My husband and I have never owned a horse before and have ridden only about 6 horses on trails at state parks here in WV. We would like to buy 2 beautiful horses to love and ride on our 60 acre farm and on our neighbors 1000 acres. The terrain; however, is mountainous woods, except for the approx 40 acres of hilly meadows where our cows/bull/calves graze. There are gravel back country rodes near us that if horses can ride on gravel that would be great. There are also some blacktop roads that aren't traveled much, but there are a lot of four wheelers speeding on the black tops. I would like for the horse not to be horseshoed if that is good for them not to be.
We are 51 years old. I love my labradors and would like to take with us when riding trails. We have a small pond that the cows drink and poop in. We only have 2 small run down barns which just give the cows some cover in the winter and summer. So, we would need a barn or are they called stables for the horses? We live in WV. Our veterinary assistant recommended Tennesse Walker-gelding-not saddle trained. I have no idea why not saddle trained. I would need a saddle. I would like the horses to be gentle yet sturdy so that they would not break their legs on fallen trees slippery creeks, displaced rocks, slippage on hillsides. Also, a lot of deer, turkey, raccoon etc. hunting is done around here and I don't want someone to accidentally shoot us while on a trail. We have a few big black snakes and mice. I am concerned about the horse getting scared of gunshot etc. and then me winding up in a wheel chair. I don't want a horse that jumps, like I did as a child, I want to play it safe. At this point in my life, I would want the horses to eat from our pasture and run freely -not keep them in a barn. And, I am concerned about them getting poisoned from plants that I wouldn't know are poisonous. I understand they will die from mold and our cows love moldy hay that we bail from our pasture. We would ride them frequently on trails and through woods. My husband and I am looking into riding lessons. My city friend, 30 years ago, bought a real expensive beautiful horse and could afford to have it boarded etc. They found out it had something wrong with it's legs and they had to put it down. I remember them saying that you should always x-ray a horses legs before purchasing. I have always wanted a horse but my parents couldn't afford the lessons and we lived in the city. Our neighbor has 4 horses that are positively beautiful. He is feeding them hay now due to the severe drought we are having. Do people who own horses ever welcome someone else learning to ride on them in exchange for letting them graze on their land? I just am not sure of how the horse people view city people (like us) and I don't want to offend anyone, especially my neighbors. I have found that horse people generally do not like cows and cow people generally do not like horses. We have only owned our cows for 2 years, they came with the farm when we bought it. My husband enjoys taking care of the cows/bull/calves-they are pretty simple to care for. I think my husband feels he would have to get rid of the cows to let the horses graze due to bacteria in pond and pasture etc. from the cows. If anyone has any advice about anything I would greatly appreciate it. I realize that I have nothing to offer anyone about horses at this point. Thanks for listening.

Hi and welcome,

I do agree that a Tenn. Walker or a Missouri fox trotter would be a good choice. They are easy on the back and GREAT on the trails. What your friend means by not saddle trained is, that you don't want a horse that has been through show training these horses have that high stepping or racking gait. They normally also have numerous leg and foot problems due to the way they are trained and shod. When looking for these types of horses you want ones that have never been through this type of training, you want a good trail horse or a horse that has been trained for field trials. These horses are quiet and great out on the trails, they have been around dogs and other animals. They are also good with cattle ours that we had years ago helped herd cattle all the time and even had one that could run barrels believe it or not. I do recommend finding a horse vet that you trust and are comfortable with and that knows gaited horses (if that is what you go with, and I would)when you do find a few horses that you like then I would have some type of Pre Purchase done on them. Your vet will let you know wether or not you need xrays. Also I would look for a horse that is mid age (in its prime) these horses are normally well seasoned and are great for beginners anything between the age of 10-15 years is a good place to start. I would recommend staying away from anything under 6 years old, they are still children if you know what I mean. Good luck and happy horse hunting.

Thank you very much!!!!I wrote down the TN walker, Missouri Fox Trotter, gated, trail, field trials and age. I will look on internet for these terms.

Hi okangelbeliever,if you dont mind my asking,what part of wv are you from?We live in Bluefield WV,we are also fiftyish and bought two horses after many years of city life.The biggest mistake in buying our horses was buying a gelding that thinks he is a stallion.We didnt find this out until a month later,the man we bought him from had to know,but didnt tell us.He is such a wonderful horse I will deal with this inconvience.My mare is soooo fat I think she could be prenant,I got her from the same man,so he didnt have much info on her either,or should I say didnt tell me.In other words,be careful who you buy from.lol

Hi, My name is Andy and I live in Florida. I am actually writing a book because the breed that I love so dearly is one of if not the most understood of all breeds. Every person you ask will tell you something different. I do everything I can to promote the breed. Many of my clients are good friends now and I have built a reputation on being honest, fair, and very knowledgeable. Many people may offer to help and with good intentions. I fault no one but ignorance. This horse biz is full of old wive's tails ad misconceptions. It took me years of asking trainers and show people to explain the gaits of the Walker. I found out that different areas of the country think different things and based mostly on opinion rather than fact and the structural dynamics of the horse. I used to work for IBM so I have take the technical approach to the Walker and have it down to a physical science that is undesputable. Someone can sit there an argue that a walk is better or smoother than a rack or vice versa but it all has to do with opinion. No one will take into account that a horse is not a horse. They are as different as people are and anyone that will argue an opion because this is what they feel personally is not very open minded or knowledgeable. I can tell you things from the good side of Walkers and the bad. I can teach you everything to stay away from and what to look for including picking up on drugged horses and how to do your own vet check "the important Walker issues" or have the owners do it for you and I can tell them how. I do everything I can to promote the natural aspect of the gaited horse and know how to steer people away from would be predators. I do want to address the comment about Racking. This is so understood and mostly because people pass on bad info throughout the years. The rack is the most natural of all the Walkers gaits and the smoothest. Walkers came from a combination of breeds mostly of pacers. The pace is a two beat lateral gait as oppose to a two be diagonal or trott. Breeders breed for paceyness so they can build up the front end and make them do what a racking horse does naturally but the show people want the huge overstride of a pacey horse and the big headshake. The best thing that ever happened was to accidently allow a gaited pony to breed to a Walker...now we have the Spotted saddle horse that does a saddle gait or rack. Leave it to the show people though...now they are trying to get huge overstrides and head shaking out of the spotted saddle horse or painted walkers. They can't ruin the solid walkers any more so they are moving their focus because times change and people love paints. What it all boils down to is a comfortable ride and a level headed horse that is sound, smooth, will do anything for you. People will advertise that their horse will do anything. I evaluate horses by testing them before I buy. I won't buy bad horses. I also produce multpile videos of every horse including loading in a trailer, riding, saddleing, mounting, washing, clipping, etc. all the things that will make a horse spook and make your life miserable. If you are out of state I do phones and video sessions. I send you video of each step of your instructions, how to ride etc. If you have a digital camera that takes video I can evaluate your progress. If not you can get a decent one for about $100 that does video. I also transport and have done training sessions that way. TO help cut down on costs I can travel to your place to give lessons and schedule horse transports there and back. If you find a horse you like I do evaluations. Have the owners send me videos and I have a software program that can advance one frame at a time. This helps me to analyze the horses gait and foot fall. Watch the riders head...if they go up and down there is a problem. there should be little or no vertical movement. Many walkers pace. Although show people like this for pleasure people it is terrible. If you go to my website you can see all kinds of videos and helpfull info. I probably have overloaded everyone here but it is my intention to be as helpful as possible. I am very passionate about the Walkers and I am trying to undo years of bad press to help promote the breed I love so dearly! Good luck and happy trails. My email is RackNRoLLFarms@aol.com if anyone has any questions.