Crystal Gait Horses is located in the scenic Green Mountains of southeastern Vermont near the corner of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Our emphasis is on good quality, comfortable mountain horses, specifically trail riding horses. We have registered Rocky Mountain, Kentucky Mountain, and Mountain Pleasure horses for sale.

Our goal is to take retired show horses from the ring and train them for the trail where they come alive and express their true personalities.  They are turned out in open pastures with different buddies allowing them to improve their social skills.  They learn new skills for respect on the ground and receive training on the trail to be a safer and calmer trail partner.  We train our horses to navigate stadium and true trail obstacles.  We desensitize our horses to various sights, sounds, movements and smells to build their confidence and reduce the possibility of spooking.  They are taken to various locations to introduce them to new experiences and the commotion of large trail rides.  We also ride them alone on the trail to build their trust in us.  Although many of our horses come to us as good trail horses, our goal is to make them even better.

Veratility.  While the Mountain Horse thrives on the trail, they are an extremely versatile breed.  We have found various activities produce a calmer horse that is more responsive.  We give our horses a job to do and they love it.  They excel in competitive trail riding especially with obstacles.  We periodically introduce some of our horses on a novice level to competitions such as hunter paces, cow work, stock horse shows, fox hunts (not a real fox and our horses remain in full control) and Gymkhanas.  They excel at everything they do and win ribbons regardless of the challenge they encounter.  Because we do not believe the Mountain Horse is built to be a reigning horse, cow pony or barrel racer, these events are rare and we keep it on a novice basis.  We find activities that the horses truly enjoy and have found many like cows and others love to run barrels.  They love the occasional race with friends while remaining under full control of the rider.  Although we have an indoor heated arena and start basic training in the arena, we minimize arena work which can become tedious to us and our horses. 

There is nothing better than giving a show horse a new and wonderful life.  We do lots of trails rides, so come ride with us!

About Mountain Horses:   Tradition has it that around the turn of the century a young horse appeared in the Eastern Kentucky mountains that gave rise to a line of mountain horses that include Rocky Mountain horses, Kentucky Mountain horses, Mountain Pleasure horses and other "gaited" mountain horses. They have been prized and treasured in this part of the country ever since.

The basic characteristics are of a medium-sized horse of gentle temperament with an easy four beat gait. This gait made it the mountain horse of choice on the farms and the rugged foothills of the Appalachians. It was a horse for all seasons. It could pull the plows in the small fields, work cattle, be ridden bareback by children to the fishing hole, or to town comfortably on Saturday as a trail horse. They even performed well hitched to the buggy Sunday morning to go to church and make easy trail horses. Fancy barns and stalls were not necessary. Because of its cold blooded nature, it tolerated the winters in Kentucky with a minimum of shelter. For these reasons, in small groups, the breed was preserved, sustained and gradually increased in this area. Naturally, out crossing with the local horses did occur but the basic characteristics of a strong genetic line have continued. These are the rocky mountain horses of Crystal Gait Horses, a Vermont farm with top-of-the-line training facilities and quality Mountain Horses.