Do you wish that you could do more with your pony than simply trail riding? You shouldn’t, especially if you like trail riding. Thousands of people play baseball, basketball and soccer, but only a select few become pros. Think about all of the folk out there who haven’t ever been close to a pony in their lives, and you will realize just how lucky you are to have a pony to ride trail with. Trail riding is a fabulous activity that allows you to see more country side than you might otherwise. It’s an activity that can be plenty of delightful fun for both horse and rider.

Don’t make the frequent mistake of presuming that trail riding is a simple activity, that a pony does not need to be especially trained for it, I beg to differ For more years than I care to recollect , I have been around horses of all kinds, horses that were used for every purpose conceivable. I can confirm that a horse utilised for trail riding needs as much training as horses used for any other activity. Take a breath and give it a thought. When you are out trail riding, you are covering a lot of country. Dependent on where you reside and where you ride, you might be covering any sort of terrain, friendly and hostile, in any kind of weather. You could be passing through country with deadly fauna like snakes or bears or mountain lions. There are one hundred and more factors that you may not expect, that may crop up to trouble you. You’ve got only yourself and your pony to get out of tricky scenarios and make it back safe.

Even if you are riding a horse that hardly knows it’s whoa from its go, you are pretty dependent on the pony to carry you safely through the ride and bring you back in one piece. When you have a pony that is not schooled to handle itself in adverse conditions, what happens if the situation calls for more than just a whoa or a go? You could find yourself in any amount of difficult situations; such as where your horse needs to back up, get around an obstacle, negotiate a tight enclosed turn or side pass. Under such circumstances, the rider tells the pony what to do and the pony obeys, if he is trained to obey. If he is not, and he caves in to his inbuilt instinct, he might take you out of the frying pan into the fire.

Even trail horses must be trained: they have to be taught first and foremost to obey their riders regardless of what the circumstances. They have to be taught to react coolly if their feet get snagged up in brush or in vines. They must be perfectly attuned to even subtle cues from their riders: a small movement that may get the rider’s knees and head out of the way of an oncoming tree, clear obstacles like fallen trees, ignore branches that slap at them and their riders. They have got to be fine on rocks, in water and when going downhill or uphill. They must control their natural tendency to bolt when they come across threats. Even if you are riding in a group, your pony needs to be individually controlled and respond individually, without blind aping the pony in front.

Left to themselves, most horses will follow their own instincts. Even the untrained pony will do what he feels best in any situation, but there’s no way of telling whether his call will protect his rider or further endanger the rider. Most horses do need rider guidance out of tough situations.

Hopefully, that should persuade you that the pony you are riding on the trails is just as highly trained as any other horse used for any other discipline.

When a person asks you what you utilise your pony for, you don’t say “Nothing much, only trail riding” in a hangdog fashion. You puff out your chest and declare in a proud voice, “We go for some beautiful trail riding all of the time”.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about stable rugs