do they make good trail riding horses? how would one cross with a jack to produce a mule?

The only experience l have with a Morgan is this idiot named Mel. He spooks over everything and bucks whenever you put a little leg on him. He is very sweet, but l would never trust him on a trail. Ever.

They are quite good on trails. Nice, compact little horses. Next to paints, appies, and quarters (obviously arabs, too) they are my faves on trails. l feel the exact same on paints appies quarters and arabs all equally, so morgans come as a solid second!
You put the jack in with the morgan, wait a year (adding mare feed, vaccines, ect) and out pops a mule who will never ever be able to reproduce (unless u get one of the rare cases.)

They r a great all around horse. They r good trail riders but most r not gaited (some are). Those that r gaited make the best trail horses. l myself do not ride trail on ungaited horses.

Of course the best trail horse is the Missouri Fox Trotter for rough terrain & hills. For smooth flat terrain the Tennessee Walking Horses & Racking horses r the tops (they r faster & smoother gaited by just a bit than the Missouri Fox Trotter but not as sure footed).

As far as getting a mule yes a Morgan mare will get a mule if bred to a Jack.BUT, morgans tend to be on the small size (the newer style is somewhat bigger) so expect a small mule.

l ride nearly 500 miles of trail a year.

From my experience with morgans (hunter/jumper show morgans) l have found them to be pretty high strung horses. My morgan in particular. He is practically scared of grass, l could never take him out on a trail without a runaway. But they r very sweet horses with lots of heart & personality. But really l think it just depends on how the horse was raised & trained. If they have spent alot of time trail riding & u buy one from a respectable breeder, he/she would probably be a great trail horse. Crossed with a jack it might calm them down a bit, but once again, l really think it just depends on the equines experience & training.

all the morgans l know have had founder, laminitis issues.. so just be careful and watch thier breeding!!

l am with Equestri on this one - the Morgans I've been around have been really hot & high strung. There were several of them in a 54 mile competitive trail ride l rode on years ago & they were nervous wrecks, & pretty wasted physically(poor eaters & doers). Despite that, they had great endurance & went all day, although they scored low on their vitals simply because they were so stirred up all the time. The others I've been around r a group of driving Morgans that l compete against in the state fair here, & although they r physically more impressive than those endurance Morgans were, they r also very hot & nervous. They r very competently handled & compete successfully, but r always on the muscle & would not be suitable for anyone who was not very strong & experienced. l was surprised to see them act this way as my impression of Morgans was always that they were the quiet, tractable, versatile, little horses of Justin Morgan fame. When l asked a judge once about their disposition he told me that the really good quality Morgans from Eastern foundation lines r very full-bodied & emotionally stable, & that the wasp-wasted, neurotic ones we see so often on the other end of the country r just poorly/inbred versions. So l would guess if u can find a soggy, well bred Morgan mare with a good mind & breed her to a good jack, u will get a nice solid little mule.

Morgans r GREAT! l have one & he has the cutest personality ever! They're very affectionate & mine follows me around everywhere. They're incredibly smart too. My gelding is soo willing to learn. l think that is just the nature of the breed. They love to please & r very willing. My morgan does pretty much anything.

He does english: jumping, he has the potential for dressage.
He also does western: trail riding & l just started him on barrels & he is doing amazing!

So the bottom line is, my experience with morgan horses has been GREAT!

l am not sure about the producing mules question.sorry.

l hope this helps! good luck!

l ADORE Morgan Horses. They r the some of the sweetest horses I've ever met. All of them have such unique personalities!! Both of my horses r full Morgans. My mare is the 'its all about me & l dont wanna work!' kindda gal & my gelding is more 'Hihihi did u come to play with me oh boy lets go out & work!! Look how cute l am! Did l win!?' haha. Yeah some of them can be spooky but usually with my experience its with good reason. My mare was terrified of ground poles for the longest time (she stumbled over some irrigation pipes when she was younger) but withing a few weeks we had her going over cross rails with out a problem. They r extremely intelligent & l have seen a 3 year old mare who had never been outside the barn before go on a hunter pace without spooking or taking off at anything be it a river, tractors or a boulder. If u wanted to cross one with a donkey, l think it would be brilliant! Morgans r strong & sturdy & combined with a donkey could produce a very strong & able mule l think.
Just my opinion though =)

l have been around quite a few Morgans. l lived in Maine growing up, & l used to take lessons at several different Morgan breeding farms. Many members of my Pony Club growing up had Morgans as well, & many lesson horses l learned on were part or all Morgan.

As far as l can tell, there is a trend towards two type of Morgans these days. The older, ''Justin Morgan'' types r the ones u think of traditionally; a close coupled, compact, business like horse that will go all day on the trail. They also tend to have exceptional, large, hard hooves They r typically very sane & not much above 15-15.2 hands. They r usually bay or chestnut with a flaxen mane & tail with little white. l would recommend this type for the trail for sure! The Morgan 'Kennebec Count', who is a Breyer Model exemplifies this type.

The second group of Morgans they r breeding tend to look a lot more like a National Show Horse or Saddlebreds, with fine heads, long necks & increasing size. These tend to be the show horses & the ones that r more likely to be gaited. They tend to be higher strung & a bit more flashy, with different colors such as palomino & buckskin, colors u almost never see in the Justin Morgan type. l guess it is just which is more ur style. l think the newer types r breeding out the sane, workmanlike mentality that were so valuable in the old types, & r not really what l would choose in a trail horse, but the new ones r showier. Good training will go a long ways, of course. At this point, though, they r almost different breeds. If u r looking for a trail partner, or breeding for a trail partner l would urge u to seek out the old type.