We do many many pack trips with our family, nearly every weekend in the summers here.
There are some great books that will help you get started-this one is probably the best. http://www.outfitterssupply.com/Packin-in-on-Mules-Horses/productinfo/WBKP1/
HA! I just panned down and see Kat has introduced me. :lol: I have her Smoke Elser book… :uhoh:
I don’t know what your limitations are there- we recently moved to a spot where it’s entirely legal to take and graze horses in the backcountry but there’s not much grass for them b/c the trees are so thick and hills too steep. So we are having to haul feed for our horses for the first time ever and that’s a learning curve. Have to figure out how many pounds per day per horse, some pack horse cubes (roughage and bulk) and high octane feed for the calories, then figure out which horse can carry it and how many horses to take to carry enough for all of them. It expands quickly! Go high-nothing is worse than a hungry pack horse! They never stop pulling at that rope…
Balance and a scale built into each hand is a gift if you have it. If you have two of anything one goes on each side. Make duffle bags equal each other, get the same kind of sleeping bag/kit for each of you so it all can go here and there. My husband is usually pretty close but it takes practice. Get a set of pack scales: http://www.outfitterssupply.com/Packers-Scale-20-100-lbs/productinfo/WPA212/ and a manty (one per pack horse) and start piling up your gear into two piles. Ideally they are equal in size and weight but life doesn’t always work that way. If you’ve backpacked you’re familiar with the theme-where do you want to “spend” the weight and how, balance balance balance. Don’t get too much on the horse’s shoulders or loin, make your pack horse super comfortable b/c he’s a PITA to repack. Think about how things sit on that horse, you can be high and heavy on one side and low and light on the other and it will still balance if you’re good. My husband packed out a moose head and cape once-had to balance it just right on the tree of the saddle-not an easy trick. Get a decker pack saddle-they’re by and large the best. Sawbucks work but fit and function aren’t as forgiving. Get a packhorse pad-they’re longer on the sides and protect from the saddle and all that rope. We use diamond wool pack horse pads…
Unless you’re a knot maestro you probably want to just load panniers and tie them on. Slinging loads is tricky but read up on it. The higher you pack a horse the more unstable it generally gets. The lower you pack them the sore-er they can get, you want just below the widest part of the barrel generally…That top pack starts to move and shift and if you aren’t on top of your game it will start to throw everything off.
I have a youtube of my husband explaining how to tie on the diamond hitch if you want to see it. It’s the easiest hitch in the world if you’re tall enough to see the top of the packs-there’s one tricky twist in it but otherwise easy to follow. I am short so I like a box hitch-you put it on from the sides.
If you have good horses they will be good pack horses pretty easily. They have to adjust to not being able to see behind them much, being ponied largely on their own recognizance, feeling that pack brush against trees, and the pack cinch that tightens in the middle, not at the girth. And the big tarp-like manty that gets tucked all around the load. Most steady horses take right to it, no problems. Make sure to support the offside pack while you tighten the hitch and load up the panniers to keep everything balanced while you load. It’s a good job for colts too-they learn how to pack weight and despook in good steady company. We try to pack most of our colts before we ride them. Pack in, ride out. :yes:
We take an electric fencer, fence some in and turn the codependents loose. A wrangler horse is always (in theory) contained securely. You want to be able to catch your loose horses if that happens and you want a tattletale to scream and wake you up when the rest leave. :lol:
Many many details, stories I could tell, pitfalls to avoid, helpful hints. But as any old fart packer will tell you-learning it is part of the game. You really have to do it, feel it, find your own tricks and what works for your horses and what knots you know and what rope you like the feel of when you tie on.
I could go on forever-you go read some, start framing it out and come back to rediscuss. If you want to talk to someone about it all my husband loves to go on about pack trips, it’s the same sort of addiction disease that horses are… he grew up doing it and now he’s taught our kids…there’s nothing like it. highly recommend.
I imagine Beverly and a few others will be along soon, too, there’s a few of us here…
I have a bajillion pictures of my family (the kids from ages 5 to now 15 have been on lots of pack trips) on pack trips if you want to see, let me know, they’re on my facebook…
A few years ago-the first two horses were part Spanish Barbs, full sisters… excellent tough mares but meaner than crap for kicking in the string. not what you’re looking for in a pack trip horse! http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/steele4/familystring.jpg The kids are a lot older now-they are leading pack horses now instead of prancing along in the string! :lol:
Heading over a ridge with some good horses and better friends. :yes: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/steele4/8exppass.jpg
By all means-if you want to ask questions, compare thoughts, BS, or tell some good wreck stories PM me for a phone number-it’s part of the deal!
ETA-Aw thanks Kat, seeing that picture of those sweet brown ears always makes me tear up. That good horse died of cancer a few years after that first trip with our new southern family-friends. Good times, gotta have wreck stories and lost stories and fun stories, it’s all part of it. I sure miss some of those horses and places but I miss you and Drake the most!
