We all indeed have our prejudices! I think I will consider myself the most balanced person on the thread ;~D ...having ridden all types and found something desirable about all of them. I'f ridden and loved appys and QHs and TWs.... And if you know me, you know I settled Arabs as a favorite for their versitility and their art, they are the most fun for me to watch and photograph.
I ride often in what are probably considered busy trails, and we pass and are passed by many different groups and types of horses, dogs, mountain bikers, hikers, and wildlife.
I've never really found gaited versus non-gaited to be a conflict, it's just one of the things that comes up in a day on trail. Most of the time, people are more than happy to pull off to the side, or ride until there is a good spot to pull off and let someone pass.
My most major minor annoyance is people riding with dogs. A rider just has no control over dog(s) from the back of a horse, and in a situation where you ~know~ you are going to meet lots of other groups, dogs only add pandamonium to every meeting. I'd love to bring my own dog, and might if I were riding someplace remote, but on a busy public trail, I don't think it's a good fit.
The first time I took Okie on a trail there was a white pit bull across the canal , barking, charging and growling.. I was following a very experience rider (who by the way now has a broken arm from that cool dismount I was telling yall he does, or did). Anyway his horse dancing all over the place and Okie wasn't having any part of following him. The owner of the dog came and got him but just because he was out of site the horses weren't convienced he was gone. Okie would shy and I would let him go back a little ways rather than risk him falling in the water and then turn him and start again. We finally passed the area but he was walking slow still looking for the bogger. The nice thing was while all this was going on a van had came up behind us on this dirt path. The lady followed Okie and I about a mile. I felt really bad and as soon as I could get to an area where I could move over she just waved and smiled as she passed. She was very considerate.