First trail ride...what to expect? Tips?

Following another horse can also make it hard because a horse then learns to "rely" on another horse for confidence and not its rider. Im going threw this right now with a mare that has plenty of miles out on the trails but she always ended up in the back and now she soley relies on a horse infront of her to get her threw anything. It may take five or six tries to get them to cross a creek without another horse leading but they need to do so. They need to trust their handler and be confident that their handler isnt going to put them into danger. They don't need to rely on another horse. We run into so many people on the trail that just because one horse speeds up their horse throws a tantrum and has to. Or, one horse wont cross a log so the other five wont do it. And so on. They need to be confident in their handler.

I am suggesting this for only the first few rides out on the trail. And only to "follow" if necessary, like the creek scenario. Otherwise, riders should take turns being in front and back, riding side by side, etc.

i wasn't pin pointing you just so you know. I reread what I wrote and I didn't mean it direct towards anybody. You don't want a horse to get used to any one position whether its leading or following because its a pain to correct what you could have done in the first place. The main thing is to stay calm confident and enjoy it!!!
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I'm a long, long way from being an expert, but I honestly think that if I had waited for my horse to follow the more experienced horse across that little stream back last June or so... Well, I'd be there waiting still. And it wasn't just inexperienced me doing the riding, but my been riding all her life, used to teach professionally friend. But I got off, walked her back & forth a dozen times, got back on, and she went right over, and now just nonchalantly jumps similar streams when I tell her.

I also think (though I could be wrong) that spending most of a year walking & trotting her on a lead rope (for rehab from an injury) went a long way towards giving us confidence in each other. Also note that I'm not talking about "spooks", because so far she hasn't spooked at anything - from empty bags to trains to military transports flying overhead at treetop level. It's more of a puzzled "What the heck is this? Show me that it's ok" attitude. And honestly, why would I NOT want her to do this? There are a LOT of things I know I'm not up to handling yet, and I'd much rather she stop so that we can calmly look at them together, than try to cling to her back while she goes ahead and blindly follows that more experienced horse & rider, regardless of my terrified screams

So it was not your horse's trail ride?

The following scenario is for the first ride or two. Not for forever. This post was about a FIRST trail ride ever, on a horse that hasn't been out on a trail. I am not encouraging the rider to only simply follow a guide horse, I was suggesting that in a situation where the new trail horse is anxious, spooking, or unsure, that having a confident, savvy trail horse will help the anxious horse realize its not a big deal. This has proven true in my experince, at least.

Sorry I haven't been more clear.