Pleasure Mounts Are Not Cast-Offs
Making Retired Racehorses Into Trailhorses Seldom Works
Aug 27, 2008
Racehorses, even those that didn't do too well at the track, are unsuitable as pleasure mounts, except, perhaps, for retired jockeys. Simply, Thoroughbreds are hot-blooded horses, meaning their instinct is to run, and run fast. Many are high-strung. Many have suffered various forms of abuse. There is no other single sort of horse less suited to the purposes and skills of the "Sunday rider." And yet, often that's the horse those riders look for, and just as often, to their own dismay if not worse.
A Horse for Every Job
A retired racehorse can make a nice competition horse in the show jumper or hunter-jumper ring, under an experienced and usually courageous rider. Retired racehorses are too hot, too strong, too forward and often too bouncy for the casual rider who just really wants to go out on the trails and look at the flora and fauna, maybe trot up a few hills or canter gently over a nice level field.
Unfortunately, one cannot say that there is a single breed as suited to that as the retired Thoroughbred is unsuited. (One can also say, however, that Arabians, in general, don't make the first choice for novice pleasure mounts. The Arabian, and the Turk and Barb, other hot bloods from warm-climate backgrounds, are also relatively unsuitable, in general. With horses, there are always exceptions, but don't count on finding that marvelous anomaly.)
There are some breeds more likely to behave nicely with novices aboard than others. Quarter Horses can be calm. So can Appaloosas. Some of the less competition-oriented Warmbloods - Friesians, Haflingers - can be calm and sane. (Warmbloods are horses developed by mating horses from warm climates, the hot bloods, with those from cold climates, the coldbloods. Among cold-blooded horses are the Icelandic pony and the extinct Przwalski's horse.) Gypsy Vanners also often make good pleasure mounts.
Look for a calm, probably warm- or cold-blooded horse. And then, have it properly trained.
Bomb-Proofing is Key
Many people think that if a horse has a calm nature under ordinary circumstances, that's sufficient. It is not. Horses are not domestic pets; they are wild animals that have agreed to do certain things for humans. When push comes to shove, without lots and lots of training and reinforcement, their underlying nature comes out.
Fred Mau, owner of Trail Horses of Colorado, Inc., subjects his pleasure-mounts-in-training to all sorts of horse-unfriendly environmental hazards when he gets them ready for clients, usually empty-nesters who always wanted to ride.
He calls it "Real Life" training, and it includes introducing the horse to hazards of the trail - streams, bridges, fallen trees, wildlife - and hazards of modern life. The modern life hazards include shopping malls, car alarms, splashing fountains, you name it. He uses more experienced horses to help calm the less experienced ones. And he insists that his clients spend quite a bit of "quality time" with the horses they are considering before trailering them home. Result? Happy campers, on both horse and human turf.
Following are several trainers who can find a bomb-proof horse for you, or help you create one:
Fred Mau, Trail Horses of Colorado, Inc., 16895 Hanks Grove Road, Peyton, Colorado 80831, http://trailhorsesofcolorado.com/
Trail Pal Trail Horse Farm, 12937 2100 North Ave., Princeton, IL 61356-6835 http://www.trailpalhorses.com/.
Whinny Farms, 38434 East Hwy 20, Burns Oregon, 97720,2232,http://www.whinnyfarms.com/wftgall.html
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