# Etiquette for Trail Riders



## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Nice article, thanks!


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## dashygirl (Nov 21, 2006)

Very nice. 

My favorite is #1, there is nothing more irritating than when someone thinks that they own the ground they're riding on. That goes for non-horseback riders too.


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## DarkEquine (Aug 29, 2008)

Great article, Trails! And well said!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

Great article, but I take exception to the slowest horse setting the pace. We have a woman in our saddle club who insists on bringing her grand daughter and wants to "train" a pony and her grandchild while on our rides. Everyone else rides big quarter horses or gaited horses. Its impossible to keep the pace as slow as they go on the little pony's. A dear friend of mine sponsored a ride a few months ago. Her husband was the trail boss and she was the drag. She was on a big active Peruvian Paso. I know it was exhausting for her to stay behind and keep pace behind them. In that type of situation I'm afraid I have to break the rules and let her stay to the rear.


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## DarkEquine (Aug 29, 2008)

I think she means that you shouldn't leave them behind alltogether, i.e. more than 200 yards or out of sight. I would definately send them to the rear of the group, Vidaloco!! lol


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Vidaloco said:


> Great article, but I take exception to the slowest horse setting the pace. We have a woman in our saddle club who insists on bringing her grand daughter and wants to "train" a pony and her grandchild while on our rides.


Speaking of etiquette! Riding at the pace of the slowest rider is proper but bringing along a child on a pony and expecting the whole group to wait is not.

A few of the large rides I've been on over the years had three rides at the start of each day. The first was for gaited horses, the second was for regular/experienced riders, and the third was for beginners or riders who could not handle (or just didn't want a long ride) the 6 or 7 hours we typically rode each day. You picked the group you wanted to ride with that day but if you picked the gaited group and you had a QH, you better be prepared to do a lot of trotting to keep pace - and they usually got back to base a good hour or so before the regular group!


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## Jolly Badger (Oct 26, 2009)

In the case of group rides, it is good etiquette to take the needs of everyone in the group into consideration. 

However, there are some situations where it just isn't appropriate to expect a large group to cater to one person. For example, the woman with the young grandchild and pony might do better to find one or two other people who would be willing to share their pace and hang back from the main group.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Agree with these statements very much...

"Groups that start together need to stay together for the duration of the ride. If you find that you don’t like your riding partners don’t go with them on the NEXT ride, but do the right thing and finish this one as a group."

I'm comfortable with a lazy walk, a gallop through the fields ride, or just deciding as we're riding along, but many people are not. When I ride with a group, the group's safety is always my top priority. If someone is lagging behind, having problems, or comes up with a case of the 'jitters', I will circle back to ride with them. The rest of the group can continue on until we catch up if they choose, or I'll even turn around and go back to the start with the person in extreme cases. Some folks that I've ridden with consider this annoying (ruining the fun of the ride), but trust me, it's a lot less fun spending the day way out on the trail trying to help someone with a broken leg or chasing their horse down.


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## Tasia (Aug 17, 2009)

I like rule two why? because I have slower horse. My old riding teacher would never slow down I end up on the wrong trail because i want to relax!


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## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

PaintHorsesMare that sounds like my group. We sometimes ride with horses that are just plain faster than the rest of the group. If I do we end up going twice as far as everyone else because we'll go ahead and circle back over and over again. If there is someone that is particularly slow we try to find at least one other person to stay as slow as them. We have my brother learning to keep up, and we would not take him with a group until he can. 

That is one of those things where not only would I rather not have to deal with it, but I would feel bad for making others.


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## Attitude05 (Nov 11, 2009)

i lead trail rides as a job at a riding school, so i have no choice but to stay with group.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

If I ride with a group, it's because I want to share the company. Other wise I go a ride by myself. I almost never ride in large groups where I don't know the others. So Yes, I slow down or speed up to stay with the group. Other wise it's hard to converse with them. And I do change my position in the group, Maybe leading, maybe bringing up the rear, or somewhere in the middle so that I can converse with other members of the party.


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## ShaNeighNeigh (Dec 13, 2009)

awesome. just awesome.


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## HeartMyOTTB (Aug 13, 2009)

I agree... I liked #2 a lot. I have been on trails with people and they will ask, "Do you want to Canter?" and I would say, "No, because..." and let them know. And they would say, "Thats fine. Meet us up the trail." And they would take off!!! I have been left behind before. So rude! Luckily I had a friend who stayed back, our horses getting more and more anxious as we tired to collectively trot up to the rest of the group. Its a good article, and trail riders (friends of trail riders) should take note!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I think the pace comes down to where you are riding. If we're out with our club on someones private property we stay in a group so no one gets lost. If we're on the clubs trails we go off on our own or in small groups. Normally the gaited riders ride together, the people with wagons together etc. Everyone is familiar with the trails though.


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