Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Drill Team or SEARCH HORSE

msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Mounted search and rescue

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jeff Ezell" <eztech@pdq.net>
  • To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Drill Team or SEARCH HORSE
  • Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:50:47 -0500

The gaited horses are hard to argue with when it comes to all day riding
comfort. It's the reason the TN Walkers were originally developed by
plantation owners. They have a saying "to ride one is to own one". Meaning
if you ever give a good one a try, the ride will win you over & the QHs will
no longer appeal to you. It happened to me, but I did no roping, serious
cattle work, etc. just trail riding. I had a black mare that caused over 40
people to switch from QH to gaited after they rode her just once.
Trailriders mostly.

Then I added a MO Foxtrotter gelding. They smooth ride like the TN Walker,
but "looks" more like a QH (important to some) and worked cattle in the
field & did recreational team penning. They are very versatile & gaited. I
loaned him to a young, upcoming trainer when one of her horses was stolen.
She trained him to jump and he won many jumper class ribbons against strong
(very expensive) competitors. I saw him clear a six foot jump w/rider in the
ring. Amazing! Then we entered him in endurance competition because he had
such an "urge to move on down the trail". He finished many 25 mile races in
the ribbons. He once beat out 30 of the 32 Arabians entered in a regional 25
mile event, coming in third, even after getting 2 miles off the marked trail
in the woods. There were plenty of PO'd Arabian riders that "had let" a MO
FoxTrotter finish ahead of them. ;o)

As someone else mentioned gaited horses are less wear & tear on the rider. I
could trail ride all day, not spill a beverage, and go dancing that night.
Most of my QH buddies were drinking large quantities of "liniment" to soothe
their pain, while I danced with all the "purty cowgirls"!!

In SAR, that equates to less stress and more mental acuity and physical
stamina on the job.

It's all about personal preference, the job at hand, and the "personality"
of each horse (and rider). Breeds do bring specialties with them because
that's why the breed was developed. Some breeds are more versatile than
others. Most people on this list probably don't earn their living with their
horse as an integral tool. We all tend to love the horse we have. It's the
one we fork out big bucks to support every year. Enjoy them all you can.

Also the older you get, the stronger the appeal of gaited horses. I
guarantee that!

JMHO

Jeff Ezell

-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Terry Nowacki
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 10:27 PM
To: Mounted search and rescue
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Drill Team or SEARCH HORSE

The following is from previous post on this subject -

> Quarter horses are sprinters, so they are not well suited to do well
for distance. So unless your searchs are limited to the traditional quarter
of a mile area a quarter horse can run like heck in, anything above that
distance chances are, you will be riding the wrong horse in an all day or
more than one day search.
>
>
> I ride a Quarter grade mare. She will go all day, keep up with the
gaited purebred Walkers around here and never tire me out. She has a loose,
long strided walk that covers a lot of ground and has a pretty good trot,
but it is her walk and her great and uncanny ability to keep up w/o tiring
that wears out the rest!
>
> I will take her over a gaited horse anyday. I have even ridden 3, 5,
Paso, etc. Remember....she is the one I also trust with my life.
>

TER says - (Chuckle, Chuckle.) I knew when the original post started talking
about
breeds that it would create a lively exchange. I was surprised it took as
long as did for
a different opinion to fire back.

After riding and training a large assortment of different breeds, I can tell
you
that good horses can be found in ALL breeds. It's far more of a individual
thing than
a breed thing.

Keep the interesting post comming.

TER
http://equinedetectionservices.com


_______________________________________________
MSAR-Riders mailing list
MSAR-Riders@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/msar-riders





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page