JUST Trail Riding???

Actually, Speed Racer, I've had a lifetime of customer service work and I was good at it.
My point, and I apologize if I was misunderstood, is that one never needs to feel that trail riding is less important than other diciplines. Many people show and trail ride and some simply enjoy the freedom of a trail. I have done both and now the trail is my activity...that and feeding and scooping.

I think a good dressage horse will make a great trail horse...they know how to maneuver off of leg pressure, side pass, turn on those haunches and foreleg....yup...a champion dressage horse could go on the trails way quicker than someone's crazy barrel horse (not that all barrel horses are crazy!). My buddy's Arabian mare is trained in dressage and it really helps on the trails.

Knowing side passing is terrific when you have to play spider polo in the woods to keep the huge banana spiders off of one's cousin that screams like a girl (of course the banana spider was dangling off of my crop that I was trying to sling it off of - it slung back on said cousin with a nasty shirt staining splat) aaaaaahhhhhhhh always an adventure when we are trail riding and watch out for the Portuguese Man O'Wars on the beach rides!

Not sure that I have ever heard any "put down" trail riding so I'm not sure where all the fuss is coming from??

If you don't view it as "just trail riding", then don't say it that way.

"Just" is a word that has becomed attached to lots of phrases, the same way people around my area attach the word "huh" to the end of the sentence, when it's really not a question.

I'm not sure how your rant about the waitress relates to trail riding, but I'll take your word for it.

I don't think trail riding should be prefaced with a 'just'. If it's done the way it's intended, it's a heck of a workout for both horse and rider.

I think the people who would put 'just' in front of trail riding are probably those who don't ride all that well to start with, or believe it's all done down wide, manicured trails at a sedate walk.

Any time someone has said 'just' trail riding, I invite them along. They usually find they have a whole different outlook once we're done.

I've heard plenty of snobbish show people say that about trail riding and a few rodeo types though not many of them.

On the flip side...there are plenty of horses who I would call "just a trail horse." The kind that rarely, if ever leave home. Walk only on the same trails over and over - mixing it up is walking the same trail in the other way than you normally go. MAYBE a trot if there's a hill. No creeks, no odd terrain, a well worn path from having been walked on so often. They go forward, turn a bit, back awkwardly and stop. There's no moving off leg pressure to turn, no side passing, no Arabian equitation. While this is great for those who like that sort of thing, its also not exactly a demanding job or a very technical one.
Posted via Mobile Device

Hahahahaahahaha take some of those on one of those hairy trail rides where you come back with your hair blown back Biscuit is good bless his heart but he has scared the bejeesus out of me a few times going up hills where he is literally galloping to get up them and I am a sissy!!! OMG I went up a freaking super steep hill in October in Mississippi. Biscuit asked me when we got up there "what the hell were you thinking sister?" LOL it was scarier going down!!!! Hahahahh trail riding will raise your heart rate a few times. Keeps me young!

I've been riding for over 20 years and call what I do "backyard riding." In other words, I basically just get on and go, no specialized training. I have also trained horses, and call my form of training "backyard training." I'm working with a professional trainer for my new horse and can really tell the difference.

So, I guess before I "just" trail rode, but now I'm really learning how to ride/train.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeah, no alligators in these parts (I hope!), but we do have bears, rattlesnakes, and the occasional mountain lion

Personally, I tend to think the word "just" is better applied to showing/dressage/whatever that gets done within the controlled confines of an arena.

I am not coming to ride in your neighborhood!!!!