opinons on Fjords?

[houndcrazy93]

hey everyone im wondering what your opinions would be on using a fjord for hound hunting. i just started being around them. and like them but wanna know what you all think about using them to hound hunt thanks

[Spencer]

I think your Toyota will do just fine......

Actually, I have ridden Gypsy Vanners which is also a light draft breed, and my opinion is.....If you want to take your time and let the dogs really investigate the country they may wrk well, but if you are trying to cover some country the draft in them may be a little slow to cover a lot of miles.

[twilli]

Good in the mountains and a versatile breed. See quite a few in the backcountry.

[Mike Leonard]

I have been around a few of these and from a strength and disposition stand point they would be excellent. They are also close to the ground generally 14.2 as an average which can be a real asset in the hills getting on and off and going thru low hanging trees and brush. Draft crosses are in demand for outfitter horses for packing camps, game and fat assed hunters and these short strong horses should be excellent.

Now to the possible down side. The heavy draft type muscleing and rather sharp shoulders common in driving type heavy breeds they are going to jar your dentures a bit after a hard day in the saddle. This may seem insignificant if you only make occasional short jaunts but day after day hard riding in big country it might make you a little tougher than you want to be. IMO

It is true you need a sure footed beast that can slow down and let hounds work closely thru rugged country, but it is also nice to have one you can step up and float along at a good pace when you are moving to areas or heading back to the trailer.

I have hunted on about every kind of beast imaginable over the past half a century and I have seen some good of all kinds. But these days if I didn't have a gaited horse or mule I would probably just walk or stay home.

My suggestion is a Missouri Foxtrotter or a gaited horse crossed mule. You may not agree but if you hunt mounted a lot and try them before long you will.


This may interest you.

http://mountaintrailhorses.com/missouri ... tters.html

[Henefer-hound-hunter]

I'm a quarter horse guy through and through but lately we have been breeding our mares to a big 16.2 hand fox trotter, and a 17 hand shire the fox trotter x QH crosses are smooth, gaited, high strung, and will flat out cover some ground very happy with the way they turned out. The shire x QH crosses are paced about the same as a QH, mellow, level headed, sure footed, big, stout, and can easily pack a full elk out by them selves, also happy with this cross. We use our horses year around for packing, hunting, and chasing hounds and in my opinion quarter horses and quarter horse crosses are the way to go. I've seen most every breed of horse in the mountains and most all do good, but in my experience and talking to others the quarter horse is the all around best mountain horse. Once again just my opinion and I like most all breeds.

[Mike Leonard]

I agree a good quarter horse is hard to beat. I have had quarter horses my whole life and I still have 2 top geldings and they have covered some rough country and packed a lot of cats out, but they are saved for cow work these days. The problem with just saying quarterhorses these days is a lot like saying drive a Ford. You have the sub compact Fords, you have the sporty Fords, you have the Ford Ranger and then you have the Shelby Mustang and the F-350 Powerstroke. You have to be very careful to pick the right Ford for the job you want to do.

We have 14.2 quarter horses bred to cut a cow, we have foundation bred 14-2-15 hands quarterhorses bred for general riding and ranch work, we have great big 16 hand fast monsters bred for team roping, We have appendix bred quarterhorses bred to flat out drag race and they are hotter than a pistol so just saying quarterhorse you can be all over the board.
I do believe when they breed was founded and if we study we see almost all the saddle breeds came from similar roots just mixed up for differtent things, but the first quarterhorses were indeed a very good using horse for general purpose. Too many breeders these days breed for specility horses and extreme speed or split second performance horses many times will blow up in the hills or burn out quick because they may have too much heart.

I have an old friend who has been a quarter horse breeder since the 50's. He was a top calf roper but later concentrated on race horses and was on many of the leading tracks around the country. I knew he was raised in the high country of Colorado and his family had a big ranch for generations. He asked me what I was hunting on. I told him I have a son of Wheelling Peppy by Little Peppy out of a Coninental King mare that I really liked. He knew the breeding very well and said . What are you doing riding that hot blooded cutting and reining bred horse in those mountains? I said well that is what I have Earl. He said well you will learn if you are really out there long enough. I said what do you mean mister Quarter Horse man isn't that what you rode? Hell no son, a hot bred thin skinned horse like that has too much heart and not enough mule type savvy to handle a real mountain situation over time you will cripple him or he will kill you.
So tell me Earl what did you ride all them years? Morgan/draft crosses. Big feet, big bones, lots of hair and thick skin on their legs. Quiet calm, and will slow down take their time and will hold up in camp if you are up there for a month or so at a time. He said they rode straight morgans for mountain cow and sheep work but used the cross horses a lot more because they could pack so much more on them.
I asked him why he just didn't ride a mule? He said well I seen some good ones but a cowboy does have to have some dignity about himself. LOL! That old man was a pistol but he didn't just joy ride in them mountains he made his living way up there.


I honestly don't think many people really ride hard and hunt hounds in the bad country much these days. And the ones that do have already settled this question and would be hard to budge.

I had a young fella tell me he had been horseback hunting hard all season and was really treeing big numbers of lions and bobcats. I was pretty impressed I must say he was really kicking my tail. But later he fessed up that he wasn't really taking a horse he was dragging roads nightly and coverning them quickly at daylight in a small pickup with a dog box. Was he catching? dang right he was but he wasn't horseback. does this make him less of a hunter? Hell no he is smart and is doing it the way that works ther best in that country. What I am leading to is it sounds romantic and cool but horseback hunting is lot of damn work and it is a costly way to go. But still today in some places it is the only way you can hunt unless you love walking and running and getting a lot of excercise.

[Henefer-hound-hunter]

That's what I love about being a quarter horse fan is the diversity. You can have a head horse, heel horse, calf horse, barrel horse, mountain horse, cutting horse,and race horse all in the pasture their all different colors, and range in size from 14-16 hands but they can all be registered AQHA. It's awesome. Most are multi use and a few will do it all. We only hunt in area closed to motorized vehicles (To many people in the easy access units plus not as many big animals) it's 6 miles as a crow fly just to get to our camp and that's through a lot of steep rocky country then we will use them to pull game out of some miserable hell holes. We have rope horses, ex race horses, and my moms barrel horse even comes and they all do great. I like our new cross breds like I said above but I'll say it again you can't beat a QH:) as for mules I feel the same way seen some amazing ones just like horses too much to ride one:)

Cameron