A Conversation With…Fred Woehl

I admit, I'm a sentimental fool. When we decided to do an issue focused on trail riding, I couldn't resist the chance to return to the person who reintroduced me to trail-riding here two years ago. Back then, Fred Woehl was president of the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen and I was writing a series about trail riding in the Ozarks for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (which I mentioned a few months ago — this is the last trip down that memory lane, I swear). I tagged along with an industrious group of Back Country members one day as they cleaned up a trail along the Buffalo (which they do for the Park Service on a regular basis) and spent another day swapping stories with a bunch of guys known as the Old Men, many of whom have ridden the trails along the Buffalo longer than I've been alive. Woehl introduced me to both groups. Since then, he's introduced me to a number of trails along the Buffalo. Last month, we headed for Sneeds Creek to once again officially talk trails.
— Lisa Broadwater

Horsemen’s Roundup: For the record, tell me about your background.
Fred Woehl: I'm 48 years old; I've been trail riding probably 47 years. I grew up around horses. There has been periods when I was horseless, but I've always stayed in touch with my passion. I've raised, trained and shown Quarter horses, paints and Foxtrotters. I started and trained the filly that finished fifth in the Trail Class/Versatility at the world Foxtrotter show in Ava, Missouri, last fall.
I teach equine courses, as well as other agricultural courses, at North Arkansas College in Harrison. I'm a past president of the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen, past board member of the Horsemen United Horse Show Association and a member of several equine associations. I've rode trails throughout the state, from the St. Francis Forest in Lee and Phillips counties to Devil's Den in Washington and Crawford counties. I probably average over 10 days a month trail riding and enjoy the Ozarks, particularly the Buffalo National River, most of all.
I'm passionate about trail riding. I've participated in almost all riding disciplines and have found that trail riding, at least for me, satisfies the desire to share my life with horses. I'm not aware of any other event or discipline where you can become more in sync with your equine companion.

HR: What do you like about it?
FW: The sense of accomplishment you have when you're out there on the trail on some of the more complicated, challenging trails. There's a George Strait song that comes to mind: "When you see this old cowboy, just remember: He's not ragged by his choice/he never meant to bow them legs or put that gravel in his voice/He's just chasing what he really loves and that's burning in his soul/wishin' to God that he'd been born 100 years ago."
There's something about being on the trail that makes that all come true. When you grow up and romanticize the Old West and the cowboy way of doing things, being out on a trail with your horse is about as close to that as you can get.

HR: What trails do you ride the most?
FW: The majority of my riding is done on the Buffalo River, all the way from the Boxley Valley down to Buffalo City. The Buffalo is broken down into three areas: the Upper Buffalo, which is a designated wilderness area — you have lots of hills and bluffs, lots of steep trails. It's really fun and challenging. The Middle Buffalo is not quite as bluffy or rocky or steep. The Lower Buffalo gets back into a wilderness area; it isn't as rocky or bluffy as the Upper but it has more hills than the Middle. So you can find an area in there no matter what you want to do.
I really enjoy riding the Upper River because of the bluffs. And there's so much history there. You can ride along on some of them trails and look down and see something that was left there by a family long ago. If you have an active imagination, you can picture the family living there and what they had to do to make ends meet.
But then, any trail you ride is that way. I rode in Wyoming last summer, and you'd be riding and you'd come up on an old sod house, and you'd think about the family that lived there: To get to town, they had to ride horseback, just like I was doing. So if you have an active imagination, trail riding is fantastic.

HR: Is that a part of the appeal?
FW: It is for me. The whole idea of the cowboy way, as it's called, has always intrigued me.

HR: But what does it have to do with trail riding?
FW: The whole idea of being, if you will, a cowboy encompasses the whole thing —the actual adventure of it. You can imagine what it was like for that first-time trail driver to drive cattle to places where he'd never seen. And even though some of those drivers made that same ride 20 or 30 times, it was all brand-new to them every time. The idea of what's over that next mountain or what's around that next bend is what is so enjoyable.

HR: So it's about exploring unknown territory?
FW: Basically. Even though it's something you might know as well as the back of your hand, there's always something you'll see that you've never seen before. The other day I saw a bobcat stalk a flock of turkeys.

HR: What constitutes trail riding — just getting out on a horse and going out somewhere or has it become formalized?
FW: There is a lot of formal trail riding. But the type of ride I really enjoy is to just ride for the sake of riding. It don't necessarily matter how many miles you travel in a day. Quality means more to me than quantity.
I really enjoy working with young horses, and on the trails, you have all sorts of different obstacles you can work your young horse on. You also have several opportunities to work on their speed. When I trail ride, it's not just a plodding walk back and forth. I'm always working my horse and striving for that oneness with the horse.
Trail riding is a discipline, and a lot of folks don't think it's hard. But there's lots of skill involved — both with the horse and the rider. An arena horse that's used to barrel racing or Western pleasure and all that can be ridden on a trail, but you have to be real careful about which trail you ride.
A trail horse is exposed to a lot of different stimuli that an arena horse never sees. I've had well-trained arena horses run away when they see a deer or heard a bird. One of the worst wrecks I ever saw was a barrel horse that flushed a wild turkey just off the trail. And that speed-event horse — which could go in front of 10,000 people and not make a mistake — totally freaked out when that turkey flew up 10 yards off the trail.
A trail horse has to have a disposition where he don't react to every little thing that comes along. I'm not saying he don't look and see, but he don't react. I have a saying when I'm starting a horse: I don't mind the horse running away, as long as he don't move his feet. I want my horse, if something scares it, to be afraid. But I don't want him to move his feet. He might raise his head high or blow his nose — and he's running away on the inside. But the outside's staying still.

HR: Do you use trail riding as a way of training a horse?
FW: I start my horses on the trail, no matter what they're gonna end up doing. The trail-riding experience, since they see so much stuff and they learn so much, makes for a better foundation. I start packin' my colts and fillies when they're about 14 to 16 months old. I've got a pack saddle, and they might just pack my coffeepot and my lunch, but they're with me on the trail. They learn how to go uphill and down, how to step over logs, how to cross water, how to have something on their back, how to have something rattlin’ around. By the time they're 2, when I start saddlin' and ridin 'em, they're practically trained.

HR: Are there any types of horses that aren't suited to trail riding?
FW: think any horse can make a good trail horse. Now, there are some high-strung horses that wouldn't make a good trail horse because of their breeding and training. In today's times, event-wise, people pay $50,000 for a horse, and on a trail, there's always the chance that your horse could trip and fall and get hurt. So horses in that category, I wouldn't use.

HR: Do some breeds work better than others?
FW: I think any breed can make a good trail horse. For the past several years, I've concentrated on Foxtrotters. Part of the reason is the foundation of the Missouri Foxtrotter was on the hills and bluffs of the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. That's how these horses were bred: to get from point A to point B in a smooth manner.

HR: What makes the Foxtrotter a good trail horse?
FW: They really have a good disposition. As a breed, they're more docile with even temperaments; they don't react in an abrupt manner when they see something they haven't seen before. If I was to recommend a horse for someone who didn't know anything about horses, I'd recommend a Foxtrotter.
I've had paints, Quarter horses, Arabians, mustangs. One of the best trail horses I ever had was an Arabian. That horse had stamina — he could go all day long. And he would tackle anything I asked him to do. He was a real responsive horse — just a fantastic trail horse.

HR: When did you get involved in maintaining trails?
FW: I've always maintained trails on an informal basis — just picking up trash and things like that. The National Park Service has a VIP program, Volunteer in Parks, where you report your hours when you volunteer to maintain the trails. I've been involved with that [with the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen] on the Buffalo River for about six years.
It's every trail rider's responsibility to leave the trail in better shape than when they got there. But most people don't. They think the Park Service or the Forest Service does the maintenance, and they do a little, but volunteers do the bulk of the maintenance. The government can't afford to pay people to take care of the trails; there's just too many of 'em.
So if you happen to be ridin’ down a trail and see a log or somethin’ that's fallen in the trail, get off your horse and move it out of the trail instead of going around it and starting a new trail.

HR: What other maintenance tips do you have?
FW: A lot of horses won’t go through mud puddles. You can see wherever there’s a puddle, the trail gets wider and wider. Try to teach your horse to go through the puddle and stay on the trail. That’s one of the major causes of “trail creep.”
Carry a pair of hobbles with you if you have a horse that’s nervous and paws when you tie him up to a high-line. Teach him to hobble. It keeps him from digging a deep hole in the dirt. The thing is, when you’re riding out like this, you should only take memories and leave nothin’ but tracks. You don’t want to leave any holes or anything like that. Scatter your manure piles. Pick up after yourself. Try to consider everybody else.
Horses are really hard on trails. They have iron on their feet; they’re heavy animals. They really are harder than hikers, and we need to be conscious of that when we’re out riding and try to prevent as much damage to the trails as we can.

HR: What about trail etiquette?
FW: It's one of the most important things you can do. One of the most important things to remember is that nobody leaves until everybody's mounted. Horses like to be in herds, and if I'm still on the ground when you take off, generally my horse is going to want to take off too.
When you pick the group you ride with, be sure and pick a similar group with people who have the same ideas as you. Always ask, if you're with a group, if it's okay if you lope your horse. Some people don't want to lope. Maybe their horse is young and they're trying to teach him some stuff. When you lope off, that horse is going to want to go, and it could cause a wreck.

HR: What are common mistakes people make when they start trail riding?
FW: The most common mistake is they don't condition their horse before they start riding. You're talking about taking a horse that's been in a pasture for three or four months, eating grain and getting fat. And then you catch him up, put shoes on him and take him on a 10- to 15-mile trail ride. How would you feel if they got you up off the couch and took you on a 15-mile forced march? You would kinda get sore. So you need to start slow and build him up. Start with a two- or four-mile trail ride and then gradually build up.
The second mistake is they don't make the saddle fit the horse. Just because a saddle fits your hind end don't mean it fits the horse's back. Every horse is built a little bit different. But saddle fit is one of the most important things for your horse. Think about it: He's going to have you on his back — and with me, that's 200 pounds. If the saddle doesn't fit, it's going to make the horse sore, it's going to make the horse act up, he's not going to want me to catch him anymore.
The third mistake I've seen a lot of is trying to exceed you or your horse's abilities. I've seen people try to take a 2-year-old horse on a 15-mile trail ride. That 2-year-old horse is still growing. You have to know your horse's and your limitations. If you haven't been out of the house for a while and you go on a 15-mile trail ride, your butt's gonna get tired after about three miles.
When you have a group of people, you’re going to have a horse or two that might kick. So to warn people, tie a red ribbon around the kicker’s tail. That way, everybody knows that horse will kick and they can watch out. Remember that all horses will kick. If you get a strange horse following too close, that horse is going to try to establish his position in the herd. So don’t stay too close, and if you see a horse with a red ribbon, stay completely away from it.
The tie-down is a piece of equipment that shouldn’t be used on the trail. There was a horse drowned last year on the Buffalo because the woman riding him had a tie-down. You can get in lots of trouble — you can get it hung up in the brush, the horse can get their hoof through it.
One other very important thing, if you’re gonna have a back girth on your saddle, use it. It’s not there for decoration; tighten it up. I’ve seen people ride trail where that back girth was so loose you could fit a tree through it. You could easily get a piece of brush through that — and you talk about a wreck. I’ve seen horses put their back feet through the girth, kickin’ at a fly. And that’s a pretty good wreck.

HR: Have you had any scares?
FW: If you're riding on trails, you're always gonna have a few accidents. I've had one of my people back off a bluff. It wasn't a very high bluff — it was about eight feet, but it was kind of exciting. Her horse wasn't as well trained as should be and when she would pull back on the reins, he would run backwards. We got into a tight spot and she was afraid her horse was gonna run off, so she yanked back on his reins and he started running backwards and slipped off the bluff. They were fine.
I've had a dirt bank cave in with me on the river, where I rode up to see what was over the bank, and the bank gave way. That was quite exciting.

HR: What should a first-timer know?
FW: Know where you're going. Know what type of trail you're on. Be sure you and your horse are up to that type of trail. Always take a first-aid kit, a minor survival kit so if something happens, you're prepared. If you have a cell phone that will work in that area, take it. But whatever you do, use your cell phone only for emergencies, because it takes a lot out of the experience when you're sittin’ on a horse talkin’ on a cell phone. That's just not the cowboy way.