For my next shopping day, I finally had an experienced horse person with me, one of the young teacher/trainers from the barn where I take lessons. At 16, she already knows a lot about horses and seems to have a natural knack for working with them.
If you missed the first two installments of my horse shopping adventures, find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
As we drove to our first appointment, I peppered her with questions about horses, shopping for them, and what their training involves when a horse needs a tune-up.
She answered them all thoughtfully and helpfully.
Our two appointments for the morning involved seeing the oldest horse yet and the youngest horse yet.
The scoop on gaited horses
The first was a 17-year-old Paso Fino. This breed is known for its distinctive high-stepping gait that involves lots of steps to cover a small space. They are the flamenco dancers of the horse world. Honestly, I think they look weird in this mode and rather inefficient.
But a Paso’s other gaits do seem to flow better and are quite comfortable for trail riding, according to their owners.
I was concerned about his age, but he also was the least expensive horse I’ve seen, so I wanted to look at him. The seller said she was offering him for his owner, who no longer had a lot of time to ride him but wanted him to go to a good home.
She also said he would be good for “light use.” I’d missed that in our text thread. I would like to do some long trail rides, and maybe even some weekend trail competitions. I don’t really care so much about going fast as I do about the community and the scenery.
The Paso was a sweet boy, with a luxurious mane and tail. But he also seemed to be favoring one of his back legs. When my trainer took the hoof pick and used it on his hooves, he kept that hoof off the ground for a while after she cleaned it. He did the same thing after a short ride.
We started each evaluation helping halter, brush and saddle the horse. My trainer asked to lunge the horse before putting on its bridle.
The Paso didn’t seem to have much experience with lunging. When I took over the lead rope, it was a bit hard to get him to move around me in a circle.
Then we put on the bridle and had the seller ride him a bit. She walked him, then had him show off a slower gait.
Next my trainer hopped on and took him through his paces, including a medium-fast gait.
When it was my turn, I was mounting from the ground. I managed to get my foot into the stirrup, with difficulty on the 15.1 hand horse. I urged him forward, and he moved out.
Just like with the other gaited horse, I had some difficulty getting him to gait and he seemed to do more of an uneven trot.
Then we went to our other appointment and saw the youngest horse I test rode. A 5-year-old black Tennessee Walker who also was the tallest horse at 16 hands and had a strong, stout build.
For you non-horse people out there, a hand is four inches and a horse is measured from the ground to the withers, or where the neck transitions to the back, just at the front of the saddle. A 15-hand horse is five feet tall at the withers.
A tall horse isn’t just hard to mount. Another challenge for me as a 50-something rider is getting a heavy Western saddle on a horse’s back.
The Tennessee Walker was a sweet boy whose previous owner trained him and rode him often. The man ran into some difficulties and had to sell the horse, and the woman who now owned him wasn’t able to ride him as much. She was seeking a good home for this gentle giant.
My trainer lunged him around a bit, and he seemed to know how to move out around her in a small circle and had good ground manners. Then I lunged him for a few minutes, and he responded well to my cues.
After the seller rode him for a few minutes, my young trainer hopped on him and put him through his paces. The seller told me that my trainer was able to get the horse to gait better than she could. For me to get on the gelding, we used the mounting block. He was a good boy, waiting patiently for me to get into the saddle.
He walked out slowly, with his head low, indicating he was relaxed. When I asked him to pick up speed, he raised his head and wasn’t very smooth. I had trouble getting him to gait.
The advantage to gaited horses is that they are quite comfortable to ride when they are gaiting. There’s a lot less bounce for the rider, making it good for those of us with older joints.
But… they can be difficult for an inexperienced rider to get into their gaits. You often have to hold both reins with a little tension on the bit for them to gait properly. Contrast that to a trail ride on a quarter horse, where you usually can go on a loose rein one handed.
I left that appointment uncertain about where to go next.
Advice on finding a good match
The following day was a Saturday, and hubby Shawn urged me to contact his cousin who is a long-time horse owner to get some advice. Katharine isn’t just a horse owner; she also trains horses, and she trail rides often with less experienced older women like me.
The women wanted to trail ride but didn’t want to go out on their own, and Katharine rode every chance she could get and was happy to help.
What she observed was this: inexperienced riders and inexperienced horses are NOT a good mix. I’d heard that before, but her first-person stories drove the point home.
Katharine also said that gaited horses can be challenging for beginning riders. After riding three gaited horses myself, I had to agree.
She urged me to focus on older horses with gentle temperaments. “Look for horses that are 10 to 15 years old, and if you have trouble finding them, go older, not younger,” she said.
Trail riding in Kansas could involve a lot of ground birds, so you want a “been there, done that” horse that doesn’t spook easily.
Our property has a lot of turkeys roaming around. Trail riders actually use the term “turkey bombs” for an explosion of feathers that might pop up from behind a nearby cedar tree.
Now I had a clearer vision of what I wanted: an older, gentle quarter horse that would be a great trail riding partner.
Nearing the end of the trail
My next ride checked all those boxes, as far as I could tell: a 14-year-old 15.1 hand mare who had spent most of her life working in the Texas prison system. They use horses for three purposes: to guard prisoners who are working in large gardens, to work cattle they have, and to breed. The seller said Penny the Palomino was either guarding prisoners or cattle.
Once again, I had the help of my young teacher/trainer. The seller was a really sweet lady who loves these prison horses. The horses are trained using only gentle methods and must deal with all kinds of challenges in their jobs (long hours, traffic, heavy equipment, noise, crowds, dogs, etc.). They also receive top-notch care from veterinarians with Texas A&M University.
Penny also was a gorgeous, dark gold Palomino with a quiet air about her. I got to brush her and watch as the seller tacked her up and rode her first. Next it was my trainer’s turn to walk and trot her around the small pasture.
Then it was my turn. Penny didn’t move while I worked to get my left foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle. Then we walked and trotted. She paid attention to my cues and backed up when I asked. Her ground manners were even more impressive. She lifted her foot for me when I said the command, “foot,” and stopped right at my shoulder when I said “whoa.”
I really liked Penny, but she was one of the most expensive horses I test rode. Depending on who you asked, she was either at the top of my budget or beyond it.
A few days later, I had an appointment two hours away to see a promising horse, a 12-year-old gelding that excelled at trail riding. That morning, the seller canceled the appointment, saying he forgot about another commitment.
I found another horse to see that day, a beautiful 6-year-old buckskin paint mare. Why did I go see a younger horse? I don’t know. Call it horse fever. The ad said she was super gentle. Her previous owners let their grandkids ride bareback on her. I thought that sounded promising, but I should have known better.
My daughter went with me for company and to be my photographer. The horse was sweet, but she didn’t want to stay still for tacking up or getting on or getting off. It turns out that the sellers were working with her on getting used to the saddle.
Definitely not the horse for an older beginner who rarely rode bareback.
That’s it. I test rode ten horses before making my purchase. That’s way more than most horse shoppers try, according to people in the know.
Which did I buy? I bought the one I felt would be the gentlest, best trained, and showed a good disposition: Penny the Palomino and former prison horse. I’ll share more about Penny soon, but I’m happy and relieved to finish horse shopping and start horse bonding.
