- Location
- South Cariboo, B.C.
BCWILL said:Looks like some Great times in Nice Country
Awesome Pics
Well except for the one you left out !
Damn it!! I was just about to spring that one. You beat me to it!!
Northern BC Trip
- Thread starter Gatehouse
- Start date
Damn it!! I was just about to spring that one. You beat me to it!!
- Location
- AB foothills
boonerbuck said:Damn it!! I was just about to spring that one. You beat me to it!!
Jeezuz
If that is bed head he must have quite the dreams 
Awesome guys!!
You dudes got me all pumped for my upcoming horseback hunt...I can hardly wait.
This being my first hunt of this type, I feel prepared, confident and fit, but I'm sure there will be moments of unexpected unprepared ness.
With respect to the nature of these types of outback hunts Booner and/or Gate, would you care to offer some suggestions with regards to horse handling/packing/wrangling. Some things you learned as the hunt progressed, and some things you would do different next time around. Any tips or pointers for newbe wrangler?
Again, thanks for the great pics and sharing of your adventure!!
Jon
You dudes got me all pumped for my upcoming horseback hunt...I can hardly wait.
This being my first hunt of this type, I feel prepared, confident and fit, but I'm sure there will be moments of unexpected unprepared ness.
With respect to the nature of these types of outback hunts Booner and/or Gate, would you care to offer some suggestions with regards to horse handling/packing/wrangling. Some things you learned as the hunt progressed, and some things you would do different next time around. Any tips or pointers for newbe wrangler?
Again, thanks for the great pics and sharing of your adventure!!
Jon
#1 is horses are creatures, and they bear no resemblence to ATV's, trucks or planes...They are not super intelligent, and they freak out at the strangest things (Oh, look a big ROCK...Better go NUTS)
Saddle horses and pack horses:
Tighten up that cinch. And make sure he saddle is placed int he right spot. Put on the saddles and thighten themn top 80% at first. Then before you load them up, cinch it up tight.
Pack Horses:
make sure their load is EVENLY distributed, It's probably more important that they have a even weight on each side than the actual weight itself.
Put stuff you want to keep dry on TOP, like bedrolls/tents etc. Fill the boxes with unbreakabe or durabel stuff. Make sure tat diamond hitch is bloody TIGHT, and well formed. If you have any doubts, remove and re do. It's easier to redo it at the trailhead than half way up a bloody harsh pack trail.
When traiign a pack horse, DON"T wrap the rope around your hand, or tie it in a knot on your saddle horn. This can lead to pinching the hell out of your hand, and or ripping you off the saddle, or pulling your saddle horse down...
A longer lead rope the better, so you can either extend or tighten up the lead as conditions permit. I found it best to daly it once around the horn, and leave some slack in my hand. So if the horses went over obstacles, you could give the pak horses some slack, but in a situation where there is alot of trees (and they had opportunity to go the wring way around one) you coudl use the horns leverage to wrench them in and keep them tight, to keep on track.
Saddke Horses:
Alot of these guys NEED to be with tier horse buddies. Mine ws like that, He was super when there was another horse around him, and s**t if I wanted to go out alone.But that is horses...
Keep some stuff in your saddlebags, like binos, camera, water bottle and some food that you can eat on the trail (like Power Bars etc) When you get off your horse, to leave it, take your rifle with you.
Tie some raingear and a sweater to the rear of your saddle, but do it TIGHTLY. SO it doesn't fall off. There it is acessible, but niot goign to lose it.
Ona long treck, jump off and walk from time to time. You can stretch your legs and rest you horse at the same time.
earn how to do a slipknot and a bowine. If you are going anywhere for a long period of time, use the bowline. And tie your horse SHORT to a tree. You may want to leave it long to be nice so they can feed, but they just get tangled up anyway...
Situate your camp in between where you put your hobbed horses and the "way home" they wont try to escape as much if they know they have to go past you to "get home" Use sideines on horses that are prone to running.
Use horse bug doipe on thier chafing points (wherever there is a cinch) put that on before you turn them loose.
Horses need to feed and drink, so camp where they can do that, More feed, the less likely they are to bolt on you. if you are coincerned abotu bolting, tie a few up (overnight if you need to) the rest of the horses won't leave thier buddies (you hiope) Juat make sure you rotate, so they a get to feed.
Diamond hitches are easier with a partner. They can be frustratign at first. DOnt lose your cool, just keep pluggin away until you get it right!!
Get a good book on packing and/or take a course, cause I can only tell you what my experiences were...SI it s hardly a complete reference!
Saddle horses and pack horses:
Tighten up that cinch. And make sure he saddle is placed int he right spot. Put on the saddles and thighten themn top 80% at first. Then before you load them up, cinch it up tight.
Pack Horses:
make sure their load is EVENLY distributed, It's probably more important that they have a even weight on each side than the actual weight itself.
Put stuff you want to keep dry on TOP, like bedrolls/tents etc. Fill the boxes with unbreakabe or durabel stuff. Make sure tat diamond hitch is bloody TIGHT, and well formed. If you have any doubts, remove and re do. It's easier to redo it at the trailhead than half way up a bloody harsh pack trail.
When traiign a pack horse, DON"T wrap the rope around your hand, or tie it in a knot on your saddle horn. This can lead to pinching the hell out of your hand, and or ripping you off the saddle, or pulling your saddle horse down...
A longer lead rope the better, so you can either extend or tighten up the lead as conditions permit. I found it best to daly it once around the horn, and leave some slack in my hand. So if the horses went over obstacles, you could give the pak horses some slack, but in a situation where there is alot of trees (and they had opportunity to go the wring way around one) you coudl use the horns leverage to wrench them in and keep them tight, to keep on track.
Saddke Horses:
Alot of these guys NEED to be with tier horse buddies. Mine ws like that, He was super when there was another horse around him, and s**t if I wanted to go out alone.But that is horses...
Keep some stuff in your saddlebags, like binos, camera, water bottle and some food that you can eat on the trail (like Power Bars etc) When you get off your horse, to leave it, take your rifle with you.
Tie some raingear and a sweater to the rear of your saddle, but do it TIGHTLY. SO it doesn't fall off. There it is acessible, but niot goign to lose it.
Ona long treck, jump off and walk from time to time. You can stretch your legs and rest you horse at the same time.
earn how to do a slipknot and a bowine. If you are going anywhere for a long period of time, use the bowline. And tie your horse SHORT to a tree. You may want to leave it long to be nice so they can feed, but they just get tangled up anyway...
Situate your camp in between where you put your hobbed horses and the "way home" they wont try to escape as much if they know they have to go past you to "get home" Use sideines on horses that are prone to running.
Use horse bug doipe on thier chafing points (wherever there is a cinch) put that on before you turn them loose.
Horses need to feed and drink, so camp where they can do that, More feed, the less likely they are to bolt on you. if you are coincerned abotu bolting, tie a few up (overnight if you need to) the rest of the horses won't leave thier buddies (you hiope) Juat make sure you rotate, so they a get to feed.
Diamond hitches are easier with a partner. They can be frustratign at first. DOnt lose your cool, just keep pluggin away until you get it right!!
Get a good book on packing and/or take a course, cause I can only tell you what my experiences were...SI it s hardly a complete reference!
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- Location
- AB foothills
Over all not bad advice. But I can tell right off you dont know all that much about horses when you say something like this:
Horses are extremely inteligent! Thier sense of smell is usually what makes them do strange things once and a while while riding in the mountains. They are usually very in tune with thier surroundings and dont like strange smells like a stinky old grizzly bear for instance. Horses will smell a bear long before you ever see, hear or smell it.
My family has owned horses for about 35 years and I have been on a few wild rides like yours over the years. Two that I remember very well were both because of bears in the area, but I didnt fall off J/K
Horses are extremely inteligent! Thier sense of smell is usually what makes them do strange things once and a while while riding in the mountains. They are usually very in tune with thier surroundings and dont like strange smells like a stinky old grizzly bear for instance. Horses will smell a bear long before you ever see, hear or smell it.
My family has owned horses for about 35 years and I have been on a few wild rides like yours over the years. Two that I remember very well were both because of bears in the area, but I didnt fall off
J/KI dont' own horse,s but my neighbor does...And I've beenon horses aot over my life, Not dialy or anyhting, but enough to come up wiht some opinions...
Horses, like any animal, ave enhanced sense of smell.
But I have (on many occaisons) seen a good horse go loco when they encounter some seemingly normal thing. Liek a BIg rock...Freak out because all of a sudden there is a BIG ROCK...
It's like they think it is a Alien Space Pod or something.
There is no doubt that if you are walking along a trail, and your horse BAKS a bit, it's time to pay attention. But htat is thier *sense of smell* and *instinct* , not intelligence.
They have thier moments of great intelligence, at times. I almost always let a horse pick it's own way over a nasty obstacle, rarely forcing it to go somewhere it does not want to. IN fact, my horse on this trip was especiay good at sniffing out good passages through muskeg/tough river crossings..
But thier brain is not much bigger than an orange. They arent' super smart, they *do* engage in competely irrational behaviour, etc.
Sense of smell does not = inteligence.
Horses, like any animal, ave enhanced sense of smell.
But I have (on many occaisons) seen a good horse go loco when they encounter some seemingly normal thing. Liek a BIg rock...Freak out because all of a sudden there is a BIG ROCK...
It's like they think it is a Alien Space Pod or something.
There is no doubt that if you are walking along a trail, and your horse BAKS a bit, it's time to pay attention. But htat is thier *sense of smell* and *instinct* , not intelligence.
They have thier moments of great intelligence, at times. I almost always let a horse pick it's own way over a nasty obstacle, rarely forcing it to go somewhere it does not want to. IN fact, my horse on this trip was especiay good at sniffing out good passages through muskeg/tough river crossings..
But thier brain is not much bigger than an orange. They arent' super smart, they *do* engage in competely irrational behaviour, etc.
Sense of smell does not = inteligence.
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- Location
- AB foothills
Gatehouse said:I dont' own horse,s but my neighbor does...And I've beenon horses aot over my life, Not dialy or anyhting, but enough to come up wiht some opinions...
Horses, like any animal, ave enhanced sense of smell.
But I have (on many occaisons) seen a good horse go loco when they encounter some seemingly normal thing. Liek a BIg rock...Freak out because all of a sudden there is a BIG ROCK...
It's like they think it is a Alien Space Pod or something.
There is no doubt that if you are walking along a trail, and your horse BAKS a bit, it's time to pay attention. But htat is thier *sense of smell* and *instinct* , not intelligence.
They have thier moments of great intelligence, at times. I almost always let a horse pick it's own way over a nasty obstacle, rarely forcing it to go somewhere it does not want to. IN fact, my horse on this trip was especiay good at sniffing out good passages through muskeg/tough river crossings..
But thier brain is not much bigger than an orange. They arent' super smart, they *do* engage in competely irrational behaviour, etc.
Sense of smell does not = inteligence.
Well, you obviously dont know all that much about horses. You have rode a few and your neighbor ownes them, well that must make you an expert
Sounds to me like the horse you were riding was pretty smart and decided to buck your fat a$$ off for some reason
Your horse was probably smelling your stank ass after too many days in the bush
Anywho, sounds like you had an awsome trip! You should have brought a hair dresser or cut your mop though, I think you even out did a sasquatch with that last pic.
Your assumptions will make you look SMRT for a long time to come
Crazy Davey
I obviously never claimed to be an *expert*, as anyone without a comprehension problem can see my experience with horses doesn't qualify for an expert. I said I had an opinion.
If you want to believe your horses are Rocket Surgeons, go for it. They sure don't seem very smart when you stack them up against alot of other animals. I rate them alot higher on the IQ level than cows, less than pigs and way lower than wolves or dogs.
I am sure I didn't smell very fresh on the last copel of days of the trip, but as I explained before, I got bucked off becuase of a horse gettign a face full of bear spray.
I obviously never claimed to be an *expert*, as anyone without a comprehension problem can see my experience with horses doesn't qualify for an expert. I said I had an opinion.
If you want to believe your horses are Rocket Surgeons, go for it. They sure don't seem very smart when you stack them up against alot of other animals. I rate them alot higher on the IQ level than cows, less than pigs and way lower than wolves or dogs.
I am sure I didn't smell very fresh on the last copel of days of the trip, but as I explained before, I got bucked off becuase of a horse gettign a face full of bear spray.
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No worries Gate....have been around alot of horses and almost everyone you talk to who owns horses know they are not the brightest. Brains and instinct are two very different things as you mentioned.
Enjoyed the pics here and on HBC
Enjoyed the pics here and on HBC
- Location
- AB foothills
I guess you are only as smart as the horse you ride
Gate, A cow is a fair bit smarter than a horse and that is spoken from someone who makes a living off the creatures.. Sounds like a great trip. I like your list bout says it all. We use a big fish scale to wiegh the panniers and the closer the better. Much better to do er up right to begin with than wrestle later on the trail. I've never been up that country,I wish, however 2002 my horses were up there packing for a month or two at the headwaters of the besa starting on the buckinghorse. Glad to here you are allright. Andy
and that is spoken from someone who makes a living off the creatures.. Sounds like a great trip. I like your list bout says it all. We use a big fish scale to wiegh the panniers and the closer the better. Much better to do er up right to begin with than wrestle later on the trail. I've never been up that country,I wish, however 2002 my horses were up there packing for a month or two at the headwaters of the besa starting on the buckinghorse. Glad to here you are allright. AndyGatehouse,
Thanks for taking the time to offer me some helpfull tips.
For a reference guide, I have been studying Walchuk's trail riding and packing manual. I sure don't have it all memorized, and some things, ie diamond hitches, etc., you have trouble practicing without a horse, cinches, ropes, and packing gear!!
I've got a length of rope that has seen every household object capable of securing a knot used. My wifes leg, one night. Damn, that bowline was hard to loosen up!!
Thanks again for all your suggestions.
Jon
Thanks for taking the time to offer me some helpfull tips.
For a reference guide, I have been studying Walchuk's trail riding and packing manual. I sure don't have it all memorized, and some things, ie diamond hitches, etc., you have trouble practicing without a horse, cinches, ropes, and packing gear!!
I've got a length of rope that has seen every household object capable of securing a knot used. My wifes leg, one night. Damn, that bowline was hard to loosen up!!
Thanks again for all your suggestions.
Jon
horshur said:Gate, A cow is a fair bit smarter than a horse
Yeah, we were rigth around there...
You really, TRULY think a cow is smarter? They always seemed a bit dumb to me.
The cows on my GF's farm have aways struck me as a bit less than geniuses... One of the great tools we had was a scale that had a plastic rider on it. You could lift off the weight, and then place it down, and the plastic rider was stuck on your weight, so you didn't need to hold and have someone say YUP, THATS 32LB!! You coudl look for yourself, by yourself
BCJON said:Gatehouse,
Thanks for taking the time to offer me some helpfull tips.
For a reference guide, I have been studying Walchuk's trail riding and packing manual. I sure don't have it all memorized, and some things, ie diamond hitches, etc., you have trouble practicing without a horse, cinches, ropes, and packing gear!!
I've got a length of rope that has seen every household object capable of securing a knot used. My wifes leg, one night. Damn, that bowline was hard to loosen up!!
Thanks again for all your suggestions.
Jon
I haven't read Walchucks manual, but form what I can tel of him, it woudl be comprehensive.
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- Location
- South Cariboo, B.C.
Gatehouse said:I haven't read Walchucks manual, but form what I can tel of him, it woudl be comprehensive.
I have his manual now. Very detailed.
Why he didnt give me one earlier.....?
