A horse has a unique perspective that we humans can only speculate about. Remember the horse has to stand up in the trailer fighting to maintain his balance for a 14 hour road trip from my house to the trailhead. This trip usually occurs at the end of the workday beginning on a Friday evening and we drive all night. Then after they have probably been awake and on guard for over 24 hours we ask them to haul ourselves or a 200 pound load 8 miles up the mountain. I am usually exhausted by the time we get camp set up and I can tell they are pretty beat as well. The horse has incredible lung capacity compared to us and I doubt they get as short of breath as we do but I do believe they may be a little lightheaded or feel goofy until they have had a day or two to get used to being at base camp 10000 ft elev. They do seem to enjoy being up in that valley, grazing in belly deep mountain grass and getting a good ration of sweet feed every day. My horses do not usually get any sweet feed, just hay, so this is a real treat for them. We have to go back to town after the first week and the horses can make the return trip back up to camp in about 3 hours compared to the 5-6 hours it takes to get there the first day. They seem to know where they are going and we really haul going back up for the second week of the hunt.
Organizational skills are important I guess. I prepare all year long with pack trips in mind. I start repairing gear as soon as I get home from a trip. After doing this for the better part of 15 years I kind of know what I need to do and where every thing is but it does take time to have everything prepared. The trailers need to have lights that work, good brakes, bearings replaced every 10,000 miles and I keep a set of old grease packed bearings just in case I need a replacement on the trip. Multiple spare tires, serpentine belts for the trucks, spare hoses, oil, fluids, fuses, light bulbs, electric wire and tape, fix a flat in a can, hydraulic and handyman jacks, wood blocks, air bubble, spare leather for repairs, hoof boots, spare rope, halters, buckles, rivets, horseshoe nails, iodine, vet wrap, blood stop, needles and suture etc.... the list is extensive but as the saying goes, I would rather have something and not need it than need it and not have it.
Topic: A hunting we shall go, 2009 Colorado elk (Read 3331 times)
