Walking Horses Vs. Quarter Horses

I recently purchased a registered Missouri Fox Trotter mare, and she's flat out sold me on gaited horses.

Her fox trot is FAST and can go all day long. I put a beginner rider on her the other day, and in no time they were fox trotting like champs, and I had to canter my pony to keep up.

For pleasure riding or for the show ring I am a die hard Paint person.. and all of my paints are heavily QH influenced (as most of them are).. I love the QH breed and most that they represent. I have ridin some gaited horses and they are just too different for me. But that's just my opinion. Give me a Quarter Horse with some chrome and I am happy as can be.

I see this is an old thread, but someone brought it up again, so why not reply? :)

For me personally... my heart is with Arabians. I have worked with and ridden Arabians, saddlebreds, NSH's, QH's, and a couple TB's and Mustangs. Out of those I love the Arabs best (I have a soft spot for mustangs too). They can be a bit more hyper or "jumpy", but it seems to depend on the bloodline (I definitely noticed the "jumpiness" seemed to run in certain lines), training (racers and halter-bred horses tended to be more "jumpy"), and the individual horse. I currently have an Arabian (CMK and some Polish) and a QH (ex-charreada horse, don't know his lines). I absolutely love my Arab. I have known him his entire life, I am responsible for the majority of his training. He is very alert, but not flighty or jumpy. He is so smooth and easy to ride, and he adjusts himself for the level of the person working with him (if you are a complete newbie, he'll walk on eggshells without breaking them for you). He's so very personable too. I knew both his sire and dam, as well as multiple siblings (both full and half), and all of them had/have this personality and temperament.

I will always be a heavy horse kinda gal! My first horse was 90% percheron and 10% QH. I LOVED HER SO MUCH! She was great we did everything from barrel racing to cow sorting to taking firemen back to a forest fire! I had also started dressage lesson my last year with her and our trainer was blown away by her moves. My husband had a belgain QH cross and she was almost as great! LOL...standing family joke on whos pony was better. Sadly we had to rehome then a couple of years ago due to joining the military....

As soon as we are out I will look into a Friesian, probably. I have played with my best friends for 10 yrs or so and he is almost as cool as our heavier breeds! I am just completely tired of not finding tack anywhere that fits the drafts! I had my saddle made just for us and we had to special order almost every single thing we used on them. I mean I am a girl and I wanted Rhinestone Bling on my stuff too!!!

As far as gaited ponies, it would have to be a Paso Fino! Pretty cool gait and the one I had the pleasure of riding was 20+ yrs old and knew had to canter as well and wow!! That pretty much sums him up!

Honestly I can't say I'm a fan of either one, but that's because neither are generally good at jumping. They're usually just too small to hit the distances without having to put in an extra stride. That said, I'll always have a soft spot for Arabs, where I grew up you were either a QH person or an Arab person, and there was no middle ground. Then again, if I ever stop jumping and pick up dressage, Andalusians, no question.

Thank you thread for reminding me that it's Scottsdale time! I think I'm going to have to go have a look at some very ​nice arabs.