Why do you do trail rides?
What can we say.... we are truly Horse Crazy. Horses are
our passion. And we love having the opportunity to share
that passion with others. We have been truly blessed to
have these creatures in our care, and it brings us great joy to
share them with others.
We can not begin to put into words the feelings of seeing and
hearing the laughter of a child. Or of seeing a parent
re-connect with a teenager or pre-teen, even if only for an hour
or two while riding horses. Or seeing a family, separated
by distance and their every day lives, coming together from all
corners of the United States, to share good times and make some
new memories together. Many people want to get out and
enjoy the wonderful trails and natural beauty provided to us in
the great state of Missouri, but do not particularly want to
Hike or Bike, especially if they are not use to it. Other people like to just take a day
off from work and get out and enjoy nature and de-stress.
We are more than happy to help out and feel fortunate that we
can be a part of bringing people together, putting smiles on
their faces and joy in their hearts. It has the exact
same affect on us, too.
Not everyone has the time, commitment, or financial
resources available to them to allow them to own their own
horse, so we take care of all that so you can enjoy horses and
riding without the fuss and expense. We work tirelessly 365
days a year in all kinds of weather so that you can enjoy our
horses when the weather conditions are more suitable for
riding.
Why do I have to have a Reservation and Pre-Payment?
Without preaching or being on a Soap Box, Reservations and Pre-Payment are required because we cater to the small
group. Once you have set a reservation, more than likely, yours will be
the only party in that time slot.
We do not keep our horses tacked & tied up all day long, just waiting for
someone to stop by. We need to know who is riding, and when and where, so
that we can properly match up horses to riders and have everything ready to go.
We want it to be a pleasant experience for both our riders and our horses.
We also try to plan the number of rides we ask our
horses to take
during the day. We normally will only have one to three
rides when we have nice temperatures, but we only have one ride
in the morning during the hot days, and we do not have any rides
during the extreme heat of summer.
Planning of our time is also a factor. It takes us approximately 30 minutes to prepare a horse for it's rider,
so if there are 4 in your party, that is 2 hours just to get the horses
ready. Therefore it is vitally important that we have a pre-paid
reservation to insure that we don't have horses tacked and ready and standing
around waiting for a ride that never shows up. And if we trailer the horses to meet you, a round trip can be
up to 2
hours, therefore we need to know that someone will be there to ride the horses once
we get them there.
Now we know things come up and plans need to be
changed. And that is perfectly okay. Our experience shows us that
paid reservations will call to reschedule, unpaid reservations might tend to
just stand you up and leave you hanging.
All this is important to us so that we know what is expected of our horses and
we can manage our time & their usage, and also so that we do not turn away
other customers who would have loved to have that particular time slot for a
trail ride.
Do I need any
experience?
No experience is necessary, however it is helpful for us to
know if you have ridden before, and the ages of the
riders. This just helps us to better match you with your
horse. While most everyone can ride most any of the
horses, we have some horses that are better suited to certain
riders, for things such as height and weight. So this is
helpful in determining which saddle (for example, youth saddle
or adult) for which horse.
Do I have to wear
a helmet?
If you are under 18, Yes. If you are over 18, it is
up to you. Helmets are available for use.
What
do your horses do when they are not trail riding?
Eat, sleep, Eat, drink, Eat, and leave presents everywhere
to step in.
When we do not have a scheduled ride, the horses are turned
out to pasture. They are free to come and go into the
barn as they please. We do not keep them stalled.
We do not keep them saddled and tied up unless we are getting
ready for a scheduled ride. So, when they are not
putting a smile on someone's face, they are free to
simply be a horse.
When they are in the pasture, they have an automatic
waterer that refills with fresh cool water as they drink it
down. They have commercial fans in the barn to get away
from the heat of the day and from pestering flies. They
also use the barns to get out of the rain and snow, although
many times they prefer just to stand out in it. We have
enough free range pasture to rotate them around if need be,
but we also provide unlimited access to hay in times such as drought or in the
winter time.
Are your horses for
sale?
Nope! Sorry. But we do know a lady that might be able
to help you out. Her name is Judy.
Do you ride in
the winter time?
We do ride in the winter time, weather permitting. We
do not ride in extreme temperatures, either hot or cold, but a
nice brisk winter afternoon ride is good for everyone. You
just need to add enough layers to your clothing to keep you
comfortable. We do not ride in icy conditions in the
winter time, just like we do not ride in too muddy of conditions
at other times of the year. Terrain is just too slick and
dangerous for both horse and rider. However a winter ride
in a little bit of snow is so refreshing and absolutely
breath-taking.
Is
there a time of the year that you do not ride?
We do not ride during Firearm Deer Season. We may on occasion
take a one hour ride here at Broken Gait during deer season,
depending on the time of day and day of the week.
Also, we
do not ride in extreme temperatures, either hot or cold.
We watch the temperatures in the summer time. We may
have to ride early and only ride certain locations that will
provide a water hole. If it is too extremely hot, we do
not ride at all. In the winter time, we can not ride in
too cold or icy conditions, however we will ride if we can
catch a nice day or even a nice light snow.
Is there a weight
limit?
We will evaluate each person on an individual basis.
We consider several factors such as the horse,
the terrain, and the amount of saddle time. As a general
rule, we like to stay under 280 pounds. However,
depending on which "expert" you talk to, they say a
horse can carry 20 or 30% of his weight. At 30%, that
means that an 1100
pound horse can carry 330 pounds. Our horse Mikey in
particular, is a built like a tank, so for an hour ride on
easy terrain, he will hardly notice even if upwards of 350 or
more. The main requirement is that you are able to get
on and off the horse with little assistance. We do have
about a 3 ft. mounting ramp that many vertically challenged
people use all the time, myself included. With the
assistance of the ramp, you do need to be physically able to
then lift your leg over the saddle in order to get on and off
the horse. If you do have a weight concern, please just
ask.
Do
you need to know my weight or height before a ride?
It is very helpful for us to know the rider's weight and
height ahead of time, regardless of what those numbers might
be. This not only helps us to best match up horse and
rider, but also helps us to determine which saddle to
use. For example, some of the stirrups on some of the
saddles will adjust out farther for taller people, but will
not shorten up far enough for others. Other saddles do
have shorter stirrups and will only go out so far, therefore
making it uncomfortable for a taller person. Saddle seat
is also a consideration. We can make adjustments upon
your arrival, even completely switching out saddles if
necessary, it just takes a little extra time, therefore we like to have as much done ahead of time
so you can get right to the fun stuff :-)
How much does a
horse eat?
As a general rule, a horse
needs 2 to 2.2 pounds of feed for every 100 pounds of body
weight. So a 1000 pound horse, needs 20 - 25 pounds of
hay or grass from grazing. The most natural food for
horses is good quality pasture. Most mature pleasure horses
doing light work will do well on pasture alone if they have
sufficient grazing. However, horses are selective grazers and
need a large area to meet their nutritional needs. Just
because a field is green does not mean it contains sufficient
grazing for a horse, and depending on where you live, for a
large part of the year pasture is not available and you need
to supplement them with hay.
When temperatures dip in the
winter, the best heat source for a horse is extra hay.
A mineralized salt block should
be available free-choice.
How much does a
horse drink?
Fresh water is a vital part of
a horse's diet. Horses drink from 5 to 10 gallons a day.
