what kind of equine do you use

[Nora Cook]

[Cold Track]

I use quarter horses and paints(same thing) for my ranch work, roping , hunting or anything. I have used mules and half drafts while guideing for some outfitters. The half drafts take a little more time to get in shape, but once they are they sure will do a lot of work for ya during the long fall and don't seem to wear as hard through the long hunting season. I've been around some good mules, and been around a lot of dink mules. You always here "I can take my mule where a horse can't go", which is what most mule owners will say. That's fine, but a horse can go anywhere you can until you have to start crawlin. I like a mule to pack, but that's it. Guess I'm either too ignorant , vain, or too much cowboy to ride one. JMO!

[cecil j.]

[R Severe]

[Mt Goat]

I've Hunted and Field Trialed my dogs on Gaited horses, Walkers and Fox Trotters mostly. The two I have now are very good Walkers. These guys can ride all day up and down Mt's, and in the Desert. They have a real nice fast walk, that most QH cant keep up with, without going into a trot.

Personally I've ridden my share of QH over the years, when your in the saddle all day a Gaited horse is a much better ride. Then when you add in trying to keep up somewhat with dogs Gaited horses are much faster. I havent ridden Mules but they are Gaited too so they wouldnt be a bad choice either.

Larry Lowell

[houndsnmules]

I prefer mules myself. I have ridden some mustangs in the mountains that didn't have to take a back seat to any horse or mule

[bluedog4]

[pete richardson]

[Dan V]

The best thing you could do for any horse you plan on using for hunting or doing any work on outside, is to find the steepest rock and brush infested horse pasture and turn them loose in it.

The colts I've started out of those kind of pastures were hands down better at getting around and being sure footed then one that has only lived its life on flat ground. Also the older horses that I've bought that have only lived on flat ground and been rode in an arena, were not fit to be hunted off of or to cowboy on until they had been turned out in a really rough horse pasture for 6 months to a year.

I remember when I was a kid and was riding horses with a friend of mine from school. He steered his horse around every badger hole and prarie dog hole we came to. I asked him why he was doing that. He told me he was scared his "arena" horse would step in a hole. I told him if he stopped doing that, his horse would step in a few and then start looking at the holes and avoid them on his own. He watched my horse walk through without me lifting a rien. He tried it and before long his horse was paying more attention where he put his feet, this of course after he stepped in a few and almost fell down.

The benefit of turning them loose in a big steep nasty pasture is that they have to pay attention 24 hours a day or gravity and poor footing will get them.

[zwilso56]

[Travis Stirek]

Until about four years ago when my father-in-law passed away we had 250 brood mares(bucking horses) and all our saddle horses are either appendix bred quarter horses or half quarter and half thoro.I agree with Dan V on the raising them in steep pastures.They learn from babies how to walk cut trails instead of roads.Can't tell ya how many times I've had to bail off some flatland dink and let him roll down a hill cause he got claustrophobic walking the cut trails in the steep stuff as your watching a dust cloud of forty or fifty head hit the bottom and cause your not there to turn them watch the cloud head back to the top. Seems the hot blood helps with endurance.When your trying to run horses in the steep stuff it sure makes it nice to be able to make three or four laps in a 10,000 acre pasture than having a horse standing there legs shaking cause he can't go anymore after one or maybe two laps up and down.We also like the running blood cause it brings out a longer pastern therefore a smoother ride.Gathering horses is a once in a lifetime experience and the running blood also takes away some of the quarter horse brains,cause sometimes brains are overrated when gathering horses.

[catdogger]

Mule's and Mammoth Donkey's work for me.but they can be a pain in the but.

sunny

[Machias]

[catdogger]

Yea thats right.i didnt get all my letters in there LOL