Trail Riding

I was at the feed store the other day and over heard a couple of people talking about horses. One asked the other what type of riding she did, and she said, "Just Trail Riding." Quickly the person who asked said, that's cool, and then began to talk about her exploits in competition and eventing.

This made me start to think about recreational trail riding and how it can be considered less serious than competitions.

Nothing could be further from the truth. So I thought to list a few ideas about trail riding; if nothing more, just to get it more clear in my own head.

1. A good trail horse needs to be well trained. Many think that if there is no competition, then training is not that important. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a competition, if your horse does not perform well, you could lose the competition. If you fall, medical attention is often immediate.

However, on a trail, you could be far from any of the modern amenities that keep us safe. Help could be far away, cell phones may not have coverage, and nature can be far less forgiving than a judge who gives low scores.

Nowhere is a well trained, reliable horse more important than when you are far from civilization and from assistance. A trail horse should be calm, compliant, and intelligent. I have met many horses who can fool judges into thinking that they have these qualities, but I have never met a horse who can fool mother nature.

2. A good trail horse needs to be fit. Fitness is imperative for all horses but never more so than for the horse who must haul a rider for hours and miles. A fit trail horse will be far less prone to injuries, and less prone to being trailer sour, or herd bound. Fit horses stumble less, and are generally more willing by virtue of the fact that they are more able.

3. Equipment for trail riding is even more important than for competitions. The primary purpose of equipment is for the comfort and ease of the Horse. And for a horse who will be hauling a rider for hours over many miles, the smallest discomfort can quickly become agony. Furthermore, trails are generally far away from the barn where ill fitting or broken equipment can be easily swapped out, or repaired. Thus, by the time you are ready to take a piece of equipment on the trail, you should be completely sure of its comfort, utility, and reliability.

4. Last but not least are your companions. These guidelines are not just for you, but should be for most of your fellow riders as well. Fellow riders and horses should be compatible in ability and skills. If your fellow riders are very experienced, it is inconsiderate to subject them to a horse who is not well mannered or fully trained. On the other hand, we should also be tolerant of others who are just starting out and give them as much assistance as we can.

Getting On

There is a local state park where I live that uses volunteers to patrol the park. The volunteers serve in a variety of different capacities from docents to mounted patrol. I thought it would be fun to volunteer to be a member of the mounted patrol so I asked them what the requirements were.

They gave me a list of requirements that ranged from being able to ride your horse at a walk, trot, and canter to being able to administer first aid. But one of the requirements that surprised me was that they wanted to see the volunteer mount their horse from level ground without assistance. I thought that this should be fairly obvious and I asked the ranger who administered the test about that. His reply shocked me. It turns out that it is the single most stringent requirement and disqualifies nearly 80% of all applicants. I thought he was exaggerating but he showed me the paper work, and sure enough, his statistics were correct.

Being able to get on your horse without assistance from another person or a mounting block is really a skill that every rider should have if they are intent on riding on a trail. If you cannot do it, then I highly recommend it, at least as a long term goal. The following are some ways to help you reach that goal:

1. Join a gym. (and go)
Horse back riding is a physical skill. It requires practice, and fitness. Get fit, get flexible, and develop the arm strength that it requires to start getting on your horse.

2. If you cannot afford a gym, then consider the following exercises:
-Find a fence like the ones seen all over stables and climb over it. Do it for about 20 repetitions and it will definitely help you develop the flexibility and the strength.
-Every time you go out to see your horse in the pasture, if the fence is strong enough, do not go through it, or through the gate. Go over it. Force yourself. It is just another chance to use all those muscles that you would use to mount your horse.
-Grab a bale of hay, and toss it over a log or a jump. Then step over the jump and toss it back. Do this 20 times a day.

3. If, in the end, you have done all these exercises and you find that you are simply too short or your horse is too tall, (take note when you buy your next horse) then consider stirrup extenders that can be purchased to help you mount your horse.

Personally, I would be afraid to ride my horse on the trail if I could not easily mount and dismount. And of course, now that I have been preaching exercise, I suppose I better get my lazy carcass out there and do it too.