Riding in a Hackamore
by Randy Jones

My name is Randy Jones.  I live in North Carolina in an area where no one
had ever heard of a Missouri Fox Trotter until I got mine.  She is the first horse
I have ever owned.  Most of my trail riding friends have Quarter Horses.  A few
have started riding Tennessee Walking Horses. My husband has a Walking
Horse. He has never riden my mare but he has riden the gelding that I raised
off my mare.

I ride my mare with a hackamore.  I forget what kind of bit was used on her
when I got her at 2 years of age but soon after I started using a Mullen
mouth bit on her.  She did real well with that.  But I tend to get excited
sometimes - especially when she was younger and I was much more
inexperienced.  I would panic and yank on the reins.  Of course I know this
is VERY WRONG!  She also had a tendancy to pull on the bit and shake
her head a lot with a bit. One day someone suggested a hackamore - so I
tried one.  She does very well.   She foxtrots fine with the hackamore.
She is 8 years old now and we have done a lot of growing up together
I do not claim to be an expert rider - I just enjoy my horses and enjoy riding.
I have enjoyed this WebSite.  Learned a lot of things.

    Happy Trails!

© Copyright 2001 by Randy Jones for the Missouri Foxtrotter News. All rights reserved.

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