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."
