Horse Talk asked Betty to give a brief account of her life with horse's and what the Missouri Fox Trotter is truly   about.

    I have always been fascinated by a good looking smooth riding horse and the Missouri   Fox Trotter fit that bill. They are     people friendly, very willing to please  and easy to train.   I  brought my first fox Trotter about 20 years ago and now I own two   foals, mares and   stallions. With selective breeding I have produced a fox Trotter with a very athletic built and very pretty to look at. I have always like a spotted horse so most of my Fox Trotters are spotted both red and white and black and white. My goal is to raise these beautiful horses and sell a few foals every year for trail or show.

Missouri Fox Trotters is a newer breed of horses that walk in front and trot in back this broken two beat gait is very smooth to   ride, if it is done correctly. The Fox Trotter was bred to go up and down the hills of Missouri. He had to walk in front and trot behind going down the hill and had to pull with the front and trot behind to get up the hill. ["Travelin Tanya" pictured in photo    gallery shows  correct Fox Trotters gait (she is for sale also).] Most Fox Trotters are naturally gaited, but the person riding the   horse can change the gait if they are not careful. I like to ride fast so a lot of the time when I ride I push the horse pass the point where they are smooth getting them to either do the running walk, pace or rack. The first 60 days that you ride a Fox Trotter you need to get the walk down pat so that the horse can work off of that walk to go to a foxtrot that is square and smooth. Most Fox Trotters have a very easy disposition which makes them a great all around family horses, working horses, reining horses, show horses and most of all very great trail horses. A Fox Trotter gets his name from a fox as when the fox is running he puts his back   feet where his front feet just left so he caps his tracks. A Fox Trotter does the same thing he caps his tracks most of the time.   Where his front foot left his back one sets down in the same place making for a very smooth gait.

I am now standing  "Cimmarron War Trace" is thirteen year old black and white stallion that has only produced one bay foal the rest have all been black or black and white spotted. His foals all make excellent trail horses but not all of them will make a good show horse as they do not have enough spirit to show good. He is around 15 hands tall and weighs about 1100 pounds he has a lot of bone which makes him able to     carry a large person without having a lot of size himself. There is no place where he will not go when trail riding him. One of his     filly export to Germany is winning everything over there..