful mare that we entered in TWH shows where she won every time. We weren't into showing so retired her as a trail horse. Beautiful gaits including racking out. TWH walking gait as fast as a gallop.) We eventually bred her and still have her daughter, Skittles, who looks like her mother although only 15h2 and has same wonderful gaits.

BTW, forgot an important item that we learned by doing this - don't buy horses too tall for you to mount. As you age, that height lessens. I went from a 14.2 paint mare to a 16.2 TWH. Anywhere I went i had to bring my mounting block. Of course, I was immensely popular with my riding group of ladies my age. LOL The cries of "Is she here? Did she bring her mounting block?" resounding at our trailer meeting places.

 

[EweAreKiddingMe!]

Problems with gaited horses is that they are great rides but not suitable for children to use in gymkhana playdays, or do the cowboying stuff that kids like to do. Our first TWH mare was a really beautiful and well bred TWH lady. She was sold to us by a second-year college student that was no longer home to ride her. The owner had bought her as a teenager wanting to show in jumping, playdates, pole bending, barrels, etc. We had to have the horse get a tune up with a professional trainer to get her back into proper work. She never lost her gaits, but was so confused by the other stuff that she needed reworking on her cuing. Beautiful mare that we entered in TWH shows where she won every time. We weren't into showing so retired her as a trail horse. Beautiful gaits including racking out. TWH walking gait as fast as a gallop.) We eventually bred her and still have her daughter, Skittles, who looks like her mother although only 15h2 and has same wonderful gaits.

BTW, forgot an important item that we learned by doing this - don't buy horses too tall for you to mount. As you age, that height lessens. I went from a 14.2 paint mare to a 16.2 TWH. Anywhere I went i had to bring my mounting block. Of course, I was immensely popular with my riding group of ladies my age. LOL The cries of "Is she here? Did she bring her mounting block?" resounding at our trailer meeting places.

Often times gaited horses are overlooked for those problems,like if a kid wants to know how to post a trot. However you do kick everyone's butts at egg-on-spoon. They are great if you cant use ur knees to post a trot and great old lady horse.Halflingers are also good my girl Crumpet is a pro at the fun shows we go to

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ask questions, lots of questions. Take answers with a grain of salt. I once bought a horse that checked out great on everything we asked about. He passed the vet check with flying colors. He was easy to catch, easy to tack up, stood like a statue for mounting, was quiet when you wanted him to be, and energetic enough when you wanted that. He was adaptable. When we went to see him the first time the owners tacked him up. They used a common curb bit. Only problem was that they had it upside down and backwards with no curb chain, lol . I was pretty impressed that he did so well under those circumstances. After the vet check and the initial ride we bought him. I decided to ride him home since it was only about 10 miles. As I was leaving their property their son gave me a nugget of wisdom.... "be careful, he's car shy." Holy crap! Never thought about that.

P.S. The path home was alongside Interstate 10. He wasn't car shy by the time I got him home!

 

[EweAreKiddingMe!]

Ask questions, lots of questions. Take answers with a grain of salt. I once bought a horse that checked out great on everything we asked about. He passed the vet check with flying colors. He was easy to catch, easy to tack up, stood like a statue for mounting, was quiet when you wanted him to be, and energetic enough when you wanted that. He was adaptable. When we went to see him the first time the owners tacked him up. They used a common curb bit. Only problem was that they had it upside down and backwards with no curb chain, lol . I was pretty impressed that he did so well under those circumstances. After the vet check and the initial ride we bought him. I decided to ride him home since it was only about 10 miles. As I was leaving their property their son gave me a nugget of wisdom.... "be careful, he's car shy." Holy crap! Never thought about that.

P.S. The path home was alongside Interstate 10. He wasn't car shy by the time I got him home!

We had one like that except he had narcolepsy and fell down 2 months after we got him

 

[Ridgetop]

In southern CA there is not a lot of water to cross. My first paints were bought as 2 year olds, and trained by the owner we bought from in our area who had them as family horses for 12-15 years. We have the wash with a stream to cross here so water proof. My TWH was bred and trained by the owner in Camarillo who was 80 and wanted to find a good home for her since she was unable to ride anymore. The owner did not advertise her, DH met her at the vet and got talking about his TWH we had just bought. He mentioned that we wanted a second one for me and Mrs. Lenhart told him she was thinking about finding another home for the mare. We went out to see her, bought her, and loved her forever. She could be headstrong, but we discussed being barn sour at the trail from our house and she decided that I should be allowed to ride where I wanted without the other horses. LOL Camalen had never seen a water hazard in her entire 18 years! When we went out for a trail ride she refused to cross water. I sent the other horses over the water ahead and told them to keep going and watch out. Once they were far enough ahead Camalen realize we were being eft behind and tried to cross the river with giant leaps. LOL I was ready for it and the gallop to catch up to the others. After working with her for a year, I finally went on a trail ride with a friend in the wash. The trail was a very narrow tunnel with brush and trees on either side and overhead. As we went further in the trail flooded until we were ankle deep in water. The trail was too narrow to turn around, and I wouldn't let her back out. (I did have to back her 1/4 mile out of a narrow dead-end trail in the mountains once - the trail ended in a drop off!) I kept talking and urging Camalen who was following my friend's horse. Although nervous she kept walking through the water which eventually reached her knees. The water trail ride took 2 hours and after that I could talk her through water crossings and even into the surf. I did have to back her into the surf but she was willing to try. LOL

I have been lucky to find great horses for my children, myself and my husband. Our 4 best horses/pony were trained by the sellers who had owned them for years and didn't want to sell but had to sell because their youth owners had outgrown them, age or divorce. Wonderful horses who came home and never left us until the day they died peacefully, surrounded by the family hopelessly crying over them and patting them as they passed into that meadow beyond the rainbow.

I expect to see all eventually and in MY heaven I will be able to ride them all at once with all my dogs running around me on the trail. (In MY heaven, my Anatolians will get along with all the other dogs just fine too. )

Look for temperament and training instead of pedigree and you will find what you are looking for. Remember that famous quote attributed to Ronald Reagan and also Churchill "There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse".

 

[canesisters]

I would suggest that you accept the fact that your perfect horse will be as plain as a balled up paper sack & that you're friends & family will probably tease you about your homely horse. Hear me out...... go out looking for something that is absolutely sound & completely sane. Do not compromise one bit on those 2 things. Not one bit. If the horse is unflappable, utterly trustworthy with children, safe & sane in an emergency, responsive & able to carry anyone over just about any trail condition he/she will quickly become the most precious animal you've ever had the honor to care for.
And... you'll likely get lucky & it'll be a beauty anyway.

But a striking coat pattern or a sculptured face that ends up being a daily struggle won't make your heart happy.

 

[Ridgetop]

I would suggest that you accept the fact that your perfect horse will be as plain as a balled up paper sack & that you're friends & family will probably tease you about your homely horse. Hear me out...... go out looking for something that is absolutely sound & completely sane. Do not compromise one bit on those 2 things. Not one bit. If the horse is unflappable, utterly trustworthy with children, safe & sane in an emergency, responsive & able to carry anyone over just about any trail condition he/she will quickly become the most precious animal you've ever had the honor to care for.
And... you'll likely get lucky & it'll be a beauty anyway.

My neighbor has registered Saddlebreds. She bought them for their pedigrees and started with a mare that she bred. They were lovely animals, nice rides under saddle, did well at the shows, but had lousy dispositions. One of the mares (bred by my friend) was really mean and when her teenage daughter was walking past one day it reached out, grabbed her by the shoulder, and tossed her about 6 feet! She was lucky to escape with 20 stitches. All of them have developed navicular disease and went lame early in their careers. My neighbor used to be somewhat patronizing about our plain old trail horses, but her kids had nothing they could ride for fun. Our kids saddled up and went everywhere on their ponies. Then when DD1 went off to college we loaned her little horse to them. DD1 said that the Spunkster would have better care from them since he would be housed in a stable loose box. They loved that little horse. He was special, going English, Western, jumping, gymkhana games, etc. They took him to a friend's ranch and their daughter rode him to gather cattle and he was good at that too. They really didn't want to send him back to us. LOL When he died of old age their family came up to be with us when the vet came. The dad said he was the best little horse they had ever had.

I would not have had one or her high bred horses for anything, and I am a person that prizes bloodlines. We bought for training and temperament and had great horses that earned their retirement by taking care of our children on the trails. We loved every one of our horses and they stayed with us until they died of old age.

Hopefully your family will find your forever horses too. BTW, Josie the Mule and Skittles (the TWH DH bred) are with us in Texas. We couldn't leave them behind although people said to sell them - they are family.

 

[EweAreKiddingMe!]

I would suggest that you accept the fact that your perfect horse will be as plain as a balled up paper sack & that you're friends & family will probably tease you about your homely horse. Hear me out...... go out looking for something that is absolutely sound & completely sane. Do not compromise one bit on those 2 things. Not one bit. If the horse is unflappable, utterly trustworthy with children, safe & sane in an emergency, responsive & able to carry anyone over just about any trail condition he/she will quickly become the most precious animal you've ever had the honor to care for.
And... you'll likely get lucky & it'll be a beauty anyway.

But a striking coat pattern or a sculptured face that ends up being a daily struggle won't make your heart happy.

We have a horse my grandmother bought when he was 3yo,she saw him at an auction and no one else was buying him,and he was kinda homely but she liked the look of his trot(He was a cart horse) then my grandpa came back from the bathroom and my grandma said "I bought that horse" and my grandpa said "What?Why did you buy him" my grandpa is best friends with that horse to this day. His name is Homer (like homely) he is 17 this year he is a Morgan horse. You will feel the connection with the horse.With my halflinger,Crumpet,as soon as I got her out of the field and saw her I felt the connection that she's the one I'm meant to get and she was well worth it.I know it sounds like something out of a Hallmark movie but its true