Any stumbling in the class should be faulted. The horse should also clear the ground with its rear feet. The fox trot, slick pace, extremely tight choppy short striding horses, extremely long striding horses that cause the rider excessive front to back movement at the walk, excessive head nod, excessively low front or rear movement which causes stumbling, a horse that does not cap should all be penalized. Any horse showing lack of endurance must be penalized. Any horse lacking serviceable conformation should be faulted to the degree it would interfere with the horse s ability on the trail.
Manners are of extreme importance to a travel horse.
The horse should go in an easy, relaxed, and willing manner. The horse should be alert and responsive to cues. The judge can work horses in pairs, one at a time, or ride any horse to better help the judge determine naturalness of gait, smoothness or range in gait. At the end of the class the horses will be required to line up and stand quietly while the rider dismounts, ground ties the horse, steps away from the horse, steps back to the horse and remounts. Horses which can be mounted and dismounted from both sides are to be given extra consideration.