Trail horses doing cross country.

Hey, so im a very experenced rider in h/j but never done xc and eventing. So I trail ride all the time and I know my insane thoroughbred would kill me so im decideing weather to buy a MFT rocky mountian or a TWH for trails , but I wanna do XC any ideas? I appreciat it a lot thanks, em (:

I totally understand what you mean. My one concern about ever getting a hotblood is the spirit and not being able to control them, but also I didnt want an overly laid back horse. With my luck, I bought an arabian cross rocky mountain. The arabian gives him the spirirt but the rocky mountain gives him the "family horse" feel. I wouldn't base the breed off of what you will do with it. If you trail ride enough with a horse, they will settle into it. But if you want to do eventing, I wouldn't get an eventing breed, since most are gaited, and gaited eventers are VERY uncommon

I have known tons of Thoroughbreds make excellent all-round horses. They are not 'crazy' beasts, they are horses, and athletic ones at that.

Yes, the thoroughbred 'can' be a little bit hotter than some other breeds but the majority of a horses behaviour comes from it's training, NOT it's breeding. So I say stick with your horse, and invest the money in more training.

It sounds like a training issue, not a horse issue.
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Stick with your thoroughbred! They're one of the most popular breeds for eventing, and usually rock it. As said above, they're not usually bred insane and it's just a handling/training issue.

Thanks guys, yeah me and my friend are going to take our thoroughbreds to an xc course this summer and just see how it goes(: I put him on smart calm so hopefully that helps(:

I would use my arab, any of the thoroughbreds, one draft cross or one of the appaloosas. Try with the thoroughbred, you may be pleasantly surprised.

My TB is your classic "mental" hot sensitive nervous wreck - on the ground, and ESPECIALLY with the wrong handler. She's come a long way but new is scary and scary is too much to bear. She's a rearer when she's pushed too far and certainly not an easy horse to handle. Too sensitive to hit, too over-the-top at times to ignore, and cold-backed to boot.

Under saddle, once she's warm and past the cold back, she's still a bit of a nervous spooky sensitive nut [I mean heck she's a red TB filly, what do you expect?], but she hasn't once offered to rear, and I have confronted her with some pretty scary situations. I haven't let anyone but me ride her yet because she's only had 10 or 11 rides [she's 2 1/2, I don't want to push her too far too young] and she's still so unsure of strangers that I'm not convinced she would allow someone else to get on her back.

Despite her sensitivity, nervousness and fizzyness, she is intended to be an event horse. Actually I find that the nervous sensitive ones, if they're brave as well [my girl is, with a confident rider], can make superb jumpers and eventers. It's one of the reasons TBs are so good for the sport - look at the Olympic eventers, the vast majority are Thoroughbreds with the odd TB/wb cross and occasional full warmblood. There are occasionally horses of other breeds that make it to the top as well but TBs and TB crosses are by far the vast majority.

And not one of them is an easy ride. They're all so sensitive, fed to overflowing with performance feed to give them the energy to compete at that level, and love their jobs SO much.

Working with your sensitive "crazy" TB will make you a far better rider, and depending on soundness and your horse's inherent ability, you're less likely to have to change horses when you get past about 3' [here, that's Prelim-ish].

My eventer is extremely lazy, and so quiet that he's actually part-leased by a beginner [mind, the beginner doesn't jump...], but point him at a large enough expanse of open space, or any kind of jump bigger than about 3', and he turns into a hot, forward, strong pain in the butt. I don't ride him XC in any less than a kimblewick and actually prefer to have him in a pelham. We SJ in a snaffle but he does bolt now and then on course! Even lazy horses can be hard to handle when jumping if they enjoy it enough to really excel.

My TB is the same way, hot, difficult, and lord has it ever been a journey! I have learned SO much from her though, and she is a KILLER eventer. She's 11 and still hasn't really "grown up" yet, but what I've found that helps a lot is always having a purpose to each and every ride. If you're just hacking, it's a big working march on the bit, or stretching down. Not just piddling around on a loose rein. Walk breaks during our ride consist of lateral work, leg yields, turns on the forehand/haunches, and stretching. Some mistake hot and sensitive for spooky, these are the horses that need something to do and focus on all the time. If you don't keep them entertained, they make their own party! Lol.

haha I love this. So true! Magic's easy on trails because there's stuff to look at, but she's always heavily reliant on my other horse for confidence going up and down inclines and past scary things. Schooling at home, she's constantly fiddling with the bit, wobbling around all over the place [hey, she's a baby, they're all wiggly worms!] and a little bit resistant, but the moment you take her on the trails, she quits all that and marches forwards. I've actually only taken her on two trail rides because I don't often have a riding buddy. Given the choice I'd have been exclusively trail riding after her 4th ride.

She's brave and incredibly intelligent, all it takes is ONCE and she's got it [whatever 'it' is]. She turns to me for guidance a LOT especially when times get tough and things get scary. I don't think she has a lot of self-confidence but with a calm, confident and capable rider she's a-ok. Which is weird because I'm actually a REALLY nervous rider, but on her, I have all the confidence in the world.