why does it have to be such a big deal?

I think all of us have limited amounts of time we can spend with our horses. If I had to spend all that time being fearful and uncomfortable I would not be a happy horse lady. There are times I would like to spend in the arena working on my mares side passes. My riding partner is always in a hurry to get to the trails. Maybe I need to learn to say no, I want to stay in the arena more

I'm predominantly an areana person too,I like to be working on something and have a goal. However I do also enjoy trail riding, bit I mainly do it for my horse's sake, to mentally stimulate him and keep him from getting sour, which he was today so we are due fo a nice long trail ride.
My horse isn't an easy-going trail horse, if we go somewhere new he gets nervous, sometimes more or less than others, the head goes up, the ears prick and the snorting starts, but I think it's good for him and he is improving.
The first time I took him out I only got about 200m down the trail before he freaked, rearing and spinning in circles and was just generally out of control and spazzing out. I ended up getting off and walking him home, well I walked, he jig-jogged :roll:.
So I started taking him just 20m up the trail and then home again. Next time a bit further, anfurther again the next time and so on, until he was comfotable going out, and by this time he was learning to trust me and I was learning how to handle him when he did react to something.
Now he is much braver, (although not when it comes to kangaroos, lol, he just KNOWS that they're out to eat him!) and so am I, it's good for both of us.

Jubilee, if you're comfortable with this maybe you could swap horses with someone who won't be fazed if your girl gets upset, and you can chill on horse you know isn't bothered by trails?

Thanks again, everyone for all your detailed responses!

RedHawk - That might be an idea to try, thanks. That's great that you got your horse used to the trails. Maybe its not so hopeless for Jubi and I after all!

I've been reading and checking in with this thread for a while now, and decided to give my 2cents worth (worth less probably).

While I agree with the majority here that taking your horse for a nice trail ride is good for their minds, if the rider is a ball of nerves, well it has the opposite effect for the horse.

9 years ago, when I brought the horses home, I gained the joy of having them here, but lost my riding partner. My daughter, who is a beautiful rider and has handled some pretty difficult horses with calm and firm gentleness, discovered that she disliked trail riding to the highest degree. She does not trust the unknown that can happen on the trails.

So , to please her mother, she went on a few trail rides, when Walka was being saddle trained, and was the absolute picture of misery. She was on a very steady, unflappable trail horse (T), and hated every second.

So I decided not to be selfish and let her off the hook. If we had an arena she would have kept riding with me, but we didn't have one.

So as Vida said earlier, and a few others, ride where you are enjoying yourself. For years T was ridden in an arena , only about 1 or 2 trail rides a year, and she was never sour. Partly because she was kept challenged and stimulated. I'm not a driller, if she got what we were doing, I moved onto something else or applied the lesson in a different way.

We have very little time, spend it the way you enjoy with your horse. If trail riding is something you think you might like to try, do it in small increments like Redhawk explained so well.

Bottom line, it should be enjoyable. In or out of the arena.

Good luck :)

That is exactly what I left behind in PA. We rode in everything but thunderstorms. Gosh, I miss that so much. Down here we trail ride but not like I did with the "cowboys". I started out in English tack when I first met them (25 years ago). It didn't take long to get into the proper dress and I never looked back at my English training - I was always a cowboy at heart.

Yeah, as much as I enjoy many aspects of English and ride it often, I'll always be a Western girl at heart. There's something about trail riding that seems to bring people of all ages together. I've made friends half my age and twice my age, and it just never seemed to matter as long as we were on our pals and enjoying the day!

We often have large group trail rides hosted around here, usually for charity, it's about a 10-15 mile ride with a potluck and barn dance at the end. It's just my absolute favorite thing to do in the world. I only see half these people once a year at whatever trail ride they frequent, and it's like we never miss a beat, just fall back into conversation about what's new.

Haha, ok, sorry for the thread hijacking!

Quote:

Yeah, as much as I enjoy many aspects of English and ride it often, I'll always be a Western girl at heart. There's something about trail riding that seems to bring people of all ages together. I've made friends half my age and twice my age, and it just never seemed to matter as long as we were on our pals and enjoying the day!

Gah! You don't have to ride western to trail ride!

Ok, sorry, lol. But that always irks me. I ride english, and pretty near all I do when not competing is trail riding!

Wild Spot, I rode in an english saddle for years on trail rides (now I have an endurance saddle, no horn please). I always grinned an evil grin when one of my riding buddies got jabbed by the saddle horn going under a low branch ect...... They razed me for riding in an english saddle until they got bruised in the stomach or ribs!

Ha ha I agree! I am not a fan of western saddles, feel like they restrict me too much!

Not sure wether a stock saddle counts as english or western... I'll be getting mine soon :]

That is funny, to me a western saddle has more support and secure than an english saddle.

Wild_Spot, most people consider the stock saddle , here in the states it is called and Australian Stock Saddle [if we are talking about the same saddle} as a either a true western or english saddle it is either a 3rd type or a hybrid saddle. As it the Spanish saddle Spanish Saddle and the plantation saddles too HillcrestSaddlery.