Missouri Fox Trotters are bred for naturally smooth gaits, stamina, and sweet nature. Today, these desirable traits endear the breed to growing numbers of trail riders.
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Cecil Huff grew up riding and showing Missouri Fox Trotters. Years
later, at a small, local Fox Trotter show, he met his future wife,
Sonny.
"Today, our daughter says that her mother fell in love with my
horse, not me!" Huff says with a hearty chuckle. "And why not? This is the
world’s best breed: They have the smoothest ride you could want, they’re
athletic, pleasant to look at, surefooted, and they’re great on the trail. Why
in the world would you want any other horse?"
For the past 15 years, the couple have owned and operated the
Bucks and Spurs Guest Ranch in Ava, Missouri, 700 picturesque acres of diverse
trail-riding opportunities. They boast two miles of trails fronting Big Beaver
Creek, as well as a variety of peaceful meadows and challenging mountains that
satisfy riders of all skill levels and ambitions.
"We’re also riding distance to Mark Twain National Forest and the
Ozark Trail," Huff adds. "Guests come from all over the U.S. and Europe to enjoy
our Fox Trotters."
Today, an increasing number of trail riders are discovering the
hardy breed that originated in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, where their
naturally smooth gaits, stamina, and sweet nature have made them local favorites
for nearly two centuries.
Tireless Trotters
"Missouri Fox Trotters are gentle in the barn and tireless on
the trail," says Jim Wood, the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association
secretary/treasurer. "With their gliding gait, every ride is a
pleasure."
The MFTBA, headquartered in Ava, Missouri, currently has
approximately 9,000 members, with 85,000 horses registered.
"Over 90 percent of our members are trail riders," says Wood,
himself a lifelong Fox Trotter owner. "Every year at our national show, we
organize trail rides that depart from the show grounds, in an effort to give
folks a taste of trail experience on a Fox Trotter. And of course, we sponsor
trail rides and reward avid trail riders with national recognition and prizes."
One active trail-riding member of the MFTBA is Dale Lawson of Ava,
Missouri. "I’ve been involved with Fox Trotters for the past 19 years, including
breeding, training, showing, and lots and lots of trail riding," he says. "I’ve
documented more than 1,200 miles on organized trail rides in each of the past
two years.
"One aspect of the Missouri Fox Trotter that has remained
unheralded is its speed in normal gait and over rough terrain," he notes. "The
speed is subtle; you don’t notice it until you ride with other horse breeds,
which have difficulty keeping up with you while going along the trail, even at a
walk. If I’m fox trotting, most other breeds are running."
Lawson currently owns a 14.2-hand Fox Trotter gelding named
Pepper. "Pepper is a copper sorrel with a wide chest and will overstride more
than a foot," he says. "He’s compact and well-muscled, but at the same time
quick-footed. He wears no shoes.
"I haven’t found anything Pepper can’t do," Lawson continues.
"He’s placed first in a performance class at the world championship show. He
works cattle and pulls logs. And he’s a trail horse deluxe. He can go all day,
day after day, and is always willing. He may be tired, but if I touch my finger
to his neck, he’ll break into that ground-eating fox trot."
Family FriendlySix years ago, Jack Womack sold his
buckskin and brought a pretty
Fox Trotter mare home to his family’s
Crooked Antler Ranch, in the Beaverhead
Mountains of Montana. He and
his father, Bob, owned and bred a fine herd of
Quarter Horses,
Appaloosas, and Tennessee Walking Horses, and trained them for
trail
and ranch work for themselves and their clients. But within a few short
months, they’d sold their entire herd, to concentrate on the family’s
new love:
the Missouri Fox Trotter.
Jack purchased that first mare from Bill Free, 82, a local guru
and
an inductee in the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association Hall of
Fame. Free became the Womacks’ mentor.
"He trained us, and my mare, McCoy’s Plain
Jane," Jack says. "I’ve
never known a horse with so much stamina and heart. That
mare opened up
an entirely new world to me; she’s my once-in-a-lifetime
horse."
Jack has earned two MFTHBA national championships with their
horses
— the same horses with which he rides into the mountains and works
cattle. And they’re the same horses on which Jack’s sister’s twin
daughters,
Gracie and Maddie Yakos, 3, learned to ride.
"Has anyone told you that Fox Trotters are excellent babysitters?"
Jack asks, with a grin.
Dream Makers
"I’m in the business of making dreams come true," says Nancy
Alpert
of Sunset Ridge Fox Trotters in Parker, Colorado.
"I breed and train
trail horses, mostly for women who have always wanted a horse, and now
that
they’ve raised a family or succeeded in business, finally can have
one. Fox
Trotters are kind, personable horses that fulfill that
dream."
Alpert, who has championed the breed for 25 years, says they make
great mountain horses, in part because their hallmark gait carries them
with
surefooted ease over rocky or uneven trails.
"And they round their backs and know how to use their rear ends,"
she says. "You can’t pull yourself over the Rocky
Mountains,
but you can push yourself over!"
Alpert’s favorite trail ride is near Marble, a Colorado ghost town
once home to one of the world’s largest marble mines. It proudly
provided marble
for the Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier, and many government
buildings in Washington, D.C. and New
York.
"Crystal Creek, fed by snowmelt and thunderstorms, dances over
boulders of white marble — it’s magical!" Alpert says. "In the spring
and summer
there’s an explosion of wild flowers — larkspur, Indian
paintbrush, columbine —
too many species to mention. And groves of
aspen provide shade for your
picnics."
In addition to tending to and training her 30 Fox Trotters, Alpert
also designs TrailMaster Saddles especially for women and their unique
center of
balance.
"In saddles, what works for guys doesn’t necessarily work for
women," she says. "But riding a Fox Trotter works for everyone."
Best friends. Of the 30 horses he’s owned, Kent Krone says that Buddy is the smartest, and the most interesting personality of all.
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Best Friends Janet Aveni was looking for property to buy. The instant she saw
the
Spofford, New Hampshire, farm that’s now home to her VJ’s Blues Fox
Trotters, she knew it was the perfect place for her.
"I can ride right out my gate and into a wonderland of trails,"
Aveni says. "I don’t even own a trailer. There are rolling hills and
steep
climbs, tiny brooks and cascading streams with beautiful old
bridges over
them.
"My Missouri Fox Trotters handle everything the trail offers with
a
calm, mellow acceptance, she adds. "They want to please, on the trail or at
home. And they’re smart: even the babies seem to figure life out more
quickly
than other breeds I’ve owned."
In Indiana, Charla McCullough of Hidden Acres Fox Trotters
couldn’t
agree more.
"Fox Trotters want to be your best friend," she says. "It’s never
a
case of the horse being hard to catch: With Fox Trotters, there’s competition
to see which horse gets their nose in your halter first!"
McCullough, who owns 15 Fox Trotters, particularly likes riding at
Potato Creek State Park, in northern Indiana. "There are miles of
trails, many
of them flat and wide, so friends can ride two or three
abreast," she says.
"There’s a nice campground if you want to stay for
awhile."
In 1997, McCullough met her main saddle horse, Blue, and fell in
love. "It took me five years of begging, to convince friends to sell
her. She’s
24 years old now, and she’s still the most thrilling ride I
have. Blue hasn’t
slowed a lick!"
Trail Tested
Two of The
Trail Rider magazine’s favorite
people, Kent and
Charlene Krone, explore this great country by horseback and
share their
experiences and insights in their Postcard From... feature in every issue. Their
breed of choice: the
Missouri Fox Trotter.
"We love their smooth ride and fast, ground-covering walk," Kent
says. "We’ve never had any problems going over rocks and rivers, or
through mud
and bogs. My gelding, Buddy, is the smartest of the 30
horses I’ve owned, and
the most interesting personality.
The Krones purchased the handsome buckskin from MFTHBA Hall of
Famer
Paul Senteney. (See Postcard From ... Endless Trails, "Silver Saddle Tramps,"
March/April ’06). For nearly a quarter century,
Senteney provided Fox
Trotters to the United States Forest Service employees
throughout the
Rocky Mountains, as well as thousands of grateful trail riders.
"Buddy, whose mom died when he was young, was bottle fed and
raised
with lots of human touch, and he’s the most ‘in your pocket’ horse I’ve
ever had," Kent continues. "I’ve taught him tricks like smiling,
counting, and
waving a flag, and he’ll fetch a handkerchief I’ve
thrown. We even gave a little
trick show last summer at one dude ranch
where we rode. Buddy’s a real
character."
Charlene’s horse, Scout, was purchased from Montana legend Bill
Free
and is by his Fox Trotter stallion, Clouds Real McCoy. The Krones, who’ll
celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary in May, have traveled hundreds
of miles
aboard their Fox Trotters.
"We’ve had many memorable rides, but one of our favorites was
through an old remount station near Perma, Montana," Charlene says. "We
rode in
the evening, under a full moon, and the old abandoned buildings
looked ghostly.
But you could imagine how it must’ve been during the
1930s, when it was
bustling, filled with hundreds of mules and horses
waiting to be shipped to
cavalry posts across the country."
"One of my favorite memories is of riding across the eerie
moonscape
of the Badlands of North Dakota," Kent chimes in. "We rode at a fox
trot, then a canter, while a group of wild horses paralleled us across
a nearby
hillside. How would Buddy and Scout react? We knew they were
aware, they raised
their heads a bit higher, but they didn’t spook or
attempt to run away. Farther
along the trail, we rode through a buffalo
herd." What a Wild West ride!
One unforgettable night, the couple camped high in the Montana
mountains on the Continental Divide. It was August, and when their
campfire
died, they stretched out on the ground to watch fireworks
above as the summer
sky lit up with the Perseid meteor shower.
"After a while, we looked over to see Buddy and Scout laying down
in
their corral, just 10 feet away," Kent recalls. "We figured they were
watching the shooting stars, too. It was a neat feeling.
"Our horses have given us the greatest experiences of our lives."
Stumble It!
